dunsbyowl1867 Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Colleague at work has just visited the Bridge on the River Kwai - Just got to thinking - anyone know of any Sheffield men who worked on this railway ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Dunsby, i'm sure at the end of the film in the credits there is a mention of Thos. W. Wards. i think they made the bridge they used for the film? Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 The man who built the bridge over the River Kwai for the movie classic has died aged 85. War veteran and civil engineer Keith Best OBE, of Chessingham Gardens, off Tadcaster Road in York, designed and built the centrepiece of the 1957 film, which scooped seven Oscars, including Best Picture. While the bridge was constructed by prisoners of war in two months, the actual one built in Sri Lanka by Best for the filming took eight months, with the use of 500 workers and 35 elephants. It was demolished in a matter of seconds, and the total cost was £85,000, equivalent to more than £1.2 million in today’s money. Best died on Sunday after losing his battle against cancer. Born in 1923 in Sheffield, Best was in the parachute regiment during the Second World War and was dropped behind enemy lines in France before D Day. He was captured by the Germans and put in a prisoner of war camp for a year until it was liberated. After the war he finished university and trained as a civil engineer before starting work with a company called Husband’s in Sheffield and went to work for them building bridges in Sri Lanka. It was while out in Sri Lanka that he was asked to work on the iconic bridge, which was 425ft long and 50ft above the water. By Haydn Lewis Source: Daily News Husband & Co of Sheffield were the consultant engineers for the making of the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunsbyowl1867 Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 The man who built the bridge over the River Kwai for the movie classic has died aged 85. War veteran and civil engineer Keith Best OBE, of Chessingham Gardens, off Tadcaster Road in York, designed and built the centrepiece of the 1957 film, which scooped seven Oscars, including Best Picture. While the bridge was constructed by prisoners of war in two months, the actual one built in Sri Lanka by Best for the filming took eight months, with the use of 500 workers and 35 elephants. It was demolished in a matter of seconds, and the total cost was o85,000, equivalent to more than o1.2 million in today’s money. Best died on Sunday after losing his battle against cancer. Born in 1923 in Sheffield, Best was in the parachute regiment during the Second World War and was dropped behind enemy lines in France before D Day. He was captured by the Germans and put in a prisoner of war camp for a year until it was liberated. After the war he finished university and trained as a civil engineer before starting work with a company called Husband’s in Sheffield and went to work for them building bridges in Sri Lanka. It was while out in Sri Lanka that he was asked to work on the iconic bridge, which was 425ft long and 50ft above the water. By Haydn Lewis Source: Daily News Husband & Co of Sheffield were the consultant engineers for the making of the bridge. Thank you Dean - Sheffield connections everywhere And by a strange co-incidence Husband's London office used to be in the building where I work in London!! They are of course the firm that designed the North Stand at Hillsborough opened in 1961!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 The search engine that Richard posted at Christmas would be able to pick out any men with Sheffield in their details from CWGC, from Kanchanaburi, Chungkai and Thanbyuzayat cemeteries, but it's broken at the moment!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Kanchanaburi, Chungkai and Thanbyuzayat Bless you Dean lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Xkqutrxzvquytkelatiex Richard!! No, me neither, i made it up!! The search engine is being worked on and will be back soon. The WW2 part of it is still running, link here - http://www.hut-six.co.uk/cgi-bin/search39-47.php I dont want to start another large project, (listening for heckles rising)! i'm still doing, and will be for years to come, the recording of Sheffield's part in the Great War. But if some one wants to 'do' the memorials from WW2 i can provide a list of names of all the men on CWGC that have Sheffield in their details. I can also provide a list of all known Rolls of Honour, photo's, list's of names, locations etc, just needs someone to take up the baton! There, i've siad it!, waiting for incoming now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Xkqutrxzvquytkelatiex Richard!! No, me neither, i made it up!! The search engine is being worked on and will be back soon. The WW2 part of it is still running, link here - http://www.hut-six.co.uk/cgi-bin/search39-47.php I dont want to start another large project, (listening for heckles rising)! i'm still doing, and will be for years to come, the recording of Sheffield's part in the Great War. But if some one wants to 'do' the memorials from WW2 i can provide a list of names of all the men on CWGC that have Sheffield in their details. I can also provide a list of all known Rolls of Honour, photo's, list's of names, locations etc, just needs someone to take up the baton! There, i've siad it!, waiting for incoming now! A call to Arms, I'm still stuck in Pubs (and Maps), Pubs will last me the rest of my life. I have Cook book(started), History of Sheffield Banks (Leader), Hallamshire Worthies and of course, the long awaited Hunter's Hallamshire (1819, out of copyright and yes it's an original) to process (heckle-rise all you want, I'm busy too !). Of course there's always the possibility that a "Sheffield History Knight or Dame will step forward". I'd love to see what you have Dean, hopefully a hero/heroine will step up to the plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I fully understand if no one wants this, but i assure you it would be a minute project compared to the Great War one. Promise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Falls Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 The man who built the bridge over the River Kwai for the movie classic has died aged 85. War veteran and civil engineer Keith Best OBE, of Chessingham Gardens, off Tadcaster Road in York, designed and built the centrepiece of the 1957 film, which scooped seven Oscars, including Best Picture. While the bridge was constructed by prisoners of war in two months, the actual one built in Sri Lanka by Best for the filming took eight months, with the use of 500 workers and 35 elephants. It was demolished in a matter of seconds, and the total cost was £85,000, equivalent to more than £1.2 million in today’s money. Best died on Sunday after losing his battle against cancer. Born in 1923 in Sheffield, Best was in the parachute regiment during the Second World War and was dropped behind enemy lines in France before D Day. He was captured by the Germans and put in a prisoner of war camp for a year until it was liberated. After the war he finished university and trained as a civil engineer before starting work with a company called Husband’s in Sheffield and went to work for them building bridges in Sri Lanka. It was while out in Sri Lanka that he was asked to work on the iconic bridge, which was 425ft long and 50ft above the water. By Haydn Lewis Source: Daily News Husband & Co of Sheffield were the consultant engineers for the making of the bridge. In addition to its head office in Sheffield and an office in the St Ermins Hotel in London, Husband & Co had an office in Colombo at the time movie was made. (Anybody remember The Colombo Plan: a Commonwleath aid program that was big in the 50's and 60's?). This may be the connection that got Husband's the job of designing the bridge. In addition to the bridge itself, they had another problem with the train. Like the bridge, they only had one "take" for the train and it had to be going at precisely the right speed as it came around the bend onto the bridge. The bridge film site was in some pretty rugged country and the cost to build the necessary length of horizontal approach track to get the train up to speed would have been prohibitive. I understand they solved this problem by only building a length of track that was a little longer than the train itself but on a steep slope. Once they had the train "in steam", they winched it backwards up the slope and locked it in position. At precisiely the right moment, they let the train go. It came down the slope, around the curve at exactly the right speed, onto the bridge and--------- the rest you know. Husband & Co. were never a big consulting engineering co. like Ove Arup, etc. Never the less, they did projects that were trully amazing. It would be a grave pitty if they are only remembered for the stands at football grounds. Husband's became part of the Mott Macdonald organisation in the 1980's Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tsavo Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Husband and Co also built and designed the Jogrell Bank Telescope, now renamed the Lovell Telescope. http://www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/ab...vell/build.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Falls Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Colleague at work has just visited the Bridge on the River Kwai - Just got to thinking - anyone know of any Sheffield men who worked on this railway ? Hi, I worked in Thailand in 1993/94 and made a number of trips on the railway. The last trip took me to Namtok where the rails now end. The jungle has pretty much reclaimed the right of way beyond, up to Three Pagoda's Pass and the border with Burma. The British "lifted" all the track in Burma before they left in 1946. When I came home, I did a bit of a search looking for ex POW's my family knew but the internet was pretty primative in those days and I was too far way (Canada) to tap into the conventional sources in the UK. As for those who have known graves in Kanchanaburi and the other cemeteries, these are only a small part of the picture. Many were buried virtually were they fell, along side the track bed. In the mid 1990's, there was a lot of talk in Thailand about reconstructing the line into Burma but I don't think anything ever came of it. At the time, the Thai Government had serious discussions with the various ex POW associations. At first they were totally opposed to the plan but later they gave qualified approval so long as the crews did not venture more than 6 ft from the original track alignment. Beyond this is where the vitims would have been buried. For identification purposes, their I/D was inserted in a screw top jar and buried with them. The jar's came in Red Cross parcels. The Japanes Army threw the food away and gave the POW's the empty jars. If they want to connect Thai railways to the Burmese system, it makes more sense to do it near Chang Mai in the North. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trefcon Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 'The British "lifted" all the track in Burma before they left in 1946.' There's a section at the National Memorial Arboretum as part of a display. Also a 'museum' section detailing the building and suffering of the prisoners. Very moving. Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Falls Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 'The British "lifted" all the track in Burma before they left in 1946.' There's a section at the National Memorial Arboretum as part of a display. Also a 'museum' section detailing the building and suffering of the prisoners. Very moving. Dean. Hello, My wife and I made a flying visit to the Arboretum in May last year. Its a wonderful what they are trying to achieve there. A bit bare at the moment but give it a few years. Only saw a bit of the museum. Have to try and go again sometime. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Falls Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Husband and Co also built and designed the Jogrell Bank Telescope, now renamed the Lovell Telescope. http://www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/ab...vell/build.html Hi, I know this is way off-topic but there is an interesting story about Husband's, Sir Bernard Lovell and a billiard table. Over the years, Dr Husband (H.C.) and Sir Bernard had become good friends. Sir Bernard lived in house large enough to sport a billiard room with a full size table. From time to time, Sir Bernard entertained and he must have commented to Dr. Husband how wonderful it would be if he could make better use of the billard room. That is move the table to one side so he had more room for his guests. Then move it back and it be perfectly level so he could resume playing. A few days later an Engineer at Husband's Sheffield office was given the task of making Sir Bernard's dream a reality. He did it. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunsbyowl1867 Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Husband & Co. were never a big consulting engineering co. like Ove Arup, etc. Never the less, they did projects that were trully amazing. It would be a grave pitty if they are only remembered for the stands at football grounds. Regards But that's not such a bad thing - I think I'm right in saying that Hillsborough was the only football ground to feature in any of Pevsners guides. I remember they also designed what was then a new stand at Twickenham in the 1980's so it wasn't just football ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vox Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Point of interest?? Kwai means river in Tai. The river in question is the Quai Yai (Big River) - formerly the Mae Khlong. So River Kwai (as it has become known) means River River, much as the River Avon and River Ouse do. I've got a list of things "named twice" somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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