Out of the Depths of Hell: A Soldier’s Story of Life and Death in Japanese Hands

by John McEwan

As John McEwan, a young Gunner in the 155th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Royal Artillery Regiment sailed down the Clyde in early 1941, he and his colleagues could never have imagined the horrors that lay ahead.

When John and his Regiment landed in Malaya, they were all hugely confident. This evaporated in utter disbelief as the British were totally out-manoeuvered by the Japanese advance culminating in the capture of Singapore. However there was hard fighting, more than generally credited, and John McEwan found himself in the thick of it.

In the event, the author was one of the few to survive the horrors of prolonged captivity and mistreatment. This is his extraordinary story, told with humility and pride, which he dedicates both to those who slaved, suffered and died in brutal conditions of the Kinkasaki copper mine.

Genres: War, Nonfiction, History

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Diane W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can you say a book about the unspeakable horrors experienced as a Japanese POW is beautifully written? It was a very hard read at times but this soldier had a gift for putting the unspeakable into words. Thanks to his daughter and partner these brave men of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry will never be forgotten.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

a really good read. Can be slightly harrowing at times, but it has to be to convey what the soldiers thought and felt. How disappointing it was to hear that the men in this book were never recognised for their efforts and hardships in the war.