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EXCLUSIVE: POW LIVED IN HIDING IN HIS OWN HOME FOR 60 YEARS
By Nick Sommerlad
His plight only came to light after his unmarried daughter died.
Council staff went to the house in southern England to remove her body and found the old man living in a back room.
Until then no-one knew he was still alive, including social workers who delivered the daughter's meals on wheels, neighbours and the Ministry of Defence.
Now the veteran has told the ex-serviceman's mental illness charity Combat Stress how he suffered post-traumatic stress during his horrific time in the Far East.
During the building of the Burma Railway, 120,000 prisoners and forced labourers died.
The charity said it was "most extreme" example of battlefield stress they had ever seen.
Toby Elliott, chief executive of Combat Stress, said: "Nobody knew anything about this man. He had not been seen since the war. He explained to us what happened to him and had the military papers to prove it.
"He was a PoW in the Far East and worked on the Burma Railway.
"As well as the physical damage, quite a few were driven insane by the privations they suffered.
"He came home in 1945 a broken man and his family hid him away.
"He was looked after by his wife and then by his eldest daughter, who never married."
Neighbours believed the daughter lived alone. So did the social workers who often visited. Mr Elliott added: "The Ministry of Defence knew nothing about his case.
"It was only after the death of the daughter late last year, when the social services went in to deal with removing the body, that they discovered this man in the back room. He told us himself what happened to him.
"It is the most extreme example we have encountered of combat stress."
The veteran has no surviving relatives and is now living in a nursing home.
Mr Elliott added: "There is no more we could do for him. He is as happy as he can be."
The Burma Railway was built by the Japanese between 1942 and 1943 to link Thailand with Burma.
Around 60,000 allied prisoners of war were forced to work on it and 6,300 British PoWs died. Of the total death toll of 120,000, most were conscripted Asian labourers.
Their ordeal was turned into the epic film Bridge on the River Kwai in 1957.
After the railway was finished in 1943, most allied PoWs were taken to Japan.
Many of those who were released in 1945 continued suffering the physical and psychological effects of their ordeal for the rest of their lives.
Combat Stress - also known as the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society - was formed in 1919 to treat shell-shocked soldiers returning from the First World War.
By Nick Sommerlad
A 100-YEAR-old former Japanese prisoner of war has been found hiding in his own home after 60 years.
The old soldier returned to Britain a broken man after working on the infamous Burma Railway and was cared for in secret by his late wife and then by his daughter.His plight only came to light after his unmarried daughter died.
Council staff went to the house in southern England to remove her body and found the old man living in a back room.
Until then no-one knew he was still alive, including social workers who delivered the daughter's meals on wheels, neighbours and the Ministry of Defence.
Now the veteran has told the ex-serviceman's mental illness charity Combat Stress how he suffered post-traumatic stress during his horrific time in the Far East.
During the building of the Burma Railway, 120,000 prisoners and forced labourers died.
The charity said it was "most extreme" example of battlefield stress they had ever seen.
Toby Elliott, chief executive of Combat Stress, said: "Nobody knew anything about this man. He had not been seen since the war. He explained to us what happened to him and had the military papers to prove it.
"He was a PoW in the Far East and worked on the Burma Railway.
"As well as the physical damage, quite a few were driven insane by the privations they suffered.
"He came home in 1945 a broken man and his family hid him away.
"He was looked after by his wife and then by his eldest daughter, who never married."
Neighbours believed the daughter lived alone. So did the social workers who often visited. Mr Elliott added: "The Ministry of Defence knew nothing about his case.
"It was only after the death of the daughter late last year, when the social services went in to deal with removing the body, that they discovered this man in the back room. He told us himself what happened to him.
"It is the most extreme example we have encountered of combat stress."
The veteran has no surviving relatives and is now living in a nursing home.
Mr Elliott added: "There is no more we could do for him. He is as happy as he can be."
The Burma Railway was built by the Japanese between 1942 and 1943 to link Thailand with Burma.
Around 60,000 allied prisoners of war were forced to work on it and 6,300 British PoWs died. Of the total death toll of 120,000, most were conscripted Asian labourers.
Their ordeal was turned into the epic film Bridge on the River Kwai in 1957.
After the railway was finished in 1943, most allied PoWs were taken to Japan.
Many of those who were released in 1945 continued suffering the physical and psychological effects of their ordeal for the rest of their lives.
Combat Stress - also known as the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society - was formed in 1919 to treat shell-shocked soldiers returning from the First World War.
