The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge over the River Kwai (French:Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai) is a novel by Pierre Boulle, published in 1952, that won France's "Prix Ste Beuve." It is a fictional story but it is based upon the real plight of Allied prisoners of war during World War II forced to build the 258-mile Death Railway by Japanese forces.

Related Topics:
French - Pierre Boulle - 1952 - France's - Allied - Prisoners of war - World War II - Death Railway - Japan

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The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) was a Anglo-American war film based on the book. It was filmed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and England.

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1957 - War film - Sri Lanka - England

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The story is based on the building in 1943 of one of the railway bridges over the Kwai Yai at a place called Tamarkan five kilometres from the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. This was part of a project to link existing Thai and Burmese railway lines to create a route from Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) to support the Japanese occupation of Burma. About a hundred thousand conscripted Asian labourers and 16,000 prisoners of war died on the whole project.

Related Topics:
1943 - Kwai Yai - Thai - Kanchanaburi - Bangkok - Rangoon - Burma - Myanmar - Asia

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