If you could spare
a few dollars to help with the running costs of
hosting this website to keep it alive would be
very much appreciated.
Thankyou from Gravesites of Tasmania in advance.
SHEPHERD,
ANDREW JACOB
Son
of James Robert and Elsie May ShepherdHusband
of Nellie Edith Johnson
Service
No
TX
5094
Rank
Private
Regiment
Australian Infantry
AIF 2/40 Bn
Date of Birth
14.01.1913
Place of Birth
Fingal
Tasmania
Place of Enlistment
Cressy, Tasmania
Age
30
Date of Death
01.08.1943
Buried
Kanchanaburi
War
Cemetery
The notorious Burma-Siam
railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a
Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the
large Japanese army in
Burma
. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were
buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in
the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the
Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in
Siam
(
Thailand
) and
Burma
(
Myanmar
). Two labour forces, one based in
Siam
and the other in
Burma
worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre. The Japanese aimed at
completing the railway in 14 months and work began in October 1942. The line,
424 kilometres long, was completed by December 1943. The graves of those who
died during the construction and maintenance of the Burma-Siam railway (except
for the Americans, whose remains were repatriated) were transferred from camp
burial grounds and isolated sites along the railway into three cemeteries at
Chungkai and Kanchanaburi in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar.
KANCHANABURI
WAR
CEMETERY
is only a short distance from the site of the former 'Kanburi', the prisoner of
war base camp through which most of the prisoners passed on their way to other
camps. It was created by the Army Graves Service who transferred to it all
graves along the southern section of railway, from
Bangkok
to Nieke. Some 300 men who died during an epidemic at Nieke camp were cremated
and their ashes now lie in two graves in the cemetery. The names of these men
are inscribed on panels in the shelter pavilion. There are now 5,084
Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War buried or commemorated in this
cemetery. There are also 1,896 Dutch war graves. Within the entrance building to
the cemetery will be found the KANCHANABURI MEMORIAL, recording the names of 11
men of the army of undivided
India
buried in Muslim cemeteries in
Thailand
, where their graves could not be maintained. The cemetery was designed by Colin
St Clair Oakes.
Please note
that there might be information from other websites or brochures
"reprinted" here- under the laws of "fair use". In every instance -we
hope- we have provided a direct link to the owners web site. We do not
claim rights or ownership to any of their information. We do thank them
sincerely for their efforts. We have in every instance made a good faith
effort to contact and request 'reprint' permission. Nonetheless, we do
want to be certain that nothing gets lost due to web site disappearance
and the like, so it appears duplicated here.
Gravesites Of Tasmania,
Honouring the past, building understanding.
