KANCHANABURI WAR CEMETERY, THAILAND
Kanchanaburi is a little town on the Me Khlong river about 117 kms west-north-west of Bangkok, which is the capital of Thailand and an important international airport. It is best reached by rail from Bangkok but can also be reached by road (liable to flooding) when it is passable. Shallow draught river boats ply between Bangkok and Kanchanaburi.
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery lies about 183 metres from the railway station, on the north-eastern outskirts of the town. The entrance is on the main Kanchanaburi road and the surrounding county is light jungle and hills. The cemetery is only a short distance from the site of the former "Kanburi" Prisoner-of-War Base Camp, through which passed most of the prisoners on their way to other camps, and is the largest of the three war cemeteries (two in Thailand and one in Burma) on the notorious Burma-Siam railway. It was created by the Army Graves Service who transferred to it all graves, save American graves, from camp burial grounds and solitary sites along the southern half of the railway from Bangkok to Nieke. Most of the base camps and hospitals were in this area and the total number of burials in the cemetery is 6,982. This figure includes 300 men who died during an epidemic at Nieke Camp and were cremated, whose ashes now rest in two graves in the cemetery. Their names are commemorated on Portland stone panels in the shelter pavilion which stands at the end of one of the two main avenues, facing the Cross of Sacrifice at the intersection of the avenues and the Stone of Remembrance at the opposite end. In this register the addition of the words "Sp. Mem." against the number of the grave indicates that the casualty is one of the men whose names appear on the panels. Over the two graves are bronze plaques bearing the inscription :
Here are buried the ashes of 300 soldiers whose names are inscribed in the Memorial Building in this cemetery.
DESCENDANTS OF THOSE SERVICEMEN RECORDED IN THIS BOOK WHOM REQUIRE FURTHER INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT:
THE OFFICE OF AUSTRALIAN WAR GRAVES,
C/- DEPT. OF VETERANS AFFAIRS,
WODEN. A.C.T. 2606
YOU WILL FIND THEM THE MOST COURTEOUS AND HELPFUL OF ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT.
FULL ACKNOWLEDGMENT IS MADE TO :
THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION, LONDON
FOR COMPILING THESE RECORDS AND FOR THE THOUGHTFULNESS AND GREAT DIGNITY THEY USE IN CARING FOR OUR WAR DEAD
ISBN: 978-0-908492-87-9
A4 Comb Bound with laminated covers. 94 pages
