Anzac Day Dawn Service at Hellfire Pass, Thailand

Each Anzac Day, in the pre-dawn darkness surrounded by jungle, more than 500 mostly Australians, gather for the Dawn Service at a disused section of the Burma-Thailand Railway, known as Hellfire Pass.

*Bamboo lanterns light the way to Hellfire Pass*

In past years, ex POW’s have been present as special VIPs. But, now in their late 90’s, their ranks are thinning. Also present are dignitaries such as the Australian and New Zealand ambassadors to Thailand and various senior military officials and provincial governors from Thailand. Australian and New Zealand military personnel complete the line up.

With a respectful silence from all those present, the Service starts at 5:30am with the mounting of the catafalque party. Wreaths are laid and by the time of the reading of the ‘Ode’, dawn is breaking. The jungle comes to life with calls from the birds and the monkeys all announcing the new day. The Last Post is sounded and when the Service is finished, in true Anzac Day tradition, a ‘gunfire breakfast’ is held serving rum (coffee and tea available, of course), Anzac biscuits and these days, a sausage sizzle.

But Anzac Day at Hellfire Pass has a deeper significance for Australians as it was on Anzac Day in 1943, that a contingent of 400 Australian POW’s marched in to start work on its construction, joining the 1,200 British and Dutch POW’s aleady working in the area.

Hellfire Pass was the largest cutting along the entire Burma-Thailand Railway. It measured 75 meters long and 25 metres at its deepest point. Construction which required the removal of solid rock largely with the use of hand tools, started in November 1942. It was during the ‘Speedo’ period when the Japanese made a push for the early completion of the railway, that the Australians arrived. They would work 16-17 hour days in all weather conditions under the harsh treatment and living conditions imposed by the Japanese. In all nearly 70 Australian, British and Dutch POW’s died on this section of the railway.

*Anzac Day Dawn Service at Hellfire Pass*

Originally known as Konyu Cutting it was renamed Hellfire Pass by the POW’s. At night, the cutting would be lit with bamboo fires and oil lamps. Sparks would fly as the ‘hammer and tap’ technique (a process where one man held the drill or tap and the other would hit the tap with a large hammer) was used to drill down into the rock before the hole was filled with explosives and detonated. To the POW’s, the scene of the flickering light against the shadows, the noise from the drilling and shuffling of the POW’s, conjured up impressions of hell and so the site became known as Hellfire Pass.

After the war, the railway was dismantled and Hellfire Pass along with much of the railway, returned to the jungle. It was only in the mid 1980’s that it was rediscovered. With the assistance of the Australian Government and in collaboration with the Thai authorities, over the next decade, this mountainous section of the railway was uncovered and converted into a walking track so that visitors could see (or at least visualise) the vastness of the construction work. A museum was built to enhance the visitor’s experience telling the story of the POW’s in this area, the construction techniques employed and more broadly, the story of the Burma-Thailand Railway.

In 1990, the first Anzac Day Service was held at Hellfire Pass and continues uninterrupted to this day.