One of the last known British survivors of Bridge over the River Kwai dies aged 94

[webfact]

One of the last known British soldiers who worked on the Bridge over the River Kwai dies aged 94



(SAMUI TIMES) -- During the Second World War, British soldier Harry Motteram endured diabolical conditions as a prisoner of war. During the three years he spent in a Japanese camp he was forced to work on the 258 mile “Death Railway”. During that time he lived on just one cup of rice a day that provided virtually no nutrition to get him through his 18 hour shifts.

When he finally returned home after the war he became a plumber and married a lady called Eileen, together they bore six children. Harry carried on working until he was 86 and lived to become a great grandfather.

Six years ago this brave solider returned to Thailand to see part of the railway that he helped to build. It is thought that he was the last member of the 137th Field Regiment, also known as the Blackpool regiment. He died at 94 from cancer.

The Burma Railway as built between Ban Pong in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Burma by Japan in 1943 to support its forces in the Burma campaign using forced labor.

More than one hundred and eighty thousand Asian civilian labourers worked on the railway alongside more than sixty thousand Allied prisoners of war. The project nicknamed Death Railway claimed the lives of around ninety thousand civilians and over twelve thousand Allied POW’s including over six thousand British, nearly three thousand Australians over two and a half thousand Dutch and over one hundred Americans.

The heroic men who built the railway inspired the film Bridge over the River Kwai with Alec Guiness and Jack Hawkins.

-- Samui Times 2015-05-18

[whatawonderfulday]

A hero of my times. RIP

[ratcatcher]

God bless you Harry, and thanks.

[bartender100]

The Japanese should have been made to pay much more compensation to these guys than they did, around £10,000 per man not much for 4 years work, should have been ten times that

The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman is a great movie if you have not seen it, very moving

[penco]

The Japanese never paid any compensation. Tony Blair's government paid the survivors compensation.

The Japanese appear to have never acknowledged their wrongdoing on the Death Railway.

According to the Japanese code of Bushido, they apparently thought that such treatment of prisoners was justified.

Koreans were also involved in the appalling treatment meted out to POWs on the Death Railway.

I can highly recommend the book:

"Survivor on the River Kwai" by Reg Twigg, another survivor of the Death Railway who is now also sadly deceased...

[MobileContent]

The Japanese should have been made to pay much more compensation to these guys than they did, around £10,000 per man not much for 4 years work, should have been ten times that

The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman is a great movie if you have not seen it, very moving

I think many Asian's and African's are still waiting for some compensations from the British Crown but they too got nothing. They would be happy with 10000 pounds but most got nothing.

Edited May 18, 2015 by MobileContent

[Pete Beale]

R.I.P. Harry

Koreans were also involved in the appalling treatment meted out to POWs on the Death Railway.

One of the things I found out by visiting Hellfire Pass and listening to the memories of those unfortunate to have laboured on the Death Railway was that often the most sadistic guards were koreans.

[Prbkk]

Sometime in the early 80s I went on a trip with a group of them up through hellfire pass..train, boat, walk. For most of the survivors it was their first and only time back. A very emotional experience for all . They were a great bunch of guys.

Maybe it was 85 ( 40th anniversary of VJ ).

[Artisi]

R.I.P. Harry

Koreans were also involved in the appalling treatment meted out to POWs on the Death Railway.

One of the things I found out by visiting Hellfire Pass and listening to the memories of those unfortunate to have laboured on the Death Railway was that often the most sadistic guards were koreans.

With a fair number of Indians also used as guards and just as sadistic.

[bartender100]

The British might have been very harsh task masters in Asia, but they helped to forward the countries they occupied.

I am pretty sure there is plenty of historic data that proves they were never anywhere near as cruel and barbaric as the japanese were everywhere they went at that time.

[bannork]

This thread is about the men who built the 'Death Railway' whether Asian or Western,it doesn't matter. They all suffered terribly and most at a far too young age, died a terrible death.

Those of us who came later,who have never had to suffer in any war, and indeed have benefited immeasurably from the welfare provisions of our countries that were victorious against fascism, owe them an incalculable debt.

Harry Motterham and all those on the Death Railway, we thank you and salute you from the bottom of our hearts.

[metisdead]

Off topic obfuscation posts and replies have been removed.

[faraday]

Not only did Harry survive, but goes on to have 6 children, become a Great Grandfather, then work until he was 86.

Only thing that beat him was Cancer.

Thank you Harry & Rest In Peace.

[chickenslegs]

Looks like the Japanese will be building railways in Thailand again soon.

This time their strict codes of compliance and discipline (health and safety) will ensure that few lives are lost during the construction.

Funny old world, isn't it?

[Baerboxer]

The Japanese should have been made to pay much more compensation to these guys than they did, around £10,000 per man not much for 4 years work, should have been ten times that

The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman is a great movie if you have not seen it, very moving

I think many Asian's and African's are still waiting for some compensations from the British Crown but they too got nothing. They would be happy with 10000 pounds but most got nothing.

Do you have evidence that the British contravened the Geneva Convention on the treatment of POW's ? Did they ever force POW's to work as slave labor under the most appalling conditions, deliberately withhold Red Cross parcels and allow torture,starvation, summary executions and working to death? Can you provide examples please?

The Japanese ignored the Geneva Convention. Deliberately starved, tortured and worked to death POW's and enslaved laborers from occupied countries. Just prior to WW11 they committed the most appalling atrocities in their invasion of China (even Nazis stationed there wrote back to Germany expressing their shock).

Many years ago I worked with a couple of survivors from the Death Railway. Neither would talk much about it except to say the Japanese were brutal, including to their Korean underlings, who took it out on the prisoners. Removal of nails (hand and toe), beatings, being forced to kneel for long periods on the corners of stairs, extra work - all meted out to people being given next to know food and forced to work 18 hours a day. These brave men came home and tried to get on with their lives. Many having nightmares, emotionally, psychologically and physically scarred for the rest of their lives.

Have you read anything of this in any Japanese History books? Has Japan ever admitted to this, let alone apologies? Japan enjoyed far less accountability than Germany after WW11 for its criminal despicable actions.

Please respect those brave men, many who lie in Thailand, and don't try to deflect from the crimes committed by the evil Empire of the Sun.

[Torrens54]

The Japanese should have been made to pay much more compensation to these guys than they did, around £10,000 per man not much for 4 years work, should have been ten times that

The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman is a great movie if you have not seen it, very moving

If Abe gets his way, the JAPS will be back to finish what they started last time,when his Grandfather was one of Tojo's Stooges.

[gk10002000]

The Japanese should have been made to pay much more compensation to these guys than they did, around £10,000 per man not much for 4 years work, should have been ten times that

The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman is a great movie if you have not seen it, very moving

Did any of the military men or civilians actually receive any of the war compensation payments? I am aware of Japan paying money to countries, but I have never heard any first hand accounts of individual people getting any money. I was born in 1957 and several of my relatives served during WW 2, father, uncles, great uncles etc.

[Beetlejuice]

Looks like the Japanese will be building railways in Thailand again soon.

This time their strict codes of compliance and discipline (health and safety) will ensure that few lives are lost during the construction.

Funny old world, isn't it?

So true, how very ironic this is.

I can`t even envisage this mass slaughter that was on such an unprecedented scale, figures that go way above my head and the horrors the survivors must have endured and witnessed.

Events during WW2, including the Holocaust, mass slaughter of civilians all over Europe and Asia, the Rape of Nanking, the fall of Russia and so on, to me is difficult to comprehend, it`s almost like some nightmarish sci-fi movie but of course it was a reality and the worse part is, that it`s not ancient history, still in living memory for many that took place not only in Asia but also in the so-called civilised world.

I hope and pray that my children are never involved in a war as were my parents and grandparents.

RIP Harry and thank you.

[moobie]

I've read quite a few books on this subject and if I could recommend one autobiography it would be "The Forgotten Highlander."

From this gentleman's capture in Singapore through to the coal fields of Japan (via the Kwai River) and his eventual return home makes for some reading.

[tonbridgebrit]

70 years after World War Two, and what is happening today ?

A load of Japanese men are going to be charge of building a railway line in Thailand.

[Beetlejuice]

Back in 1971 when in my late teens, I used to commute to work by train from Liverpool Street station in London.

Every morning I used to see a porter, a man in his mid 40s, bending down, picking up discarded food from the station platforms and eating it while making some strange grunting noises. I used to laugh at the guy during the time, believing him to be some sort of loon.

After a few weeks I asked the station foreman, what is wrong with that guy? He replied, his name is Porter Geoffrey and he was a Japanese prisoner of war for 2 years, staved and beaten, almost on the brink of death after liberation. I took another look at Geoffrey only this time seeing him in a different light, I cried. A couple of weeks later the porter was gone from the station, have no idea what happened to him.

I can still see him in my mind and the memory of those events has haunted me up to this present day.

[bprinceuk]

R.I.P Harry

[graemeaylward]

Thank you Beetlejuice for your very moving story. I think it summarises what we Brits and the world have to be thankful for. Guys like Porter Geoffrey and Harry Motteram suffered for our future in a better world. I just hope we don't let them down. "At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them."

[K B]

RIP Harry. God Bless.

[DLang]

RIP, to you Mr. Harry Motteram. You shall always be a hero.

[impulse]

Old news for guys who have been here a while, but for any newbies...

If you come to Thailand and don't spend any time in Kanchanaburi and the area around the Death Railway, you are cheating yourself.

[Johnny S]

The Japs never admitted their war crimes and never paid a £ to anyone - did the Nazi´s btw pay anything or was it just settled at the Yalta Conference, bet all the jewish gold, paintings etc. is still in the Swiss-banks and will never get back to the real owners ... Swiss-bankers are worse than nazi´s ...

[northernphil]

Anyone who wants a proper glimpse of Thailand should indeed visit Kanchanaburi. Go and talk to the curator of the Thailand Burma Railway Museum his name is Rod Beattie. Fascinating chap who is I think the only ferlung fireman on a steam train here. In November he takes part in the re-enactment of the train going over the bridge while bombs etc are dropping. I have been to the cemetery next to the museum on about 4 occasions, peaceful place beautifully kept ,looking at the names of those who died always brings a tear , oh and I think my ex father-in-law has a brother buried there. My ex FIL just said once about 30 years ago his brother was killed by the Japs , his house was called Lockwood , the name of his brother.

[ginjag]

For some off topic posters, we have to think of the magnitude of events all over the world at this time. Persons from most of the free world joined together to fight common enemy's ---with out this guy and all who were part of this fight, we would have had to give up the freedom we had.

I often wonder about any victory the Japanese had and the Germans, what would have been the outcome of their total dominance ?? who would have been the eventual victor---OMG.

[PeCeDe]

This thread is about the men who built the 'Death Railway' whether Asian or Western,it doesn't matter. They all suffered terribly and most at a far too young age, died a terrible death.

Those of us who came later,who have never had to suffer in any war, and indeed have benefited immeasurably from the welfare provisions of our countries that were victorious against fascism, owe them an incalculable debt.

Harry Motterham and all those on the Death Railway, we thank you and salute you from the bottom of our hearts.

You are so right Bannork, and I'm sure most who worked on "Death Railway" never knew what future benefits to the general population their sacrifice would bring. War is not pretty or nice, and it certainly, at no time is fought by the Marquess of Queensbury rules. There are many people on this forum who have indeed fought in brutal wars since then without knowing what advantages they will eventually bring, if any. I like the US State of New Hampshire motto "Live free or die!" Ain't that the truth.