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ACROSS THE THREE PAGODAS PASS

THE STORY OF THE THAIBURMA RAILWAY

This is a translation of the only known detailed account of the building of the notorious 262-mile long Thai-Burma Railway by one of the Japanese professional engineers who was involved in its construction. The author, Yoshihiko Futamatsu, who was in his early thirties at the time he was supervising the building of the Railway, provides an invaluable new source of historical and technical reference that complements the existing large body of literature in English on this subject. Futamatsu’s memoir also includes wide-ranging reflections on the course and conduct of ‘his’ war as well as his engineering and army experiences.

The Thai-Burma Railway took eighteen months to build and cost the lives of some 90,000 people (mostly British, Australian, Dutch and American POWs, as well as great numbers of local labourers) out of a total of over 200,000, including some 12-15,000 Japanese who were engaged in the enterprise. The ‘Three Pagodas Pass’ was located at the Thai-Burma frontier.

Across the Three Pagodas Pass is introduced by Peter Davies who sets the record straight regarding the story of this book and the key people involved. This is followed by translator Ewart Escritt’s original Introduction to his translation of Futamatsu’s memoir which also includes a detailed account of his own POW experiences as well as his reflections on the war and its outcomes. Many contemporary original drawings, maps and photographs appear in the plate section.

COVER ILLUSTRATIONS:

From left to right: The three pagodas in more recent times; drawing by POW William Wilder; Renichi Sugano on one of the first trains to run on the newly-constructed railway.

RENAISSANCE BOOKS

ISBN 978-1-898823-07-0