The film is based on Through the Valley of the Kwai, an autobiography of Ernest Gordon, then a Scottish Captain, later the Presbyterian Dean of the Princeton University Chapel.

[3] Captain Ernest Gordon was a company commander with the 2nd Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who fought in several battles in the Malayan Campaign and the Battle of Singapore before being captured and made a prisoner of war by the Japanese.

[4] The screenplay is based on the autobiography of Ernest Gordon and recounts the experiences of faith and hope of the interned men.

Gordon's book was finally re-issued with the title To End All Wars to tie in with the film.

Various songs have been re-recorded by Moya Brennan on her subsequent solo albums, most recently 'Mo Mhian' on My Match Is A Makin'.