The Forgotten Highlander: My Incredible Story of Survival During the War in the Far East

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I have read so much about the cruelty of the German Nazi regime and the communists of other eras but the cruelty of the then government and army of the imperial japan comes second to NOTHING. He decided, right from the outset of the venture, that he would not gloss over any aspect of the campaign, not even the incompetence and complacency of some Allied commanders that sparked the fall of Singapore in the first place. Mr Urquhart had tremendous respect for his compatriot, which made a reunion at one of the book events all the more evocative and poignant. I have just finished reading this book. Any words I write will not do justice to this book or his suffering. I read the book with horror, sadness and rage. When war broke out in 1939 he was then asked to join up and duly did so. His unit was transferred to Singapore. So far, so mundane.

I could soon see outlines of people in the water in the distance, all of them covered in oil. I had no way to know who they were, whether Japanese or POWs. It was easy to mistake a Japanese for one of my own. I made up my mind that if it came down to me or a Japanese, he would be going to meet his ancestors.” Alistair Urquhart was among the Gordon Highlanders captured by the Japanese in Singapore during World War II. He not only survived 750 days in the jungle working as a slave on the notorious “death railway” and the bridge on the River Kwai, but he was subsequently taken prisoner on one of the Japanese “hellships” which was later torpedoed, killing nearly everyone on board—but not Urquhart. Alistair Urquhart was a soldier in the Gordon Highlanders captured by the Japanese in Singapore. He not only survived working on the notorious Bridge on the River Kwai , but he was subsequently taken on one of the Japanese 'hellships' which was torpedoed. Nearly everyone else on board died and… Unsentimentally, he depicts the difficulties of the war-traumatized when trying to reintegrate into civilization. No hero's welcome.

Yet his anger at the fashion in which the poor, beleaguered soldiers in the Far East were, in his view, airbrushed out of history eventually convinced him to open up about everything he had been through in his book. a b c Seeing Pampanito, 64 years after a near death. Carl Nolte, 17 September 2008. San Francisco Chronicle Whereas many men took solace in each other's company or survived by playing the system, Urquhart retreated into a dream world of music and songs. Before being called up he had enjoyed dancing and popular ballroom tunes populated his imagination. Often he was too weak to sing, but within his head he crooned the hits of earlier years when happiness was a foxtrot and a pretty girl in his arms. It answers a lot of questions our family had, and I'm sure for those of you with personal interests it'll do the same.

The writing itself is lucid and engaging and the narrative flows fairly well despite a big gap during 1941 which you miss unless you read carefully. These stylistic points aren't really the point but it does make an easy read. Alistair Urquhart was a soldier in the Gordon Highlanders captured by the Japanese in Singapore. He not only survived working on the notorious Bridge on the River Kwai , but he was subsequently taken on one of the Japanese ‘hellships’ which was torpedoed. Nearly everyone else on board died and Urquhart spent 5 days alone on a raft in the South China Sea before being rescued by a whaling ship. He was taken to Japan and then forced to work in a mine near Nagasaki. Two months later a nuclear bomb dropped just ten miles away . . . From the New York Times bestselling author The Four Winds, a moving, powerful novel about the fragile threads that bind together our lives and the astonishing potential of second chances

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Be warned this is not an easy book to read. The pain and suffering of Urquhart and fellow prisoners is gruesome at times. In appalling conditions, virtually all of them experienced tropical ulcers, dysentery, persistent diarrhoea, beriberi as well as broken bones and limbs as a result of the savage beatings from the Japanese (and Korean) guards. They ended up like walking skeletons and it’s hard to fathom how any of them made it through. I had a personal interest in this book. My grandfather was stationed at Singapore when it fell and worked on the death railway.