On 3 September 1939, when war with Germany broke out, despite no conscription, around 65,000 men and women from Ulster volunteered to join the British forces.On 7 December 1942 the Japanese attacked the British Colonies of Hong Kong, Malaya and Singapore. Within three months they had taken over almost all of the Far East.Some 730 men women and children with Ulster origins, including the authors father, were in the Far East at that time. One in three were to die over the following three and a half years.It was not until the dropping of the atomic bombs in August 1945 that those interned realised, they might see their families again and have lives to look forward to. Hugh Lowry told his son that when the news filtered through to his camp:_‘It was greeted with a mixture of emotions from the boys, some of them clapped and cheered, some knelt down and prayed, some wept openly and others too weak to cheer, just smiled. Handshakes and embraces swept through the camp. My thoughts turned back to my family in Downpatrick, the Mourne Mountains and of course a pint of Guinness with a Bushmills whiskey. I just stared at the floor with my eyes closed’._On returning to their Ulster homeland, the surviving prisoners wanted to put their dreadful experiences behind them and move on with their lives, often bottling up their feelings and unwilling to talk about what they had been through. This book tells their story.

Last Post Over the River Kwai is the carefully researched account of the experiences of the officers and men of 2nd Battalion The East Surreys during the Second World War.Stationed in Shanghai in the early 1940s, the Battalion was deployed to Malaya and fought gallantly to slow the Japanese advance. After heavy losses the survivors found themselves POWs in Singapore in February 1942 after the humiliating surrender which Churchill described as Britains worst ever military disaster.The next three and a half years saw members of the Battalion suffering appalling hardship at the hands of their brutal Japanese captors, whether in Singapore, on the Death Railway, Malaya or Japan itself, as wells as on hellships. Many died but remarkably the majority survived to tell their story. Their prolonged captivity with unbelievable hardship, deprivation and cruelty makes for distressing but inspiring reading.

Last Post Over the River Kwai is the carefully researched account of the experiences of the officers and men of 2nd Battalion The East Surreys during the Second World War.Stationed in Shanghai in the early 1940s, the Battalion was deployed to Malaya and fought gallantly to slow the Japanese advance. After heavy losses the survivors found themselves POWs in Singapore in February 1942 after the humiliating surrender which Churchill described as Britains worst ever military disaster.The next three and a half years saw members of the Battalion suffering appalling hardship at the hands of their brutal Japanese captors, whether in Singapore, on the Death Railway, Malaya or Japan itself, as wells as on hellships. Many died but remarkably the majority survived to tell their story. Their prolonged captivity with unbelievable hardship, deprivation and cruelty makes for distressing but inspiring reading.

By the laws of statistics John Wyatt should not be here today to tell his story. He firmly believes that someone somewhere was looking after him during those four years. Examine the odds stacked against him and his readers will understand why he hold this view. During the conflict in Malaya and Singapore his regiment lost two thirds of its men. More than three hundred patients and staff in the Alexandra Military hospital were slaughtered by the Japanese - he was the only known survivor. Twenty six percent of British soldiers slaving on the Burma Railway died. More than fifty men out of around six hundred died aboard the Aaska Maru and the Hakasan Maru. Many more did not manage to survive the harshest Japanese winter of 1944/45, the coldest in Japan since record began. John's experiences make for the most compelling and graphic reading. The courage, endurance and resilience of men like him never ceases to amaze.

A biography of the British World War II veteran and Japanese POW camp survivor who went on to create a life-saving device.Countless thousands of men and women around the world have good reason to be thankful that Frank Pantridge survived three and a half years of brutal Japanese captivity. Had he not, they too would in all probability have died too.Taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore in February 1942, Frank was forced to endure appalling deprivation. Conditions on the Burma railway were notorious, and the death rate was horrendous.On returning to Belfast in late 1945, Frank specialized in heart diseases. Convinced that the prompt application of electric shock after cardiac arrest could save lives, he reasoned that ventricular defibrillation should be applied not just in hospitals but in the workplace, the home, the street or ambulance.His first “portable” defibrillator was produced in 1965 and over the intervening years evolved into the compact units so prevalent today. The importance of Pantridge’s invention was well demonstrated when U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnston’s life was saved in 1972.This stirring biography reveals the full story of a remarkable man who survived against the odds to save countless lives.Praise for Frank Pantridge MC“Cecil Lowry''s book describes a man who…survived against all the odds. . . . A fascinating and moving story.” —Books Monthly (UK)

A biography of the British World War II veteran and Japanese POW camp survivor who went on to create a life-saving device. Countless thousands of men and women around the world have good reason to be thankful that Frank Pantridge survived three and a half years of brutal Japanese captivity. Had he not, they too would in all probability have died too. Taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore in February 1942, Frank was forced to endure appalling deprivation. Conditions on the Burma railway were notorious, and the death rate was horrendous. On returning to Belfast in late 1945, Frank specialized in heart diseases. Convinced that the prompt application of electric shock after cardiac arrest could save lives, he reasoned that ventricular defibrillation should be applied not just in hospitals but in the workplace, the home, the street or ambulance. His first "e;portable"e; defibrillator was produced in 1965 and over the intervening years evolved into the compact units so prevalent today. The importance of Pantridge's invention was well demonstrated when U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnston's life was saved in 1972. This stirring biography reveals the full story of a remarkable man who survived against the odds to save countless lives. Praise for Frank Pantridge MC"e;Cecil Lowry's book describes a man who survived against all the odds. . . . A fascinating and moving story."e; Books Monthly (UK)

On 3 September 1939, when war with Germany broke out, despite no conscription, around 65,000 men and women from Ulster volunteered to join the British forces.On 7 December 1942 the Japanese attacked the British Colonies of Hong Kong, Malaya and Singapore. Within three months they had taken over almost all of the Far East.Some 730 men women and children with Ulster origins, including the authors father, were in the Far East at that time. One in three were to die over the following three and a half years.It was not until the dropping of the atomic bombs in August 1945 that those interned realised, they might see their families again and have lives to look forward to. Hugh Lowry told his son that when the news filtered through to his camp:_‘It was greeted with a mixture of emotions from the boys, some of them clapped and cheered, some knelt down and prayed, some wept openly and others too weak to cheer, just smiled. Handshakes and embraces swept through the camp. My thoughts turned back to my family in Downpatrick, the Mourne Mountains and of course a pint of Guinness with a Bushmills whiskey. I just stared at the floor with my eyes closed’._On returning to their Ulster homeland, the surviving prisoners wanted to put their dreadful experiences behind them and move on with their lives, often bottling up their feelings and unwilling to talk about what they had been through. This book tells their story.

Last Post Over the River Kwai is the carefully researched account of the experiences of the officers and men of 2nd Battalion The East Surreys during the Second World War.Stationed in Shanghai in the early 1940s, the Battalion was deployed to Malaya and fought gallantly to slow the Japanese advance. After heavy losses the survivors found themselves POWs in Singapore in February 1942 after the humiliating surrender which Churchill described as Britains worst ever military disaster.The next three and a half years saw members of the Battalion suffering appalling hardship at the hands of their brutal Japanese captors, whether in Singapore, on the Death Railway, Malaya or Japan itself, as wells as on hellships. Many died but remarkably the majority survived to tell their story. Their prolonged captivity with unbelievable hardship, deprivation and cruelty makes for distressing but inspiring reading.

Last Post Over the River Kwai is the carefully researched account of the experiences of the officers and men of 2nd Battalion The East Surreys during the Second World War.Stationed in Shanghai in the early 1940s, the Battalion was deployed to Malaya and fought gallantly to slow the Japanese advance. After heavy losses the survivors found themselves POWs in Singapore in February 1942 after the humiliating surrender which Churchill described as Britains worst ever military disaster.The next three and a half years saw members of the Battalion suffering appalling hardship at the hands of their brutal Japanese captors, whether in Singapore, on the Death Railway, Malaya or Japan itself, as wells as on hellships. Many died but remarkably the majority survived to tell their story. Their prolonged captivity with unbelievable hardship, deprivation and cruelty makes for distressing but inspiring reading.

By the laws of statistics John Wyatt should not be here today to tell his story. He firmly believes that someone somewhere was looking after him during those four years. Examine the odds stacked against him and his readers will understand why he hold this view. During the conflict in Malaya and Singapore his regiment lost two thirds of its men. More than three hundred patients and staff in the Alexandra Military hospital were slaughtered by the Japanese - he was the only known survivor. Twenty six percent of British soldiers slaving on the Burma Railway died. More than fifty men out of around six hundred died aboard the Aaska Maru and the Hakasan Maru. Many more did not manage to survive the harshest Japanese winter of 1944/45, the coldest in Japan since record began. John's experiences make for the most compelling and graphic reading. The courage, endurance and resilience of men like him never ceases to amaze.

A biography of the British World War II veteran and Japanese POW camp survivor who went on to create a life-saving device.Countless thousands of men and women around the world have good reason to be thankful that Frank Pantridge survived three and a half years of brutal Japanese captivity. Had he not, they too would in all probability have died too.Taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore in February 1942, Frank was forced to endure appalling deprivation. Conditions on the Burma railway were notorious, and the death rate was horrendous.On returning to Belfast in late 1945, Frank specialized in heart diseases. Convinced that the prompt application of electric shock after cardiac arrest could save lives, he reasoned that ventricular defibrillation should be applied not just in hospitals but in the workplace, the home, the street or ambulance.His first “portable” defibrillator was produced in 1965 and over the intervening years evolved into the compact units so prevalent today. The importance of Pantridge’s invention was well demonstrated when U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnston’s life was saved in 1972.This stirring biography reveals the full story of a remarkable man who survived against the odds to save countless lives.Praise for Frank Pantridge MC“Cecil Lowry''s book describes a man who…survived against all the odds. . . . A fascinating and moving story.” —Books Monthly (UK)

A biography of the British World War II veteran and Japanese POW camp survivor who went on to create a life-saving device. Countless thousands of men and women around the world have good reason to be thankful that Frank Pantridge survived three and a half years of brutal Japanese captivity. Had he not, they too would in all probability have died too. Taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore in February 1942, Frank was forced to endure appalling deprivation. Conditions on the Burma railway were notorious, and the death rate was horrendous. On returning to Belfast in late 1945, Frank specialized in heart diseases. Convinced that the prompt application of electric shock after cardiac arrest could save lives, he reasoned that ventricular defibrillation should be applied not just in hospitals but in the workplace, the home, the street or ambulance. His first "e;portable"e; defibrillator was produced in 1965 and over the intervening years evolved into the compact units so prevalent today. The importance of Pantridge's invention was well demonstrated when U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnston's life was saved in 1972. This stirring biography reveals the full story of a remarkable man who survived against the odds to save countless lives. Praise for Frank Pantridge MC"e;Cecil Lowry's book describes a man who survived against all the odds. . . . A fascinating and moving story."e; Books Monthly (UK)