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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My detailed knowledge of wartime events in the Far East came from an invitation to write the biography of Colonel Sir Philip Toosey who was the senior British Officer present during the building of the so-called Bridge on the River Kwai.

Sir Philip was a prominent businessman who became the Liverpool Agent for the merchant bank Baring Brothers. As such. his duties included acting as a non-executive director for many of the firms advised by Barings and amongst these was Liner Holdings – the parent company of the Elder Dempster Shipping Line.¹ As the official historian of this enterprise I was already acquainted with Sir Philip and had always enjoyed a good personal relationship with him. I was aware of the fact that he had been taken prisoner-of-war by the Japanese during the Second World War but until he approached me I had little idea of his special role as a POW and of the affection with which he was held by many former prisoners who knew him at that time.

Sir Philip was a very private person who had no desire for publicity. It was only as a result of the film: The Bridge on the River Kwai² in which he was portrayed by Alex Guinness as a collaborator of the Japanese that he was persuaded to take action so that the real story could be told. Thus, in the years prior to his death in 1975 I was able to assess his records and obtain almost fifty hours of taped interviews.³ I was also able to visit many of the sites in Thailand and Malaya where Toosey had been a prisoner and there, and elsewhere, met many of the individuals who shared his experiences in various ways.

As my academic interests in Japanese shipping and shipbuilding⁴ took me to Japan on several occasions I found it possible to interview a number of Japanese who had been involved in the building of the Bridge and Railway. One of these was Teruo Saitoh who, as the second in command at Tamarkan – the Bridge camp – was well known to Toosey and was an excellent source of valuable information.⁵ Two others, Yoshihiko Futamatsu and Renichi Sugano, were contacted as a result of an introduction by Carl Fritsche – an American pilot who I had met to discuss his bombing raids on the Kwai Bridge.⁶ This resulted in several meetings during which I learned much about their joint wartime careers in the 4^th Special Railway Bridging Unit and the 9^th Railway Regiment. Later on, I became extremely interested to discover that Futamatsu had written an account of this wartime exploits. This was given extra emphasis by the knowledge that although there have been numerous accounts of the Thai-Burma Railway showing the Western view of events only two small works have been produced in English which outlined the Japanese attitude to its construction.⁷

It was clear to me, therefore, how desirable it would be for Futamatsu’s work to be translated and published in English but at first this seemed to be a very distant possibility. However, a letter in the Sunday Times began a train of events which was to transform this situation. The author of the letter was Louis Allen,⁸ an eminent expert on Japanese military affairs, and his references to his Japanese sources led me to seek his advice. On one particular point he then suggested that I contact a certain Ewart Escritt who he was sure would be able to assist me.

This certainly proved to be the case and my initial query was quickly answered. Of much greater significance was that this link with Ewart Escritt was to provide me with expert backup on many aspects of the Japanese records as well as giving me the benefit of his personal knowledge of life as a prisoner of war. It seems that he had volunteered for the Territorial Army in 1938 and thus was called up into the RASC when war broke out the following year. As Captain C.E. Escritt he then arrived in Singapore with the 18^th Division on 5 February 1942 and was captured when the garrison surrendered ten days later. He was at first interned in Changi but was subsequently moved to Thailand to work on the Railway. He was then to serve in many different camps and became well acquainted with Toosey who he regarded with great respect. Although he had no previous understanding of Japanese, Escritt had a good ear for language and during his captivity he devoted himself to learning the language – eventually becoming adept in both spoken and (very impressively) written Japaneswe. This latter skill was to be of tremendous value in his post-war years when he combined his career as a senior administrator at Oxford University with an ongoing interest in the Japanese archives of the Railway.⁹

My developing relationship with Escritt then proved to be very helpful in assessing the background evidence for my biography of Colonel Toosey. In the course of our correspondence I mentioned Futamatsu’s work and the need for its publication in English and this led to a direct link between the two men although they never met. This, then, resulted in Escritt spending a number of years translating the work while at the same time I was able to persuade my publisher at that time – The Athlone Press – that, suitably revised and edited, it would make an ideal companion volume to my own study of Toosey. In this way it was to be anticipated that these two very different, viewpoints would give posterity a better perspective in judging the actual events.

Sadly, although my biography was duly published as planned,¹⁰ the proposed publication of Futamatsu’s work did not proceed. This was partly due to the publisher requiring both a substantial revision of the manuscript and a large subsidy. Both of these difficulties might well have been resolved over time but the death of Escritt in 1991 was a critical factor which could not be easily overcome. At that time I was extremely busy with my own research projects and committed to other publications¹¹ so could not step into the breach and accordingly a long hiatus ensued. However, I did retain permission from both Futamatsu and from Escritt’s widow, Mrs Ruth Escritt, to publish the translation and with other studies completed¹² have now been able to give the biography the attention it deserves. A further essential factor has been the support of The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation for the research, preparation and publication of the completed manuscript. Without this assistance it is almost certain that the entire project would have remained stillborn and I am, therefore, greatly indebted to both Peter Mathias and Stephen McEnally for their continued encouragement and practical help.

In the meantime Yoshihiko Futamatsu died and thus did not see the final outcome of a project close to his heart; however, his former colleague, Renichi Sugano, has been most helpful in clarifying many uncertain points in Futamatsu’s text. I am also most grateful to Professor Kunio Katayama,¹³ my academic collaborator, who kindly facilitated my final meeting with Sugano in Tokyo in October 2011 and whose skill in translation was a major factor in its success. The culmination of this work thus owes much to the assistance provided by Sugano and Katayama and their ongoing dedication deserves my sincere thanks. This support was considerably aided by that provided by Mrs Atsuko Broadbridge whose Japanese background proved to be most valuable in helping my understanding of many aspects of the original manuscript. I would also wish to acknowledge the huge contribution made to the study by Mrs Gill Wilson. Her skill and enthusiasm in preparing successive drafts for publication clearly demonstrated her great interest and commitment to the project and she clearly deserves the highest possible commendation for all her efforts.

Publisher’s Note: Japanese Names

In the title and introductory pages to this book, we have followed the Western custom of presenting the given name before the family name, thus Yoshihiko Futamatsu, whereas Japanese names are normally presented with the family name first followed by the given name – thus Futamatsu Yoshihiko. The Japanese convention, however, has been followed by translator Ewart Escritt.