| The Pakan Baroet Railway line | |
|
Author | Message |
---|
Dirk Marinus Consulatus
Posts : 298 Join date : 2016-02-03
| Subject: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Thu 25 Feb 2016, 19:36 | |
| We all heard read and know about the Thailand-Burma Death Railway and most of us have seen the film " Bridge over the river Kwai. But how many know about another 3 railway lines which were constructed during the Japanese occupation of countries in the Far East . And one of these railways was the Pakan Baroe railway line in Sumatra . Have a read here and make use of the links to the left of the page by clicking; http://pakanbaroe.webs.com/ |
|
| |
nordmann Nobiles Barbariæ
Posts : 7223 Join date : 2011-12-25
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Fri 26 Feb 2016, 08:11 | |
| Thanks for that link, Dirk.
In the Netherlands they certainly have not forgotten the Pakan Baroe railway. Up to a few years ago a Dutch friend of mine, Jan, took part every five years or so in an organised pilgrimage to Sumatra to commemorate his father, who died in the building of it. Participation in such trips from survivors and the relatives of those incarcerated was quite high.
There is an award winning documentary by Henk Hovinga which was made when there were still enough survivors around to contribute directly and which makes harrowing but fascinating viewing, if you ever get the chance to see it. It was called "The Sumatra Railroad: Final Destination Pakan Baroe, 1943-1945". I see also, having googled it, that there is an accompanying book but the Amazon price is very high. Maybe it's worth checking out a library for it though. It is unashamedly concerned almost purely with the Dutch experience, but from what I learnt from Jan there was never any survivor who spoke ill of the other Allied prisoners, or even of the Romushas who, if anything, had it even worse than the captive soldiers. In fact the Japanese were very thorough in keeping the nationalities apart, working them in separate details at different points of the line throughout the two gruesome years. The website claims otherwise, I notice. |
|
| |
Triceratops Censura
Posts : 4377 Join date : 2012-01-05
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Fri 26 Feb 2016, 14:03 | |
| Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, though it's set on Java rather than Sumatra, is the only film I can think of which deals with POWs in the Dutch East Indies.
The film itself is based on a book by South African Laurens van der Post who had been posted there thanks to his Dutch language skills. |
|
| |
Dirk Marinus Consulatus
Posts : 298 Join date : 2016-02-03
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Fri 26 Feb 2016, 17:00 | |
| - Triceratops wrote:
- Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, though it's set on Java rather than Sumatra, is the only film I can think of which deals with POWs in the Dutch East Indies.
The film itself is based on a book by South African Laurens van der Post who had been posted there thanks to his Dutch language skills. Triceratops, Pakan Baroe is a place near the river Siak and the Japanese had the idea to construct the railway line so that it would connect at a place called Moeara with an existing railway line to the harbour place called Padang. Apparently it was to save the Japanese army transporting supplies and troops a long distance by sea. From Singapore to Padang was only a short distance Pakan Baroe, the river Siak , Moeara and Padang are places and river in Sumatra and not Java although there was also a rail line construction on the isle of Java |
|
| |
Gilgamesh of Uruk Censura
Posts : 1560 Join date : 2011-12-27
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Sat 27 Feb 2016, 00:38 | |
| The web site also gets the "greatest maritime disaster" wrong. Wilhelm Gustloff's death toll was over 9,000 as far as we can tell, and Lancastria could have taken anything up to about 7,000 with her. |
|
| |
PaulRyckier Censura
Posts : 4902 Join date : 2012-01-01 Location : Belgium
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Fri 04 Mar 2016, 22:17 | |
| |
|
| |
PaulRyckier Censura
Posts : 4902 Join date : 2012-01-01 Location : Belgium
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Sun 06 Mar 2016, 22:20 | |
| In fact most of the Dutch prisoners of war from the railway died in the sinking of the Jun'yo Maru From the wiki above: In order to transport prisoners, the ship was fitted out with extra decks constructed of bamboo subdivided into cages of the same material. Deck space was also used for the prisoners. When she was attacked and sunk on September 18, 1944, by HMS Tradewind, Junyō Maru was packed with 1,377 Dutch, 64 British and Australian, and 8 American[3] prisoners of war along with 4,200 Javanese slave labourers (Romushas) bound for work on the railway line being built between Pakan Baru and Muaro in Sumatra. It was the world's greatest sea disaster at the time with 5,620 dead.[4] 680 survivors were rescued, only to be put to work in conditions similar to those of the Burma Railway where death was commonplace.[2]And from the review of the book mentioned by Nordmann: https://sites.google.com/site/dlgnji4nl/programmas/conf10/1hovThe most shocking result to the research of Hovinga was that there some 80,000 Javanese slave labourers perished by the Japanese. They were even much harsher against the Romusha than against the captive prisoners of war... "Het meest schokkende resultaat van Hovinga’s historisch archief-onderzoek was, dat er ongeveer tachtigduizend romusha moeten zijn omgekomen bij de bouw van de spoorbaan die nooit ergens voor heeft gediend. Omdat hij deze conclusie zelf nauwelijks kon geloven heeft hij zijn gegevens voorgelegd aan de historici prof. dr. L. de Jong en prof. dr. P.M.H. Groen en aan de schrijver Rudy Kousbroek. Ook zij konden echter geen fouten ontdekken in de analyse van het beschikbare archiefmateriaal en waren bereid deze vierde druk te voorzien van een aanbeveling. Dat deden ook Yvonne Keuls en Adriaan van Dis, de laatste onder meer met de woorden:‘Eindstation Pakan Baroe vertelt het verhaal dat mijn vader altijd heeft verzwegen. Zonder Henk Hovinga’s baanbrekende speurwerk zou ik nooit iets over mijn vaders torpedering en dwangarbeid aan de Sumatra-spoorweg te weten zijn gekomen. Door dit boek heb ik zijn woede beter leren begrijpen.’" And from the same source: the drama in figures: Basisgegevens Pakan Baroe Bron: “Eindstation Pakan Baroe 1943-1945” door Henk Hovinga (Vierde herziene en uitgebreide druk, december 1996) Buijten & Schipperheijn - Amsterdam. ISBN 90 6064 922 2
exact globaal Gevangenen verscheept 6593 6600 Omgekomen langs de baan 698 700 Verdronken bij torpederingen 1796 1800 Totaal omgekomen gevangenen 2494 2500 = 37 %
Romusha’s Verscheept 102.300 Overlevend geregistreerd 19.600 Zoek 2.700 (Ongeregistreerd achtergebleven in Sumatra) Totaal omgekomen romusha’s + 80.000 = 80,84 % (waarvan + 4000 bij de torpedering van de Junyo Maru)
Totaal aantal slachtoffers : 82500 = 2500 + 80.000 Lengte spoorbaan Pakan Baroe- Moeara: 220 km. Duur aanleg : maart 1943 - 15 augustus 1945
Torpederingen van schepen met krijgsgevangenen en romusha’s, bestemd voor Pakan Baroe: Van Waerwijck 26 juni 1944. Verdronken : 176 Junyo Maru 18 sept.1944. Verdronken: 5620 (waaronder + 4000 romusha’s)
Totaal verdronken bij torpederingen: 5796 KInd regards, Paul. |
|
| |
Gilgamesh of Uruk Censura
Posts : 1560 Join date : 2011-12-27
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Sun 06 Mar 2016, 23:21 | |
| One of my wife's uncles was lost when a POW, when the ship taking him to Japan as forced labour was sunk, by a US submarine (the last is the family story - no one remembers the ship name, so I can't check.) His sister remained in touch with his widow for the rest of their lives, long after the widow had remarried. |
|
| |
nordmann Nobiles Barbariæ
Posts : 7223 Join date : 2011-12-25
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Mon 07 Mar 2016, 13:29 | |
| - Paul wrote:
- In fact most of the Dutch prisoners of war from the railway died in the sinking of the Jun'yo Maru
Not sure those figures are correct, Paul. Though I know you've lifted them from one specific source I've always been of the imression that the death toll during the enforced labour on the line was much higher than the figure stated here: Gevangenen verscheept 6593 6600 Omgekomen langs de baan 698 700 Verdronken bij torpederingen 1796 1800 Totaal omgekomen gevangenen 2494 2500 = 37 % That which I recall from when I knew Jan and we used to discuss these events was that the Dutch fatality rate is commonly reckoned to be above 50%. I'm wondering if the deaths through malnutrition, disease etc which were not registered by the Red Cross, and of course those that occurred while awaiting repatriation after hostilities are actually included in the "698/700" above. It seems very low indeed. |
|
| |
Triceratops Censura
Posts : 4377 Join date : 2012-01-05
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Mon 07 Mar 2016, 14:09 | |
| This is a link to the Netherlands database of POW Index Cards. (32058 names in total) From what I can figure, the names with Japanese writing alongside are records of those who died in captivity; Dutch POW Index |
|
| |
PaulRyckier Censura
Posts : 4902 Join date : 2012-01-01 Location : Belgium
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Wed 09 Mar 2016, 21:55 | |
| "That which I recall from when I knew Jan and we used to discuss these events was that the Dutch fatality rate is commonly reckoned to be above 50%. I'm wondering if the deaths through malnutrition, disease etc which were not registered by the Red Cross, and of course those that occurred while awaiting repatriation after hostilities are actually included in the "698/700" above. It seems very low indeed."
Yes Nordmann I agree, one source, but nevertheless the book is backed also historically by historical academici as prof.dr. de Jong and prof.dr. Groen: "Omdat hij deze conclusie zelf nauwelijks kon geloven heeft hij zijn gegevens voorgelegd aan de historici prof. dr. L. de Jong en prof. dr. P.M.H. Groen en aan de schrijver Rudy Kousbroek. Ook zij konden echter geen fouten ontdekken in de analyse van het beschikbare archiefmateriaal en waren bereid deze vierde druk te voorzien van een aanbeveling. "
Kind regards, Paul. |
|
| |
PaulRyckier Censura
Posts : 4902 Join date : 2012-01-01 Location : Belgium
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line Wed 09 Mar 2016, 22:06 | |
| - Triceratops wrote:
- This is a link to the Netherlands database of POW Index Cards. (32058 names in total) From what I can figure, the names with Japanese writing alongside are records of those who died in captivity;
Dutch POW Index Thank you for that Triceratops. But if I understood it correctly it was only a list of the KNIL pows? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Netherlands_East_Indies_ArmyKind regards, Paul. |
|
| |
Sponsored content
| Subject: Re: The Pakan Baroet Railway line | |
| |
|
| |
| The Pakan Baroet Railway line | |
|