The Burma Railway Termites — How POWs Sabotaged the Death Railway from the Inside

POWs building the Burma Railway (the 'Death Railway') — constructed by the Japanese using 60,000 Allied POWs and 200,000 Asian forced laborers — developed a sophisticated communication system using tapping codes based on Morse code. But their most ingenious sabotage method involved termites. POWs deliberately weakened wooden bridge supports and then allowed them to be eaten by insects during the monsoon. The bridge over the River Kwai collapsed seven times during construction. The POWs would then 'repair' it just enough for the Japanese to think the bridge was functional, knowing it would collapse again. When the Japanese finally discovered the sabotage, they could not determine who was responsible because the damage appeared to be natural. Over 12,000 Allied POWs died during the railway's construction, and an estimated 90,000 Asian laborers perished.