Book tribute to dad and all ex-POWs

It will also be a tribute to all the servicemen and civilians who suffered starvation and brutality after being taken prisoner by the Japanese.

The writer, Eileen Shepherd, of Creswick Avenue, Burnley, is trying to contact any former members of the 2nd Battalion of the Loyal Regiment, now the Queens Lancashire Regiment, who were garrisoned at Singapore Fortress during World War 11.

She said: "I want to emphasise I am writing the book for them and not for any financial reason. It is an honour to meet them and a privilege to talk to them about their experiences."

Her father, Denis Lalor, now 80 and who lives on the Wirral, was taken prisoner by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore.

He spent six months in the notorious Changi prison before being sent to a slave labour camp in Korea.

He suffered many hardships and lost many of his colleagues to sickness, overwork and brutality.

Mrs Shepherd said: "He was a prisoner for three and a half years. He is six feet one inch tall, but when he came home he weighed only six and a half stone. "They were all the same and that just shows the hardships they had to endure."

One chapter of the book will be dedicated to her father.

Other chapters will be in tribute to other survivors. "Each one has a different story to tell," said Mrs Shepherd, who herself served in the forces as a telephonist in the Signals Regiment, including tours of Northern Ireland and Germany.

Her husband, Keith, well known locally as Shep, also served in the Royal Corps of Transport and then in the Royal Engineers as a territorial.

They have two grown up daughters.

Mrs Shepherd, whose only previous attempt at writing was a book of poems, began research on the present book two years ago.

She has interviewed 14 local people who were prisoners of war in the Far East and now wants to talk to other survivors.

Anyone wanting to get in touch can contact Mrs Shepherd on 01282 411361.