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Kanchanaburi War Cemetery

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery @lemonicks.com

As I entered the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, my feet froze. I stood there staring at those small memorials of 6982 POWs of WW II. I looked at one, where some fresh flowers were arranged, I could comprehend the grief and pain of those family members who come looking for the graves of their relatives to pay tribute.

kanchanaburi war cemetery

The Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, locally known as the Don-Rak War Cemetery, is the main Prisoner of War (POW) cemetery associated with victims of the Burma Railway.
The Burma-Siam railway, built by the Commonwealth, Dutch and American POWs, was a Japanese project to support the large Japanese army in Burma. During its construction, approx. 13,000 POWs died and were buried along the railway.

The graves were transferred from camp burial grounds and isolated places into three cemeteries. This war cemetery is one of them.

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery @lemonicks.com

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery @lemonicks.com

There are two more graves in the cemetery with names of 300 men inscribed on panels in the shelter pavilion. These men had died mostly from a Cholera epidemic in May-June 1943 at Nieke camp. They were cremated and their ashes now lie in these two graves. You can see flowers left on the graves by loved ones from all over the world. It evokes a whole lot of emotions for any visitor.

The graves in the cemetery belong to mostly Australian, British and 1896 Dutch. To right of entrance are British and to the left Dutch and Australians. Each one of them has a small plant or a tree to give it company. It was designed by Colin St Clair Oakes. Adjacent to an older Chinese cemetery, this is surrounded by beautiful gardens and is well maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery @lemonicks.com

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery @lemonicks.com

Although we spoke about graves, I do not think these are real graves, for, they are too close to each other and too small. I guess these are more of memorials.

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery @lemonicks.com

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20 thoughts on “Kanchanaburi War Cemetery”

  1. The time you came was more colorful than when we were there. You really made me dig for the old files, that time i went with an international group of friends for a follow-up conference on what we started in Sweden. Now i miss my friends from around the world.

  2. Andrea,
    Yes I think you are right.

    I am so glad that I could make you rummage through your photos and then miss your friends. 😀

    In return, I get to see a gorgeous photo. 🙂

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