ROYAL British Legion member Paul Simon was on a mission of his own as he boarded a train to the real bridge over the River Kwai.

Paul, of The Spinnings, Summerseat, was charged with paying the respects of the Legion's Ramsbottom branch to the British ex-servicemen and others who were forced to work on the notorious railway line and bridge by the Japanese. Thousands died while working on the scheme in the Second World War.

Fifty-five-year-old Paul decided to take a ride aboard the Eastern and Oriental Express in January after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year.

His trip from Singapore to Bangkok passed the bridge site made famous by David Lean's 1957 film The Bridge On The River Kwai.

The largely fictional film is set around the bridge, which was a vital link in the building of the Thai-Burma railway.

Around 120,000 forced labourers died while working under the Japanese Army regime, including some 20,000 Allied prisoners of war.

Paul and fellow legion members decided it would be a good idea to lay a memorial on behalf of the organisation.

He took along a wreath dedicated to "all our fallen comrades", which also offered condolences to the families of tsunami victims.

After arriving at the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery by barge, Paul entered the grounds and placed a wreath on the main memorial monument.

Paul said: "It's a huge cemetery, and the scale and importance are quite moving.

"People who came in were instantly drawn to it and suddenly there was a crowd of people, some of them taking photographs.

"They were amazed that somebody who had not served in the war was doing this. I'm sure that the wreath is still there to this day."

Paul, a retail business consultant, read an account of the real bridge story at the cemetery museum.

He said: "The Japanese were timed to finish the railway within a year and the British were tasked with the engineering because they had the skills."

According to the museum, they tried everything in their power to slow the building of the bridge.

"They were also sabotaging it by leaving connections loose, which is a great testament to their resolve."

According to the cemetery account, the bridge fell when the first train attempted to pass over it.

For Paul, who was not a serviceman himself, it was a great honour.

He said: "I felt a tremendous pride. To visit somewhere like that, and to think about what happened, puts your own individual problems into context."