Very Rare Japanese Army Burma – Thailand Railway Completion Commemoration Railroad Spike Mode

Description

Very Rare Japanese Army Burma – Thailand Railway Completion Commemoration Railroad Spike

This is a post-war commemorative item made to commemorate veterans of the 9th Railroad Regiment who came home after the war. The item itself is a railroad spike made of what looks to be copper. The words on the spike itself as « Thailand-Burma Connection Railway Completion Commemoration » « Showa 18th Year (1943) October 25th ». This is the infamous « Death Railway » that is featured in the fictional movie and book « The Bridge on the River Kwai ». The campaign to build this railroad involved two railroad regiments, the 5th and the 9th. It also used a very large number of forced labour in the hundreds of thousands, and many deaths ensued in the terrible conditions due to disease and malnutrition.

The lid of the box says « 9th Railroad Regiment 40th Return Anniversary ». This would probably date the item at 1985 – some kind of reunion of the remaining soldiers of the regiment who made it out alive at the time and survived till then.

Condition: Excellent – a couple small spots of what looks to be a little oxidation. Please see pictures

Size: The spike is 5.5″ long and quite heavy (around 400g)