Petchaburi, Phetchaburi, Phetburi - Thailand

Petchaburi, Phetburi – Thailand

Above:  Camp plan with surrounding moate!  First occupied January 1945.

Petchaburi POW Camp 21 Sep 1945 – 816 men were awaiting evacuation from here.

This Camp was approx. 160 Km  (80 miles) south-west of Bangkok on the Singapore-Thailand railway. The camp was 20 km west of the town of Petchaburi and about 5 miles to the coast of the Gulf of Siam.  The  camp was 1/2 mile from the Buddist Monastery known as Wat Tham Rong and today (2023) is about 250 years old.

Building of this camp by Australian POWs commenced 6 Feb 1945.  At one point in time there were 2,500 POWs of various nationalities working on the construction of two nearby airstrips – for Japanese bombers. Clearing jungle, labouring with pick and shovel, crushing rock and carrying rocks and dirt.  The POWs worked in the sun all day and were subjected to the usual beatings from Japanese private who thought the men were not working as hard as they should.

Although the completed tarmac was never used by the Japanese it was used by Allied aircraft to evacuate POWs at the end of the war.

The following description has been prepared by American POWs.

There were 7 barracks 100 yds 7 10 yds.  The compound about 200 yds by 200 yds with a 12 feet high bamboo fence surrounded by a  moate 12 ft X 9 ft.  The roof was of bamboo and thatch with dirt floors and bamboo slatting for bedding.  There were about 750 Australians, 750 British, between 27-34 Americans, 3 Chinese.

The food was meagre – the rice had become mouldy in the storage bags – the Japanese took the best and left the remainder for POWs half of which could not be used.  The cooks always prepared a type of stew, mostly with one ingredient – rice.

By this time of the war, the POWs were generally in poor health.  The Doctors did all they could with very little.  The men tore up clothing and mosquito netting for bandages then risking being cold and malaria.  The Japanese allowed the POWs to out together a makeshift hospital at the end of one of the barracks where the POWs could undertake minor operations.  There were four British, one Australian and one American doctor.

Latrines were located about 20ft south of the kitchen and  uncovered 4ft X 25ft x 15ft deep.  Pieces of bamboo had been placed across the top for men to stand on.

For the men to wash bamboo platforms had been laid on the ground 25 ft X 25 ft to stand on with side screen made same as barracks roofing, but no roof.   The POWs would take their bucket filled with water to wash.

The interpreter was unusual, he had lived 26 years in US near Boston, and it was thought he had a PHD from Harvard.  His Japanese family in the US was interned near New York State. The interpreter who stood 5′ 5″ tall had been repatriated to Japan when the war started.  (One wonders why the US government undertook repatriation of young men of fighting age).  He was a fair man and provided information about all the guards.  He had no authority.  His command of English was probably superior than the average American and this proved advantageous as he was able to easily translate for the POWs.

The only pieces of clothing provided was a pair rubber shoes in May 1945 and skivvie shirts in June.  When the surrender was announced and before the allies arrived the Japanese somehow found a substantial  supply of clothing in Bangkok which they endeavoured to give to the men but the amount was too great and they did not have the trucks to haul it.  It was never distributed because the Japanese did not wish to see the POWs dressed better than their men and as good as Japanese officers.

Morale was considered positive because the POWs could see the Allied Air Forces flying over every day.

Following completion of Burma-Thai railway the surviving POWs were concentrated in the Kanchanaburi area from where work parties were dispatched during 1944-45 to various locations in Burma, Thailand and Indo-China.  Phetburi was one of these locations.

Those from 2/4th known to be at this camp include Heppingstone WX8525, WX9419 Harry Steele.

Gordon Foot WX15719 was evacuated here from Nakom Chassi via Chumphon  at the end of the war.

WX7499 Ralph Thomas WILLIAMS March – July 1945 – then sent Nakom Nayok.

WX9333 Arthur Thomas WHITE from Chungkai to Petchaburi then to Kachu Mountain Camp.

WX178904 Albert Sidney WEBB from Chungkai to Petchaburi to Lopburi to Nakom Nayok.

WX8502 Elliott Alfred Alexander WATT from Chungkai to Petchaburi to Nakom Nayok.

WX9381 Arthur Henry WATSON – from Nacompaton to Petchaburi to Kachu Mountain Camp

WX7248 Frank THAXTER from Mergui Escape Road to Petchaburi

WX9429 Harold STEELE From Pratchinburui to Linson Wood Camp to Petchaburi.

WX107894 Percy STURTRIDGE from Mergui Escape Road to Petchaburi

WX9827 Reg STRIBLING from  Nakom Chassi.

WX13552 Roy SMITH from Chumphon to Petchaburi to Kachu Mountain Camp.

WX7784 John Wilfred SMITH from Chunkai to Kachu Mountain Camp to Petchaburu to Chumphon to Nakom Nayok.

WX5007 Jack SCHURMANN Chungkai to Linson Wood to Kachu Mountain Camp to Bangkok to Nakom Nayok to Bangkok.

WX6799 Ern RICKETTS from Non Pladuk to Petchaburi to Kachu Mountain Camp to Bangkok.

WX7621 Bill REEVES from Mergui Road Escape to Petchaburi to Bangkok.

WX8225 John PRYCE from Petchaburi to Kachu Mountain Camp

WX10790 Harry Claude NORRIS from Kanchanaburi to Non Pladuk, Chumphon, to Petchaburi, Kachu Mountain Camp to Bangkok.

Phetburi, Thailand. 23 September 1945. A corner of the Phetburi prisoner of war (POW) camp showing the anti-escape ditch constructed by the Australians under the direction of the Japanese. Phetburi (Petchaburi) lies approximately 160 kilometres south of Bangkok on the Singapore-Thailand railway. Following completion of the Burma-Thailand railway in 1943, the surviving POWs were concentrated in the Kanchanaburi area. From there, numerous working parties were dispatched in 1944-45 to various locations in Burma, Thailand and Indo China. Phetburi was one of these locations. The camp was built by Australian POWs in February 1945. At one period 2,500 mixed POWs were quartered in the camp, and employed on aerodrome construction. The completed tarmac, never used by the Japanese, was used by Allied aircraft to evacuate surviving POWs at the end of the war.

Phetburi (Petchaburi), Thailand. 23 September 1945. 8th Division ex-prisoners of war (POWs) of the Japanese give eyes right to Major C. E. Green, Commanding Officer, 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion during a march past at Phetburi POW camp. Major Green had been the Commanding Officer of Green Battalion part of Brigadier A. L. Varley’s A Force in Burma 1942-44.