A second world war soldier’s incredible story of survival against all the odds as a prisoner of the Japanese will be recounted at library events in Perth and Alyth next month.
Alistair Urquhart’s autobiography The Forgotten Highlander has proved hugely successful and audiences will now have the opportunity to hear in person what he and others went through.
A soldier in the Gordon Highlanders he was 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, while Mr Urquhart spent five 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 10 miles away.
Mr Urquhart will be at the AK Bell Library from 7.30pm on Thursday, March 10, to talk about his experiences. ickets for the event, priced £5, can be bought in advance from the library.
The library service has also invited Mr Urquhart to give a talk in the Ogilvy Rooms, Alyth, at 7.30pm on Wednesday, March 16. Tickets can be bought from Alyth and Blairgowrie libraries.