BBC News – A former soldier thought to be the last surviving veteran of the infamous Burma Railway has died aged 104.
Jack Jennings was among 60,000 Allied prisoners forced by the Japanese to build a railway between Thailand and Myanmar, then Burma from 1942 to 1943.
In his final weeks at a Torquay care home, Mr Jennings was still playing his harmonica which he had used to entertain fellow troops.
His family said he had lived “a wonderful life”.
Daughter Carol Barrett said: “I think we’ve been very lucky, that we had such a long time knowing him, loving him.”
Mr Jennings’ family believed he was the last survivor of 85,000 soldiers killed or captured when Singapore fell to the Japanese in World War Two.
The story of the World War Two prisoners of war camp featured in the Oscar-winning film starring Alec Guiness, The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Jack Jennings
The railway project led to the deaths of 90,000 Asian civilian workers and 16,000 prisoners of war.
Daughter Carol Barrett told the BBC:
“He played his harmonica as a prisoner, I’m sure it helped him, and he was still playing it a week before he died.
“He was a carpenter and joiner by trade and he also made his own chess set, it gave them something to do while they were prisoners.”
Mr Jennings was among 60,000 Allied prisoners forced to build the railway
Captured on 15 February 1942 in Singapore as part of the Cambridgeshire Regiment, Mr Jennings remained a prisoner of the Japanese until the end of August 1945.
He survived his ordeal, and overcame a period of serious illness, to return to his childhood sweetheart Lilian Mary, whom he married in December 1945 … READ MORE.
