The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific

by Alistair Urquhart

I nodded as he went on. ‘It’s easy for these men to give up and when they lose hope the fight just seeps right out of them. On countless occasions I have seen two men with the same symptoms and same physical state, and one will die and one will make it. I can only put that down to sheer willpower.’ I considered this for a moment and looked around the hut. You could tell the men who were dying by the look on their faces. Their gaze was lost before it reached their eyes and no amount of positive attitude and care from Dr Mathieson could change their destiny. It certainly was not the medical staff’s fault – their hands were tied. No, blood was firmly on our captors’ hands. I told myself right then and there that I would not stop fighting.