The Mergui Road

1000 sick and exhausted prisoners were selected for this arduous task

And why such cruel inhumanity you might ask

The Japs needed a road through a solid mountain for insurance

But the gaunt, sick and emaciated POWs had very little chance

The Japs were desperate to get the job done

So they took their Labour from the the hospital at Nakhon Pathom

The men were sick tired and weary

But the Nips couldn’t care less and made their lives dreary

Day after day in tropical heat

They laboured like slaves with ulcers and cuts on their bare feet

The terrain was rough and the work was tiring and not very nice

Putting in 12 hours a day on a little water and some rice

If a man collapsed because he was tired and sick

The brutal Jap guards would beat him with a bamboo stick

Without a care for his illness and obvious despair

The vicious Jap guards would shout Speedo and wave there bayonets in the air

After many months of torture and strife

The remaining FEPOWS were lucky to hold on to life

The road was finished and hundreds and hundreds had died

The survivors would never forget and many cried

The Japs were delighted and proud of completing their task

But was it worth so many brave FEPOW lives you may well ask

Japan is a nation so proud of its courage and bravery

But what they did to the FEPOWS was cruel, barbaric and far worse than slavery

They may chose to ignore it and omit it from schools

But trust me, my generation will never forget so don’t take us for fools

Your inhumane treatment of our loved ones was vicious and cruel

So let your young ones know and teach it in school

Unless you apologise properly and admit your crimes

Your deplorable barbarity will be lambasted until the end of times

My dad was a victim of your torture and sadism on the railway and the Mergui Road shedding many tears

And I will tell my son to tell his and his and his to keep the flame burning for years, years and years.

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A Tribute to the Mergui Road dead and survivors

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Mike Berry