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Hellfire
Pass Museum & Walking Trail
The Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum is dedicated to those Australians and other Allied Prisoners of War and Asian labourers who suffered and died at Hellfire Pass and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region during the Second World War.
During
the Second World War, thousands of forced local labourers and Allied
Prisoners of War suffered and died constructing and maintaining the
Burma-Thailand railway.
The Australian Government constructed the memorial in cooperation with
the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand.
The museum explains to visitors the story of why and how the railway
was built and attempts to convey the hardships and suffering endured
by so many who were forced to work in extremely harsh conditions. The
Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum symbolises the importance of this site
to the Australian people. After visiting the memorial museum and contemplation
deck, visitors are encouraged to proceed to the walking trail.
In 2008, the new access to the Cutting was completed and the carefully designed pathway and stairs now winds down below the contemplation deck providing safe, easy access.
Maintaining the site with approximately 100,000 visitors per annum continues to be challenging for the Manager and staff.
History
Groups of men worked around the clock for 16-18 hours to complete excavation
of the 17 metre deep and 110-m long cutting through solid limestone
and quartz rock in only 12 weeks. Forced to work at night, Konyu Cutting
was nicknamed “ Hellfire Pass ” because of the mixture of
hammering noise, lighting from fires, oil fired bamboo torches and carbide
lamps that created an eerie illumination that looked like the “Fires
from Hell”. After the war in Oct 1945, the graves of 124 men were
located in Kanyu No1 Cemetery, which is now occupied by grazing pasture.
Walking
trail
The walking trail follows the alignment of the original Burma-Thailand
railway from Hellfire Pass through to the Hintok Cutting. Small shelters
and interpretative panels have been provided at various locations and
toilets are available at the end of the walking trail.
Hellfire Pass or “Chong Khao Khart” as it is called in Thai,
is located only 250 metres from the entrance to the Museum and is accessed
by either the “Concrete Stairway Path” or the “Bamboo
Path”. The latter is the recommended path to Hellfire Pass. It
not only gives the visitor the opportunity to walk into the cutting
the same way that the POWs went to work, but visitors also walk through
a grove of large bamboo and look down from the lookouts above the entrance
to the cutting. This view provides the most memorable views of Hellfire
Pass and an understanding how it derived its name and the sacrifice
made by the men who made it.
For the intrepid visitor there
is a four kilometre Memorial Walking Trail, that has been cleared and
is maintained and monitored daily to accommodate walkers to walk this
now peaceful and serene old railway track. The Trail commences at Hellfire
Pass Cutting, and incorporates a number of infamous features along the
track, such as Compressor Cutting, Hintok Station, both the “Pack
of Cards” and Three Tier Bridges, plus the panoramic view of Kwae
Noi Look-out .
Tom
Morris
The preservation and development of this historic site has resulted
from the inspiration of Australian former Prisoner of War, Mr J G “Tom”
Morris.
Mr
Morris was among the thousands of Prisoners of War and Asian labourers
who worked on the Burma-Thailand railway during the Second World War.
After enlisting aged 17 in 1941 Mr Morris served as a Corporal with
22 Brigade Headquarters before being captured in the fall of Singapore
in 1942. Sent to Burma as part of ‘A’ Force, Mr Morris worked
on the Burma-Thailand railway from the Thanbyuzayat end. In 1983, forty
years after working on the railway, Mr Morris made a decision to return
to Thailand in an attempt to locate the site of Konyu Cutting (Hellfire
Pass). Mr Morris was not only successful in his endeavour to locate
Hellfire Pass, by then almost consumed by the surrounding jungle, he
was also inspired with the idea of preserving this significant site
in memory of all those who suffered and died while constructing the
Burma-Thailand railway. Mr Morris then approached the Australian Government
regarding the possibility of having Hellfire Pass dedicated as an historic
site.
In
1985, following Mr Morris’ proposal, the Australian Government
allocated funding for improved access to Hellfire Pass and the construction
of a memorial. The memorial was formally dedicated in 1987. Further
funding was allocated in 1994 for the construction of the Hellfire Pass
Memorial Museum and walking trail. The Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum
was officially opened on 25 April 1998.
Visitor information : Museum open 9am - 4pm daily
Copyright
text : Australian
Government : Department of Veterans' Affairs & Hellfire
Pass.com
Copyright photos
: Postcards from the Hellfirepass Museum.