Track from the notorious Thai-Burma railway were brought to a new home in Staffordshire to form a permanent memorial to the thousands of Allied troops who died building it.
Up to 50 former Far East prisoners of war veterans and their families yesterday (January 8th 2002) watched the arrival of a 30-metre section of the 415-kilometre line from the Railway of Death.
Fog and an accident on the M5 delayed the arrival of the fragile pieces of track at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas near Lichfield.
But as the mist lifted and the convoy arrived, the old soldiers filed silently behind three standard bearers as the cargo was unloaded.
Some helped carry the timber to raised ground lined with saplings in memory of soldiers who fell in the Far East.
Others simply touched the pieces which symbolised their suffering and hardship or swapped stories about their experiences, as vivid now as they were nearly 60 years ago.
It was an emotional day for Alex Bourne, aged 88, of Northfield, Birmingham, who was in the Royal Navy when he was captured by the Japanese in March, 1942 after his boat sank.
"I have terrible memories of friends who died from starvation, illness and brutal treatment and a lot of them were young men just 18 and 19, one was 16," said Mr Bourne.
"It is hard to forgive and forget, it was so brutal, you never knew when you were going to get hit of kicked."
One veteran, 86-year-old Fred Seiker, of Worcester, was comforted by his wife, Liz, as they lay tributes to the dead on the termite-eaten sleepers.
Mr Seiker, a Dutch-born former engineer who has a permanent collection of artwork at the Arboretum depicting his time as a PoW, said afterwards that for him, the rails are a "living, tangible thing".
Also attending yesterday was Thomas Mckie, aged 81, of Bartley Green, Birmingham. He still bears the scars of his 18 months working on the railway. The backs of his hands are peppered with cigarette burns.
The track was collected by a Royal Navy frigate during a recent visit to Thailand.
The permanent display is the result of several years of talks between the arboretum and other organisations, including the Kwai Railway Memorial Group, with the Thai authorities who agreed to release the section for transport back to the UK.
Arboretum director David Childs said; "In the end we got there, a few people had gone home but there was still a crowd of 60 to 70 people.
"I'm really pleased and the veterans were delighted, they said they had had a wonderful day although it obviously brought back a lot of sad memories."
