Clipton, the camp's medical officer, introduces the colonel to 'Commander Major' Shears. Afterward, Nicholson goes to the infirmary to visit Jennings, one of his wounded men. Saito, imperiously informs the new prisoners that they will all be expected to work on building a railroad that will connect Bangkok to Rangoon, Nicholson protests that under the regulations of the Geneva Convention, all officers are exempt from manual labor. Their crisp arrival is wryly observed by Shears, an American sailor who bribes a guard to transfer him from the burial detail to the infirmary. Nicholson and his troops march into Prisoner of War Camp 16 whistling their regimental tune. In World War II Burma, after they are captured by Japanese troops during World War II, British commander Col.