Wayne Kerr’s ANZAC Day in Kanchanaburi

[Wayne Kerr]

Kanchanaburi is a must for Aussies and Kiwis living in Thailand come 25th April each year. This marks ANZAC day, when we remember our forefathers who served and died in various wars.

For Wayne Kerr this means a lot. My grandfather was captured by the Japanese in Singapore during WWII and worked as one of their many hundreds of thousands of farang and Asian slaves building the Thai-Burma railway. He spent what should have been the best part of his life cutting and carrying rocks out of Hellfire Pass, on rations of a small bowl of rice a day. He suffered daily from the effects of beatings, starvation, disease, and humiliation at the hands of the Japanese. But he survived.

Post war he spent time in a rehabilitation camp in Nakhon Pathom, and as far as I can tell from his writings he shipped out of Southeast Asia to Australia from Phnom Penh. Of course his return to Australia wasn’t with out heartache. One of his mates was so weak he couldn’t fetch his own food and asked my grandfather to collect some rice for him. From what I read in my grandfather’s memoirs and things he’d said to my grandmother and father he ran off to collect this but by the time he returned his mate had died. I visit his mate’s grave at the war memorial in Kanchanaburi whenever I can, but was disappointed when I went there last October as they had cut down the mango tree under which he had spent the best part of the last half century. He also lost his childhood mate to a hand grenade thrown by a Jap when they were traveling to a camp soon after they’d been told the war was over.

Anyway for me there is lots of missing information about what actually went down. It must have been bloody hard for my grandfather to tell me about it when I was a teenager, and I suspect it would have been harder for him to tell my father. I feel lucky in that the last time I saw him he told me a lot about his life in Thailand. We were talking about me be sent here to work. He told me about the time he was so sick from malaria and dysentery, vomiting on his hands and knees near the border area of a camp and he thought he was as good as dead, and then some Thai farmers risked their lives by coming into the camp to give him some herbs and chillies to eat – he reckoned it saved his life. I always remember this when I hear farangs slagging the Thais off – although I’m sure old Pop would agree that they are bloody useless when it comes to computers. He also told me about how the Thai farmers would make fun of the Japanese soldiers, and how they would call them “kwai” much to the delight of the prisoners. He never forgot the Thai and Malay language he learnt. He was the first to teach me how to say “Sawatdee Krap” and told me the best way to remember that was that you’d always have a “Sweaty Cup” (cup=armpit) and that by the time I worked out I was saying it wrong I’d be saying it okay.

Anyway, enough of the gloom and doom. I can’t ever remember my grandfather dwelling on any negative shit. Before I post any of the pics and videos from Kanchanaburi, heres a poem and some pics from before the Japs got em.


^ My Grandfather in 1940 before being shipped out to Southeast Asia


^ My Grandfather smoking a pipe (on the left) before being captured


^ A poem written by my Grandfather about life in Malaysia

[Spin]

cool, earns a green

[MeMock]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[kingwilly]

great stuff - i hope ur gonna be around for the thailand tigers ANZAC day match!

[dirtydog]

Pictures of the war cemetries in Kanchanaburi

[ChiangMai noon]

I think we should give Wayne Kerr his own forum.

[MeMock]

I agree and I think he should change his name as he obviously isn't one.

[Marmite the Dog]

Was your grandfather's poem at the Australian museum?

I've got some pictures from there, when I went there last month. I must put them up sometime.

[El Gibbon]

Watched a program on Discovery or History channel last week. It has been shown a couple of times previously. They did some segments on Aussia prisoners that survived... whewww

Now, THAT was tough sledding for those guys.

An interesting fact I noted that with over 100,000 dead, Burmese and Malays, only three are buried in graves. They just pitched their bodies in the nearest ditch or gully.

The guy doing the show was 'given' the task of going down and getting one rock to carry back to the top. Damn near killed him, and that was ONE not hundred or thousands.

A truly remarkable piece of history that is now well known or recognized other than Aussie or NZ. Sad.

They showed a lot of old still photos, truly heart rending.

E. G.

[Wayne Kerr]

Anyway back to the road ...

Kanchanaburi Town

First stop on the trip after the 2 hr drive from Bangkok was Kanchanaburi town. This joint is a real tourist trap and to avoid this we ducked off to a quiet restaurant for a few hours to drink and watch the water pass under the bridge.

[Wayne Kerr]

Was your grandfather's poem at the Australian museum?

^ The one above isn't as far as I remember.

[Wayne Kerr]

great stuff - i hope ur gonna be around for the thailand tigers ANZAC day match!

Would love to go and watch a good game of footy with Wayne Jnr ... is the beer cold?

[sabang]

If you pretend to be a War veteran in Australia, you cannot buy a drink all day on Anzac.

[kingwilly]

great stuff - i hope ur gonna be around for the thailand tigers ANZAC day match!

Would love to go and watch a good game of footy with Wayne Jnr ... is the beer cold?

bladdy hell - of course it will be mate!

[kingwilly]

details and stuff...

The Thailand Tigers will host the Bali Geckos in the all-important ANZAC Day Commemorative Match at the Kanchanaburi Sports Ground at 3-00 pm on Saturday 28th April and to hold a private ceremony at Hellfire Pass on Sunday 29th April.
The Thailand Tigers have arranged a package for players and supporters for the weekend of 28th/29th April. Cost for travel, accommodation at Pung Waan Resort and Spa, and dinner on Saturday night is 2,500 baht on twin share basis. We have lined up a venue for the final of the Cricket World Cup later in the night.
If you are interested let Mark Robson vicepresident@thailand-tigers.com as soon as possible to reserve your place.
ANZAC Day, Kanchanaburi, and Hellfire Pass
As all Australians know, 25th April is ANZAC Day, the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zeand troops on the Gallipolli Peninsula in Turkey, and the day on which the whole of Australia holds solemn ceremonies of remembrance, gratitude and national pride for all our men and women who have fought and died in all wars.
For some years now, a dawn service has been held on 25th April at Hellfire Pass, near Kanchanaburi. Hellfire Pass was a part of the infamous Burma Railway, the construction of which claimed the lives of thousands of Australian, New Zealand and allied soldiers.
Full details of the ANZAC services at Hellfire Pass can be found on the Australian Embassy website.

The ANZAC Day Commemorative Match

Since 2004, the Thailand Tigers have held a match at Kanchanaburi to coincide with the ANZAC Day ceremonies at Hellfire Pass. The first of these was a tough affair against against a strong Malaysian Warriors side. Last year was an epic clash against the Hong Kong Dragons, resulting in a contraversial draw.
The ANZAC Day Commemorative Match has quickly become an Thailand Tigers institution and, this year's Asian Championships notwithstanding, has become the most important match on our annual calendar.
A tradition has now been established with many Asian sides keen to participate in this special match. This is evidenced by the enthusiasm with which the Bali Geckos accepted an invitation to play, despite the fact they will be back in Bangkok again in seven weeks time to contest the Asian Championships!

The Quiet Lions Tour A feature of the last few ANZAC Day Commemorative Matches has been the attendence each year of several Diggers who worked on the Burma Railway while prisoners of war.
Their presence in the past has been an honour and an inspiration, and serves to remind us all of the reason why we are all there on the day. This year will be no different, with four Diggers - past attendees Bill Haskell and Ernie Redman, joined by Snow Fairclough and Arthur Leggatt - planning to join us on the day.
The Diggers are part of the Quiet Lion tour, who visit Thailand for the ANZAC Day services and stay on to tour the area and enjoy our match, which falls on the Saturday after ANZAC Day.
The Hellfire Pass Wreath Laying Ceremony Another feature of the weekend is a private ceremony at the Hellfire Pass Memorial for players and supporters on the Sunday morning.
The visit includes a walk along several hundred metres of the old path of the railway through Hellfire Pass and the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum, built and operated by the Office of Australian War Graves.

The Match Preview

Thailand Tigers

vs

Bali Geckos

It has been several years since the Thailand Tigers have played the Bali Geckos. The last (and possibly only?) time we played, the Bali Geckos took advantage of our inability to get out of bed in any fit state for an 8-00 am game at the Asian Championships in Kuala Lumpar in 2004, delivering us a comprehensiive but unfortunately too late wake up call.
In the three years since since then, we have watched from the sidelines they finished runner-up to Singapore in the Asian Championships in both Manila (2005) and Jakarta (2006), just running out of steam against the massive Wombat touring parties each time.
The are a tall, young (well, compared to us, anyway), and fit side, which is hardly surprising as by all reports they spend 10 hours of each day swimming, surfing, and enjoying the Bali sun...as you would!
So we know we cannot take them lightly at all, despite the distance they must travel to compete.
We are also fielding a side that has undergone a deal of change since our dramatic draw at the 2006 ANZAC Day Commemorative Match against Hong Kong. Fortunately, we have managed to pick up a few talented young(ish) players to compensate for the loss of some experienced Tigers and have no doubt we will be highly competitive on the day.
Best on ground will receive the ‘Smallhorn Award’ named in honour of Wilfred ‘Chicken’ Smallhorn.
All in all, it should be tough contest, worthy of the day the match commemorates.

2006 ANZAC Day Commemorative Match Preview 2005 ANZAC Day Commemorative Match Report

[Wayne Kerr]

Seems I missed the boat on the footy match ... sounds as though it would have been a good day up there.

Anyway, back to the road …

ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Hellfire Pass

As far as I know there are two ANZAC Day services in Kanchanaburi. The first is the dawn service at Hellfire Pass about 80km north of the city centre. The other is at the war cemetery in town later in the day. This year we just went up north for the dawn service and enjoyed a lazy day around the hotel pool before pissing off back to Bangkok for work. We stay at the River Kwai Village Resort, the food there is absolute crap, but the pool is great, and the beer is always icy cold.

The dawn service this year was as eerie as ever. I guess about 1000 people walk down into the small Konyu Cutting and listen to all manner of speeches, an old bloke playing the bag pipes from up on a small cliff (finished off with Amazing Grace this year), and the military guys play the Last Post. Then everyone ducks back up the hill to the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum to eat meat pies and drink Bundaberg Rum.

I never thought I’d hear myself say it, but the speech from the Kiwi Ambassador to Thailand was a standout this year. Had a chat and a drink with him later on … he is just new on the job here and a really nice chap. My videos of the speeches worked out crap, so I wrote down what I heard him say to pass on to Wayne Jnr one day. Here it is:

KIWI AMBASSADOR'S SPEECH ON ANZAC DAY 2007: HELLFIRE PASS

Veterans, Families of Veterans, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning. Sawatdee khrap. Kia ora.

It is an honour to be asked as a New Zealander to speak in this place.

ANZAC Day commemorates the shared catastrophe of Gallipoli and has become the day when the people of New Zealand and Australia stop to remember all of those who fought and died in war. It is the day, more than any other, when trans-Tasman cousins stand shoulder to shoulder.

We have much to celebrate together, and much to mourn together, as we look back over our shared and illustrious wartime histories. But Hellfire Pass is first and foremost an Australian tragedy.

The memories carved into the unforgiving rock of this cutting are from boys who grew up in Ballarat and Melbourne and Bowral and Moroochydoor.

They are memories of raucous cockatoos and flashy rosellas, of the mist hanging in steep valleys, of eucalyptus trees at dusk, and of listening to the cricket on the radio on a hot Saturday afternoon.

They are also memories of pain and of suffering, of hunger and fear, of small kindnesses, and of mateship.

And so it is that today we remember with sorrow but also with pride all of those who worked and all of those who fell on the Death Railway, and especially those who died to complete this cutting.

As with all who have served their country in time of war, we remember their courage and their forbearance. We remember the horrors they endured. And we remember their sacrifices.

We give thanks that by their example, and by their lives, they stand as a reminder of all that is good and gracious and worth fighting for. May the peace they so honourably won for us be their lasting memorial.

In the face of such a legacy, purchased at such a price, it is indeed a great honour to be asked as a New Zealander to speak in this place.

Thank you.

^ Loved the bit about listening to the cricket on a hot Saturday afternoon .

[Wayne Kerr]

My photos from this trip aren’t much chop. Experimenting with a new camera and all that. Anyway here’s a few I managed to salvage from the service.


^ A big bunch of people gathered around the commemorative stone down in Konyu Cutting at Hellfire Pass at about 5.00am


^ It is candle lit down in there except for all the camera flashes going off all the time


^ Getting photos was pretty hard work down in there – especially with this bloody TV camera man getting in everyone’s way


^ The commemorative stone down in Konyu Cutting


^ A scene from inside the cutting look down to where the ceremony took place


^ Looking south down the cutting


^ Looking west over the range into Burma – taken from the track on the way back up the hill to the museum for a nip or two of Bundy Rum .

[Wayne Kerr]

^Wayne Jnr. propping up the bar .

[kingwilly]

that dawn service is good, here's my little boy and his friend.

[gos]

Great thread Wayne I must try to get there next year

[dirtydog]

Wayne Jnr. propping up the bar .

Doing an impression of his father no doubt

[sledge]

are you wanye kerr from new plymouth

[Wayne Kerr]

are you wanye kerr from new plymouth

No but I think I may have met him, he married Theresa Green right?

[sledge]

don't know, I knew his younger brother Troy about 20 yrs ago. Had a hotted up Mark 2 Escort that we use to pull the chicks in.

[Jock Itch]

Great post Wayne - would truly be an eerie place with the ghosts of so many who fell there.

My Grandfather was posted in New Guinea, whilst several of his brothers suffered in concentration camps.

It seems ironic that now in his late years having been plagued by parkinsons and alzheimers for the last few years; that some of his war stories have started trickling out.
Whilst sometimes struggling to remember my name; he can recall shellings by the japs and near misses by US planes whilst on patrol as if it happened yesterday.
Much that he has kept secret for over 60 years has finally trickled out - but never too late.

Shame my trip couldn't have been a few days earlier to take in the experience

L.W.F.


DM