Customer Reviews

Railway of Hell: A Japanese POW's Account of War, Capture and Forced Labour

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A gripping account of one man's ordeal as a prisoner of the Japanese in the Second World War. The atrocities committed against the allied prisoners of war by the Japanese has not been, in my opinion, properly documented in history books. It is only when you read these personal accounts do you get a true understanding of the horrific conditions these POWs were held under. Until I began reading I had a sanitised view of what it may have been like for these men who were forced to build a railway under the most traumatic and soul-destroying conditions. The strength each and every one of the prisoners-of-war showed is almost non-existent in today's society. The majority of men and women today would have given in and succumbed to their illnesses, abuse, and torture if they were submitted to the same conditions. I thoroughly recommend this book to all those interested in the true stories of our allied soldiers that had the misfortune to end up a prisoner of a hard and brutal regime. May we never see the likes of this again. My grandfather was one of the unlucky ones that never went home and it is only through these true accounts that I can get some idea of the horror to which he was subjected to. May we never forget the sacrifices our servicemen and women have given so we may have the freedom which we often take for granted.