A newly released book chronicles the remarkable true story of John Henry (Jack) Simpson, a Nottingham man who endured the horrors of the Burma-Thailand Death Railway and other wartime ordeals. Jack, a truck driver in the Royal Army Service Corps, was taken prisoner during the fall of Singapore in 1942. While being transported to Japan for forced labor, his ship was mistakenly torpedoed by the US Navy in the South China Sea. Left for dead, he spent 36 hours in shark-infested waters before being rescued. After a desperate journey in an ex-whaler under Japanese control, he was taken to Sakata in northeastern Japan, where he witnessed the hysteria and shock following the atomic bombings, some 400 miles away.
A Homecoming Like No Other
Jack eventually returned to his hometown of Nottingham in the middle of the night. His mother greeted him with the words: 'Where have you been, you naughty boy?' His nephew, John Simpson, has brought Jack's story to life in the book 'Jack's War: One Man's Return from the River Kwai'. Drawing on a 1991 interview and war records, the book also covers Jack's family struggles after losing their father in the 1920s, with his mother raising two boys away at war and a third son with special needs alone.
Survival Against the Odds
While working on the Burma-Thailand railway, Jack suffered from beriberi, dysentery, and delirium. Despite surviving, his long-term health was affected. After the war, he worked for Nottingham City Transport for over 30 years before moving to Kent in the 1980s. He passed away in 2006. Author John Simpson began writing during the Covid lockdowns, and this is his fifth book, following a murder mystery novel and three volumes of Tales from Lympne about the history of a Kent airfield.
For more information about 'Jack's War', visit Trackpad Publishing or email johnsimpson43@btinternet.com.
