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THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, SITUATED IN BURMA AND THAILAND, VISITED BY LARRY IN JANUARY, 2005, WAS CONSTRUCTED BY 61,000 ALLIED PRISONERS OF WAR, MOSTLY BRITISH AND AUSTRALIAN, CAPTURED BY THE JAPANESE DURING WW2, ACTUAULLY 1942 AND 1943. THE BRIDGE WAS BUILT TO JOIN BANGKOK, THAILAND TO RANGOON, BURMA. AFTER THE JUNE 1942 BATTLE OF MIDWAY JAPAN LOST ITS NAVAL SUPERIORITY IN THE PACIFIC AND DESPERATELY NEEDED MEANS TO GO OVERLAND WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF CONQUERING INDIA. CONSTRUCTION OF THE BRIDGE UNDER THE WORST HUMAN CONDITIONS RESULTED IN THOUSANDS OF DEATHS AMONG THE PRISONERS. THE BRIDGE WAS LATER BOMBED BY THE ALLIES, AND THEN RECONSTRUCTED. |
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