On 17 October 1943, a tragic chapter of World War II reached a grim culmination with the completion of the Burma Railway, also known as the "Death Railway."
Constructed by the Japanese Imperial Army to facilitate supply lines between Burma (now Myanmar) and Thailand, the 415-kilometre railway was built using forced labour, including over 60,000 Allied POWs and approximately 180,000 Asian civilian labourers, or "romusha."
The conditions under which the labourers worked were appalling, with malnutrition, disease, and maltreatment rampant, leading to the death of an estimated 100,000 individuals.
The railway, though a strategic asset for the Japanese army, stands as a somber reminder of the human cost of war and the atrocities committed under the guise of military necessity.
