Hellfire Pass
This was the first year I was able to attend, and be part of, the annual ANZAC day events happening at Hellfire Pass, and Kanchanburi.
Hellfire Pass is where locals and allied troops were forced to help build a railway in support of the Japanese war effort in WWII.
NOTE: the story & movie Bridge over the River Kwai has loose parts based on the actual events, but is a fictitious story.
An Early Dawn Service
As traditional ANZAC events go, it is common to have a dawn service that involves a couple pipers play Flowers of the Forest. After playing at the Australian International school a few days prior, Mr. Nutt and I would be waking up early to be the pipers playing the lament, and finishing with Amazing Grace. We were there a full day ahead to go through a run of the ceremony.
“Early” in this case can be defined as getting a van with an Australian honour guard at 2:45am….
A packed dawn service
The dawn service was very well attended by a variety of Australian, New Zealand, and Thai military in full uniform (including one of the band’s drummers, Mark – see pic below). Additionally, there were a ton of expats and tourists that made the trek. The chairs and hillside surrounding the flags and memorial were filled.
Fortunately, Mr. Nutt and I had chairs set aside for us on top of the hill overlooking the ceremony from where we would play.
Piping in the parking lot
After Mr. Nutt and I played the dawn service, we walked back to the visitor center to meet up with Pipe Major Keith and Murray, and together wait for Mark (in uniform) to grab his drum for us to play at the brunch happening under the tents in the parking lot.
Afterwards, we got to have breakfast ourselves and then make it down to Kanachanburi for continued ANZAC activities.
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