Fred Cox, a young soldier in the East Surrey Regiment, was taken prisoner by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore in February 1942. The next three and a half years were spent in a series of POW camp, notably in Thailand working on the aptly named Death Railway. Fortunately he was not one of the 12,000 Allied prisoners who perished as a result of extreme maltreatment, starvation or disease, but Tony's health, both physical and psychiatrically, was seriously affected. After liberation, whilst in hospital in Ceylon Fred was nursed by Joan whom he married. Advised by the doctors to talk about his horrific experiences, he and Joan spent the winter of 1946 ? 1947 getting his story down on paper. Seventy years on, sadly after his death, Faith, Hope and Rice, (which were what sustained Fred through his ordeal) can be shared with a wider audience. Readers cannot fail to be moved by the author's and his comrades' inspiring courage and resilience in the face of extreme adversity and ever present death. AUTHOR: Fred Cox was born in 1916 and brought up in a children's home. He joined the army at eighteen. His wartime experiences as a prisoner of war of the Japanese are told in this book. He married Joan who was nursing in Ceylon. They set up home in Buckinghamshire and had two children. Joan died in 1989 and Fred in 1991. Ellie Taylor, Fred and Joan's daughter, was born in Buckinghamshire in 1952. She has a degree in sociology and psychology with the Open University and works as a voluntary counsellor with vulnerable adults. SELLING POINTS: ? A superb example of the very marketable Japanese POW genre. ? The author worked on the notorious Death Railway and suffered and witnessed great cruelty. ? Accurate account narrated soon after repatriation in 1946. ? Publication coincides with 70th Anniversary year of VJ Day. 8pp b/w plates
