Description: Please read item descriptionTHE COLONEL OF TAMARKANPHILIP TOOSEY AND THEBRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI(JULIE SUMMERS)‘I have never ceased to object to the way in which the cinematic legend has overtaken and obscured the facts of what really happened on the Burma-Siam railway…’ – thus wrote former prisoner of war John Sharp about the David Lean epic The Bridge on the River Kwai. Sharp and many of his former comrades particularly objected to the character of Colonel Nicholson, as played by Alec Guinness, seeing it as a slur on the integrity of the real colonel behind the bridge, Philip Toosey – the subject of this outstanding biography.At the outbreak of the Second World War Toosey had a career with Barings Bank, a young family and a commission with the Territorial Army. It was at Dunkirk that his charisma and fortitude were first noted, and in 1941 he was given command of an artillery regiment. Sent to fight in the Far East he and his men soon found themselves embroiled in the battle for Singapore and were taken prisoner after the island’s fall in February 1942.The Japanese, scornful of the Allied forces for surrendering, determined to make full use of the new workforce at their disposal. Toosey was sent to Thailand to command the ‘bridge camp’ at Tamarkan, where he was ordered to supervise the construction of two railway bridges over the river Khwae Mea Khlong. Starvation rations and harsh working conditions up-jungle meant that dysentery and cholera struck, and Tamarkan became a hospital camp. A quarter of the 60,000 prisoners working on the Thailand-Burma railway would perish, and it gained the nickname ‘Death Railway’. Toosey, as camp commander, insisted on high standards of hygiene and discipline, giving his men back their self-respect and making himself a buffer for the cruel excesses of the guards.It would be another three and a half years before he returned home. Even after the war he found he was unable to stop looking after the men to whom he had become an inspiration, and his services to the Far Eastern POWs continued until his death in 1975.Written by Toosey’s granddaughter, The Colonel of Tamarkan draws on both private archives and many original interviews with Second World War POWs from Asian theatre to create a riveting blend of biography and history. It is a remarkable portrait of a forgotten British hero.Non-UK buyers please note this book will be posted through eBay's Global Shipping Programme and will, therefore, unable to be combined with other purchases. This 2005 paperback edition book is in very good overall condition with the only wear to the cover in the form of minor bumps and knocks to the edges and corners (see photograph). All pages are present, tightly bound, and free from tears, creases, and significant marks. The book runs to 410 pages (23cm x 15.5cm) and is well indexed and contains an additional 16 pages of photographs.
Price: 8.75 GBP
Location: Malton, North Yorkshire
End Time: 2024-10-10T12:39:01.000Z
Shipping Cost: 21.85 GBP
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Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
Country/ Organization: Great Britain
Theme: Militaria
Type: Books
Conflict: World War II (1939-1945)
Service: Army
Era: 1914-1945
