Bridge On The River Kwai engineer dies
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
Tags: bridge over the river kwai, bridges, elephants, parachute regiment, prisoner of war camp, second world war, war veteran
