To End All Wars   

 A useful film which is of relevance to the RME course for S2 pupils.

At the beginning of S2 as part of the morality content of the course, we study the story of Ernest Gordon.  He was a captive of the Japanese during the building of the infamous Kwai Railway.  The story gives us the chance to look at morality in terms of the Geneva Convention regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.  Also, as Ernest develops a religious belief during his time as a prisoner of war, we get the opportunity to look at the application of religion in extreme circumstances.

The video and DVD of the film TO END ALL WARS [15] which tells the story of Ernest Gordon, and the true story of the building of the Kwai Railway and the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai, staring Kiefer Sutherland and Robert Carlyle, is now available. Parents may be willing to rent it  - the 15 rating is because of the inevitable violence which is part of a war film.  Being a war film it is a bit bloody in places.

Sadly the film is not going on general release in the cinema, but is available for rent, or for purchase.  The BBC has purchased the film rights for Britain.  The home video was released in October 2003.

Ernest Gordon, from Greenock, was one of the few men of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to survive the defeat of Singapore. His three years in captivity had a profound effect upon him. In the most horrible of circumstances he develops a deep, yet practical faith. After the war he trained as a minister, before emigrating to America, where he became the Chaplain to Princeton University.

The film covers most of the events we use in class, but for the sake of making a good story, the sequence of the story is changed slightly.

Try this Web Site - www.toendallwarsmovie.com  OR www.bmw.ukf.net/3pagodas/ [which is the official Memorial site for the Kwai prisoners of war]

The full story is also available in Ernest Gordon's book, which has been reissued under the title 'To End All Wars' - it used to be called 'Miracle on the River Kwai', when released in the 1960s.

Also the story of the Kwai Railway is told by another Scotsman in the book 'The Railway Man' by Eric Lomax. In this book we get an older man's reflection upon his story, including him going to Singapore to meet one of his torturers over 50 years after the war. A bit difficult to read at the beginning, but worth a try if you like reading.