Allied War Cemetery

Directly across the street from the museum is the Allied War Cemetery, a fitting memorial to the POWs who died building the railway. The lovingly tended grounds is the final resting place of only a small portion of the total number of prisoners who died during the construction of the railway. It is estimated that more than 100,000 men died, 16,000 of whom were Western POWs, mainly from Britain and Holland.

Conscripted labourers, many from Japanese-occupied Southeast Asian countries, suffered even higher causalities; it is estimated that 90,000 to 100,000 labourers died in the area.