Paul Whittle will tell the true story. He is a Freeman of the City of London, a former member of the Royal Signal Territorial Army and a Regimental Historian for his Regiment. He has travelled widely and lectured for more that 20 years. He raises funds for Myanmar, India, Nepal and elsewhere. He is vice chair of the Darjeeling and Malayan Railway Society. Among other charitable activities, Paul is President of an Epsom-based community club for the blind and partially sighted.

The River Kwai Railway was built at appalling human cost. The 250-mile  WW2 Burma-to-Thailand railway was a desperately needed supply route for the Japanese. Paul’s talk covers the construction and operation of the railway and then contrasts the grim reality with the fiction of the 1957 film.