Traces of War: Survivors of the Burma and Sumatra Railways

First edition of Traces of War: Survivors of the Burma and Sumatra Railways by Jan Banning. First impression. Medium format hardback in near fine condition. A small soft bump to the top outer corner of the boards only.

About

Victory for the allied forces in the Pacific theatre of the Second World War will be celebrated in August, 60 years after the Japanese Emperor Hirohito conceded defeat. There will be among the celebrants a small, largely forgotten group who will once again have to relive their nightmares of the war in the Pacific. Dutch, English, Australian and American POWs were among more than a quarter of a million Asians - so called romushas - forced by the Japanese to work on railways in Burma and Sumatra. They worked in desperate conditions. Between 50 and 80 per cent of the romushas did not survive the regime, not least as a result of being torpedoed in transit. The sinking of the Junyo Maru, for instance, resulted in the deaths of 4000 romushas and 1500 prisoners of war. In Traces of War the Dutch photographer Jan Banning has interviewed and photographed just 24 of the Dutch and Indonesian survivors. The haunting images show them as they worked, naked from the waist up. The words elicit, with a matter-of-fact disinterest, the misery of their constant understanding of death. Unsurprisingly, after their experiences, they have hitherto been loath to discuss their ordeals.