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  1. Authors
  2. Maj Arthur Metherell RE Rtd

Through most of his life, Arthur didn’t talk much about his PoW experience. He attended a number of FEPOW reunions, but it was obvious that he had no real affection for those he met there – particularly the officers. [He had no real antagonism against Japanese people – his favourite car was a Honda at a time when some who had fought in WWII wouldn’t touch German or Japanese products.] Toward the end of his life, however, he did start to unburden himself of some of his memories. His son John – then a producer of television documentaries living in the United States – persuaded him to record his recollections. He said that he wanted it to be known that his experience as a PoW was not the stiff upper lip of The Bridge on the River Kwai or The Great Escape. He wanted to go on record to tell the story of how the allied officers in the camp had abandoned their ‘duty of care’ for their troops as detailed in this book. Arthur also displayed amazing recall of his childhood, and this volume is the memoir of a life lived in the service of his country, told in a relatable first-person narrative.