Reg Twigg

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Survivor on the River Kwai

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One of the finest accounts yet of life in the jungle PoW camps, at once humbling, heartwarming and enraging

The Incredible Story of Life on the Burma Railway

Reg Twigg was one of the last men standing from a forgotten war. Called up in 1940, found himself caught up in the worst military defeat in modern British history - the fall of Singapore to the Japanese. 
 
What followed were three years of hell, building the infamous Burma railway for the all-conquering Japanese Imperial Army. Yet Reg decided he would do everything to survive. 
 
With an ingenuity that is astonishing Reg made the deadly jungle - with its malaria, cholera, swollen rivers, lethal snakes and exhausting heat - work for him. 
 
Reg's story is unique.

Survivor on the River Kwai is the heartbreaking story of one of the last survivors of the Burma Railway. 
 
February 1942. A young British soldier is caught up in the worst defeat in the history of the British Army, the fall of Singapore. 
 
Reg Twigg spends the next three years in hell, moving from jungle camp to jungle camp and building the Burma Railway for the all-conquering Japanese. Beaten, tortured, starving and forced to watch his comrades die, Reg fights for his survival, stealing from his captors, trapping animals and even making his own tobacco. That Reg survived is testimony to his own courage and determination, his will to beat the alien brutality of camp guards who had nothing but contempt for him and his fellow POWs. He was a risk taker whose survival strategies sometimes bordered on genius. 
 
As moving and harrowing as The Last Fighting Tommy, with the drama of David Lean's The Bridge Over the River Kwai and the heart of The Forgotten Highlander, Survivor on the River Kwai is Reg's story - his pain, his triumphs and even his forgiveness. 
 
Reg Twigg was born at Wigston (Leicester) barracks on 16 December 1913. He was called up to the Leicestershire Regiment in 1940 but instead of fighting Hitler he was sent to the Far East, stationed at Singapore. When captured by the Japanese, he decided he would do everything to survive. 
 
After his repatriation from the Far East, Reg returned to Leicester. With his family he returned to Thailand in 2006, and revisited the sites of the POW camps. Reg died in 2013, at the age of ninety-nine, two weeks before the publication of this book.

Reg Twigg was born at Wigston (Leicester) barracks on 16 December 1913. He was called up to the Leicestershire Regiment in 1940 but instead of fighting Hitler he was sent to the Far East, stationed at Singapore. When captured by the Japanese, he decided he would do everything to survive. 
 
After his repatriation from the Far East, Reg returned to Leicester. With his family he returned to Thailand in 2006, and revisited the sites of the POW camps. Reg died in 2013, at the age of ninety-nine, two weeks before the publication of this book.

Survivor on the River Kwai

The Incredible Story of Life on the Burma Railway

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