Scotland’s Forgotten Soldiers: The FEPoWs of the Burma-Siam Railway

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They were men from communities across the north, north-east, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, and Stirling who endured unimaginable horror in the Far East. Many were Gordon Highlanders, captured after the fall of Singapore in February 1942, and forced into brutal labour on the infamous Burma-Siam Railway, also known as the Death Railway. Alongside them were soldiers of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who also suffered under the harsh conditions imposed by their Japanese captors.

These men, along with thousands of other British PoWs, suffered starvation, disease, and brutality at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Many never returned home, their final resting places lying in the war cemeteries of Thailand and Myanmar. Those who did survive were forever marked by their experiences.

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The 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders and 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had been stationed in Malaya as part of Britain’s defence against Japanese expansion in the region. When Singapore fell on 15 February 1942, over 60,000 British and Australian troops were taken prisoner.

Among them were thousands of Scottish soldiers, many from Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Banffshire, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, and Stirling. Their fate would be one of suffering and forced labour, far removed from the European theatre of war. The Geneva Convention, which should have protected their welfare, was ignored by Japan, which had signed but never ratified the agreement. The PoWs were nothing more than a workforce to be exploited.

Forced Labour on the Death Railway

In October 1942, thousands of PoWs were transported to Thailand by train in conditions so appalling that many did not survive the journey. They were packed into metal boxcars, which became blazing hot during the day and freezing cold at night, enduring a five-day journey with little food, no water, and no sanitation.

On arrival in Thailand, their first task was to construct bamboo huts for sleeping, though the priority was always the railway. The Gordon Highlanders and Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, along with other British PoWs, were sent to Hellfire Pass, Kanyu, and Nikki, where they were forced to carve through solid rock using only hammers, chisels, and dynamite.

The Kanyu cutting, part of Hellfire Pass, was one of the most brutal sections. Working 18-hour shifts, often in total darkness lit only by bamboo fires, PoWs became skeletal, disease-ridden figures. It was a scene so nightmarish that survivors described it as a vision of hell.

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The Story of Ernest Gordon

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Gordon was born in Scotland on 31st May 1916. He joined the 2nd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders before the Second World War as a Territorial Army officer. When war broke out, he was deployed to the Far East to defend British colonial possessions, including India, Burma, and the strategic naval base of Singapore.

When Singapore fell on 15 February 1942, Gordon was among the 60,000 Allied soldiers captured. Refusing to surrender to his fate, he and several other prisoners managed to escape to Java, where they secured a native fishing boat and attempted to sail to Sri Lanka. However, their luck ran out when they were intercepted by a Japanese warship and returned to Singapore.

Gordon was force-marched with hundreds of other prisoners from Singapore to the jungles of Siam, where they became part of the brutal Death Railway construction. Enduring unimaginable hardship, he suffered from malnutrition, malaria, diphtheria, typhoid, beriberi, and jungle ulcers. He also underwent a kidney operation without anaesthesia. Near death, he was moved to the "Death Ward", a barracks where prisoners expected to die were abandoned.

However, two fellow PoWs, “Dusty” Miller and “Dinty” Moore, tended to him day and night, treating his wounds with whatever meagre supplies they could find. Inspired by their selflessness, Gordon found renewed strength and survived. As he recovered, he established a secret university in the camp, giving his fellow prisoners a sense of hope and purpose. Eventually, even the Japanese guards permitted its operation.

Gordon witnessed firsthand the cruelty of their captors. One harrowing incident involved a Japanese guard beating a soldier to death over a missing shovel—only for it to be later discovered that the shovel had never been lost.

Liberation came in 1945, but Gordon’s suffering was not over. He learned that his saviours had not survived—Dusty had been crucified by a Japanese soldier, and Dinty perished when an unmarked prisoner transport ship was sunk by Allied forces.

After the war, Gordon moved to America, becoming Dean of the Chapel at Princeton University. He later wrote his autobiography, To End All Wars, which was adapted into a 2001 film starring Robert Carlyle and Kiefer Sutherland. Gordon passed away on 16 January 2002, survived by his children Alastair and Gillian Crozier.

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Honouring Scotland’s FEPoWs

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For years, the suffering of the Scottish Far East Prisoners of War was overlooked. The story of World War II in Britain remained centred on the European front, with escape stories from German PoW camps like Colditz taking prominence.

The Gordon Highlanders, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and other Scottish regiments who endured forced labour, disease, and brutal treatment in the Far East were largely forgotten. Yet their legacy lives on in the cemeteries where they are honoured:

• Kanchanaburi War Cemetery (Thailand)

• Chungkai War Cemetery (Thailand)

• Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery (Myanmar)

Memorials and museums, including the Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen, ensure their sacrifices are not lost to history

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 We Must Never Forget

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The Scottish soldiers of the Burma-Siam Railway were part of a forgotten army, their suffering overlooked for decades. But their endurance, courage, and sacrifice deserve to be remembered.

As we mark each VJ Day on 15 August, we must ensure that their stories—of brutal captivity, survival against all odds, and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit—are never forgotten.

They were men from Scotland’s towns and villages who endured one of the worst horrors of the Second World War. Their names may fade, but their legacy must live on.

Lest we forget.