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I believe my way of numbering the Thailand trains needs an explanation.
When I compiled the Java parties to Singapore the PoWs were then sent to various destinations oversea and also camps overland to Thailand. There are 84 trains from Singapore to Thailand and one from Kaula Lumpur. I have numbered the trains in date order 1-85, these are in reference to Thailand.
Some KEW files number the trains as per Party, for instance Train 1 to Train 5 for the First Mainland Parties (June 1942). This is not misleading as they were the 1st to 5th trains that left Singapore for Thailand. The Letter Parties, in some KEW files are numbered Train 1 to Train 13 and in some KEW files ‘D’ Force are numbered Train 1 to Train 9 and this happens in other Parties to Thailand.
This now means we have many trains labelled Train 1, Train 2 etc. and this causes some confusion as they ran on different dates and are not the same train.
I decided to use my system to name the to Thailand where the trains are numbered Train 1 to Train 85, thus each train has its own date, number of PoWs and commanders.
I have also included the Train Number in a particular Party, as reference to KEW files, for instance ‘Sime Road Party - Train 2’, although it was the 14th Train to reach Thailand.
I hope this explains why I used my system using Train 1 to Train 85 in my database, making each ‘Train’ number unique to the date it travelled to reach Thailand.
Trains which were not bound for Singapore like the ‘Penang Party Train 1’ of the 7th January 1943 is not included in the numbering system as it did not go to Thailand.
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