Victor to attend poignant service in memory of fellow wartime PoWs
A pensioner will make a poignant trip to London this weekend to pay his respects to a group of friends who died in an infamous Japanese prisoner of war camp.
Victor Pugh, 94, will be travelling to the capital with his wife Elsie, 91, to take part in a commemorative service attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The service, which is being held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of VJ Day, will take place at the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square tomorrow.
Mr Pugh,from Hanwood, near Shrewsbury, was 19 when, as a member of the RAF, he was taken prisoner in Java and transported to Sumatra in 1941. There he spent months at a work camp where, along with hundreds of other captured Allied troops, he was forced to build airfields in the jungle.
When work in the Sumatran jungle came to an end, he was taken to Changi Prisoner of War Camp where members of the allied forces were systematically starved and tortured by Japanese guards.
He was put to work digging tunnels and knew nothing of the progress of the war. The first thing he knew of the end of the war was when a rumour swept camp that it was over but he had to wait days to hear if it was true. Finally confirmation came from the sky in the form of an air drop of flyers telling the prisoners of war that the hostilities had ceased and to await rescue.
Although thousands died, he survived and, despite weighing just six stones when he was liberated, went on to marry and have a family and career.
Mr Pugh said: "When I came home after the war was over I wanted to forget about it all. I just got on with life and married Elsie who I met after her sister married my brother, and we had a daughter. I went back to technical college and got my qualifications which allowed me to get a job with the MEB.
"But it turned out I couldn't forget about it all. It has been a big part of my life and I want to remember those who were not able to carry on with life like I was."
He used to meet up with fellow Far East PoWs in Shrewsbury once a month. "But as far as I am aware I am the last one left," he said. "That is why it is so important for me to go to the ceremony tomorrow."
