![]() ![]() Nonetheless, after the Japanese invaded Burma in 1942, they used forced labour involving nearly 200,000 Asian civilians and 60,000 Allied PoWs to work on building the railway. ![]() The British had also looked into building a railway between Burma and Thailand but the route of the line - through hilly jungle terrain divided by many rivers – was considered too dangerous and difficult to undertake. The work on the railway started in 1938 and was abandoned and never resumed due to the Japanese Army advancement in the Far East in the Second World War. The latest sale of photo albums and the copy of the Railway Connexion of Burmah and China are said to be worth £900 and are being sold on March 18 The second is made up of 450 photos of the East, Central and West Divisions and shows surveying in the jungle, tree felling, construction of bridges, culverts and railway buildings. The first album contains 101 photos celebrating the opening of the first 26 miles of the Eastern Division of the Gold Coast Railway in 1910 and shows dignitaries aboard the train. 'Being the railway enthusiast that he was, he picked these photos and postcards up during his time there.' 'When he came back from the Far East to the UK Mr Lomax struggled to settle down to a normal life again so he joined the Colonial Service and he was posted to the Gold Coast. 'The book is quite poignant when you consider what happed to him in the Second World War. Henry Baggot, of auctioneers Bonhams, said: 'This book and the albums of photographs were left over from Eric Lomax's own library and they are now being sold by his family. The photos, postcards and the book, Railway Connexion of Burmah and China, are now being sold by his family at auction in London. He was posted to the Gold Coast where he helped to build a huge dam across the Volta river and oversaw the construction of a 600 mile, 3ft 6in gauge railway. They show British engineers overseeing the construction of the Gold Coast Railway in the early 20th century.Īfter his brutal ordeal as a Japanese PoW, Mr Lomax struggled to adjust to civilian life and joined the Colonial Service, which administered most of Britain's overseas possessions. The snaps had been lovingly compiled into two albums by war veteran Mr Lomax, a huge railway enthusiast who spent his life collecting books, documents and photos. Since his death in 2012, his widow Patti - played by Nicole Kidman in the critically-acclaimed movie - has been sorting out his library at their home in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland. This book predates his time there by 54 years Mr Lomax worked on the Burma Railway under horrific conditions and his autobiography about the ordeal was turned into the 2013 film The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth. ![]()
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