The true story behind the epic wartime film.

Support me and get access to exclusive videos::
   / @thehistorychap  

Get My FREE Weekly Newsletter
https://www.thehistorychap.com

More videos you might enjoy:

The Real story of the Great Escape
   • The Great Escape  The True Story  

Richard Todd DDay Hero 1944
   • Richard Todd  WW2 DDay Veteran  

“The Bridge On The River Kwai” has often been referred to as one of the greatest war films of all time.
Certainly Sir David Lean’s epic was the top box office earner in 1957, the year it was released, and it scooped 7 Academy Awards, including best film, best producer, best actor, and best musical score.

Alec Guinness, plays the commander of the British POW’s, Lt. Colonel Nicholson, who somewhat bizarrely insists on building the best possible bridge for the Japanese as a testament to British engineering and hard work.

In the end, a commando unit blow up the bridge as the first Japanese locomotive passes over it.

The film is based upon a real bridge that was built by British POW’s, as part of the “Death Railway” through the Burmese and Thai jungles.

I say based, in the very loosest of terms.

Yes, there was a bridge over the River Kwai.
Yes, it was built by British Prisoner’s of War.
Yes, there was a lieutenant Colonel in command of those prisoners.

However, there were actually two bridges, and they crossed a tributary of the River Kwai not the main river itself.

Whilst British Prisoners helped build it, the film ignores the thousands of civilians who were also forced to work on the construction, and whose treatment and death rates were even worse than the British.

The bridges were put out of action, but only in the last year of the year and by RAF bombing rather than commandos.

Above all, the Lt. Colonel was no Japanese sympathiser or turncoat.
He was a man, who rather than trying to build the best bridge possible actually did his best to sabotage the construction.

This is the story of the "Death Railway" (the ThaiBurma Railway) during the construction of which, 16,000 allied POW's and 90,000 civilians died.
it also tells the story of the real Bridge on the River Kwai and the real British commander Lt. Colonel Philip Toosey DSO.
It also has a poignant twist in the tale too!


Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:58 Shout Out
2:31 Japanese Offensive
3:30 ThaiBurma Railway
4:36 POW Slave Labour
5:50 Treatment of POW's
8:00 Illness & Death
9:45 The Bridge On The River Kwai
11:03 lt. Colonel Toosey
14:00 The Death Railway
16:55 Survivors
18:05 A Twist In The Tale
19:00 The History Chap

#thebridgeontheriverkwai #deathrailway #ww2 #ad

Sources for this episode include:
"Railroad of Death" by John Coast
The Impoerial War Museum
QJM international journal of Medecine
dva. gov. au (Anzac portal)
Julie Summer.com


Follow me at:
www.thehistorychap.com
Instagram:https://bit.ly/3iySrAj
Facebook:https://bit.ly/37IUfkH
   / thehistorychap  

My name is Chris Green and I love to share stories from British history. Not just because they are interesting but because, good or bad, they have shaped the world we live in today.

History should not be stuffy or a long list of dates or kings & queens.
So rather than lectures or Youtube animations, I tell stories that bring the past to life.

My aim is to be chat as if I were having a coffee or meal with you. Jean in Maryland, USA recently wrote: "Chris, is the history teacher I wish I had at school!"

Just for the record, I do have a history degree in Medieval & Modern history from the University of Birmingham.

Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Chris Green Communication Ltd t/a The History Chap. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Chris Green Communication Ltd does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.