The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
This work refers to the famous tightrope walker, 'The Great Blondini' from the early 1900s, but with a darker twist. Griffin originally volunteered to go to the railway, thinking conditions might be better. He gave up his spot for another man and remained in Changi for his entire captivity. Here, Griffin depicts the perilous conditions on the railway, which he was told about back in Changi prison by survivors of the atrocity. The men, in their emaciated state, were forced to work in treacherous conditions to complete the railway for the Japanese. In this work, Griffin uses his composition to draw comparison to the depths of hell, a theme he expressed in many of his Burma-Thailand railway works.
Reconstruction of scene of prisoners building part of the Burma-Thailand railway. A guard stands watching some prisoners at work. Griffin originally volunteered to go to the railway, thinking conditio
Gaunt, skeletal figures lying on beds inside a hospital on the Burma-Thailand railway. Griffin's use of light and shade in this work accentuates the physical condition and obvious suffering of the men
Reconstruction of scene of 'F' Force men excavating earth for the railway cutting, lit by fires, with Japanese guard watching. The billowing fire and the men in shadows gives the illusion of being in
Drawing of men returned from Burma-Thailand railway. Griffin originally volunteered to go to the railway, thinking conditions might be better. He gave up his spot for another man and remained in Chang
Reconstruction of a scene witnessed by Colonel Dillon of the British Army, of the bashing of two British and one Australian prisoners of war by Japanese on the Burma-Thailand railway. Griffin original
Prisoners building a bridge on the Burma-Thailand railway. Although Griffin volunteered to work on the Burma-Thailand railway, he gave up his spot for a fellow prisoner and remained in Changi. He crea
