The complete secret diary of a WW2 prisoner of the Japanese.
Les Spence, of the 77th HAA Regiment, risked his life to keep a remarkable diary in Tandjong Priok, Bicycle Camp, aboard the hell-ship `Ussuri Maru' and in the coal-mining Camp 8, Inatsukimachi, Japan.
When he died in 1989 - after a sporting and administrative career which saw him become president of the Welsh Rugby Union - he left wishes for the diaries to be published. But they were lost and believed destroyed.
Then, a few years ago, they were found in a cupboard in a newspaper office.
The 68,000-word diaries cover the period from January 1942 to November 1945. They start on board convoy and end aboard the Queen Mary.
The surrender on Java is recorded in detail: "A day that will live in my memory. We've surrendered after being on this island for six weeks... So the war is over as far as we are concerned. Just prisoners of war."
And as number 2 in one of the camps nearest Nagasaki, Les was able to record the dropping of the plutonium bomb.
"We had uneventful train journey to Nagasaki and then we saw the result of the atomic bomb. It was simply astounding, nothing left standing for miles, everything flat and burnt out."
Les records the experiences and deaths of many of his comrades. He vividly describes the conditions and life in the camps and the growing death toll.
The book is illustrated and includes 20 pages of reference notes.
"Moving and magnificent in its reportage, this is a war story with a difference. The very gut-wrenching rawness of Les Spence’s diary is a reminder of an area of World War Two almost forgotten: the battle for Java and the sacrifice that followed. This is one of those books that once you start you can’t forget it. These secret diaries have been lovingly edited by Greg Lewis to provide a firsthand account of the rigours of being a prisoner of a cruel enemy is superbly evoked."
Gordon Thomas, author of 'Voyage of the Damned', 'Inside British Intelligence' and 'Gideon’s Spies'
"A remarkable testament to courage and endurance in the face of hardship and cruelty - and a firsthand account of how to hold on to hope when all seems lost."
Western Mail
"A remarkable wartime document."
South Wales Echo
“These remarkable diaries cover the period from January 1942 to November 1945, and are a testament to one POW’s moving story.”
Britain at War magazine, September 2012
Les Spence, of the 77th HAA Regiment, risked his life to keep a remarkable diary in Tandjong Priok, Bicycle Camp, aboard the hell-ship `Ussuri Maru' and in the coal-mining Camp 8, Inatsukimachi, Japan.
When he died in 1989 - after a sporting and administrative career which saw him become president of the Welsh Rugby Union - he left wishes for the diaries to be published. But they were lost and believed destroyed.
Then, a few years ago, they were found in a cupboard in a newspaper office.
The 68,000-word diaries cover the period from January 1942 to November 1945. They start on board convoy and end aboard the Queen Mary.
The surrender on Java is recorded in detail: "A day that will live in my memory. We've surrendered after being on this island for six weeks... So the war is over as far as we are concerned. Just prisoners of war."
And as number 2 in one of the camps nearest Nagasaki, Les was able to record the dropping of the plutonium bomb.
"We had uneventful train journey to Nagasaki and then we saw the result of the atomic bomb. It was simply astounding, nothing left standing for miles, everything flat and burnt out."
Les records the experiences and deaths of many of his comrades. He vividly describes the conditions and life in the camps and the growing death toll.
The book is illustrated and includes 20 pages of reference notes.
"Moving and magnificent in its reportage, this is a war story with a difference. The very gut-wrenching rawness of Les Spence’s diary is a reminder of an area of World War Two almost forgotten: the battle for Java and the sacrifice that followed. This is one of those books that once you start you can’t forget it. These secret diaries have been lovingly edited by Greg Lewis to provide a firsthand account of the rigours of being a prisoner of a cruel enemy is superbly evoked."
Gordon Thomas, author of 'Voyage of the Damned', 'Inside British Intelligence' and 'Gideon’s Spies'
"A remarkable testament to courage and endurance in the face of hardship and cruelty - and a firsthand account of how to hold on to hope when all seems lost."
Western Mail
"A remarkable wartime document."
South Wales Echo
“These remarkable diaries cover the period from January 1942 to November 1945, and are a testament to one POW’s moving story.”
Britain at War magazine, September 2012
