FOREWORD

The captains of war have told their stories, the stories of stratagem and grand design. I pretend to no such knowledge; but it seemed to me there was room in the record for the ordinary soldiers experience of those hell-holes in the Far East which were Japanese prisoner of war camps.

This is no story for the squeamish. For years after the war ended, I did my best to blot the ordeal from my mind. It was a long time before the scars healed; but now I can tell my tale. It may be salutary to remember what man, in his inhumanity and search for power or glory, may do to man.

I have set down as plainly as I can what happened to me.

Let others draw their lessons.

Mrs Ruby Franz

Dedicated to my loving
wife, Ruby and to those prisoners
of war who died in the Far East
and to those who returned
broken in health but not in spirit.

Chapter 1 | Contents Page