The Burma Railway's Secret Messages

POWs building the Burma Railway (the 'Death Railway') developed a sophisticated communication system using the tapping code based on Morse code, which allowed them to warn each other of approaching guards during sabotage. When Allied commando Operation Jedburgh team member Lt. Col. Philip Toosey ordered systematic destruction of the bridge over the River Kwai, the prisoners sabotaged it multiple times using termites — deliberately weakening wooden supports and then allowing them to be eaten by insects during monsoon. The bridge collapsed seven times during construction and had to be rebuilt.