It's an impressive story and hard for anybody of us to even imagine in this day and age.
These days I live in Bangkok and have been fortunate enough to take the train that rides over the track these POW have made. It was a very humbling experience.
Especially the parts where the train drives through rocky areas where the walls have all been cut by human force, no explosives have been used.
It takes a whole day to drive the track which is among the parts that make it so hard to believe it has all been made by hand and that so many people have died while making it.
These days I live in Bangkok and have been fortunate enough to take the train that rides over the track these POW have made. It was a very humbling experience. Especially the parts where the train drives through rocky areas where the walls have all been cut by human force, no explosives have been used. It takes a whole day to drive the track which is among the parts that make it so hard to believe it has all been made by hand and that so many people have died while making it.
See also: http://www.seat61.com/Bridge-on-the-River-Kwai.htm
If you ever get a chance to visit, then I can highly recommend it.
Unfortunately looking at what these POW achieved is one of the few things we can do to honor those who suffered there.