I first started to research some aspects of the Pacific War after I found some scant notes left by my later father about the camps in Java and elswhere in the former Dutch East Indies where he had been held as a prisoner of war.
One line of investigation led to another and I soon found myself joining clubs and associations and meeting surviving ex-FEPOWs who were able to fill me in on the finer details of life in the prison camps.
I also unearthed a wealth of books written about the drafts of which my father had been part. Many of these were only published after his death, presumably when some of the authors had reached the age of retirement.
I am now pleased and honoured to consider many of the FEPOWs I have met to be friends. Their chivalry and dignity is second to none and I feel my life has been enriched by knowing them. Most importantly, they have helped to fill in the blanks which existed in my mind with regard to my father's life between 1942 and 1945 (and beyond).