The service at the Far East Prisoners of War Memorial in Mornington Crescent

BY FELIX BRIGHT

THE daughter of a soldier from the Second World War’s “forgotten army” uncovered fresh information about her father’s time in captivity following a chance meeting at a remembrance event.

Patsy Keane was among veterans and relatives of former servicemen – including a Camden councillor – at the Far East Prisoners of War Memorial at Mornington Crescent on Saturday to mark the 81st anniversary of VJ Day.

The memorial – first unveiled in 2012 – was set up with a peaceful inscription using donations from readers following a campaign by the New Journal.

Ms Keane learned that her father Captain Granville Keane spent time as a PoW in at least six different camps from a representative of the Children of Far East Prisoners of War group she met at the annual commemoration.

She said: “He was able to look up my dad and tell me lots of new information. I always knew my dad had been in more than one prisoner of war camp, but I now believe he’d been in about six.”

Sgt Major Kinnear from the Salvation Army played The Last Post

Having lost one brother in 1940, Captain Keane returned home to find out his twin brother had been killed in 1944.

Ms Keane described her father as a “peaceful man” who was released after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, adding: “There is a fine line between remembering war, which is so important, and glorifying it. That we are all there to remember them, coupled with the words on the memorial, is extremely powerful.”

The memorial reads: “They ask for nothing but remembrance of their lives and a promise of peace for future generations.”

The “forgotten army” moniker was given to British soldiers trapped in Japan, while the Allies celebrated the surrender of the Nazis in May 1945.

The idea for the memorial first emerged after a conversation between celebrated cartoonist Ronald Searle and former New Journal editor Eric Gordon. Mr Searle, himself a survivor of a prisoner-of-war camp in Japan who created many drawings during his time in captivity, had been outraged that there was no memorial in London remembering the men who never made it home.

Generous New Journal readers made donations that the paper used to erect the monument next to the Richard Cobden Statue. Mr Searle died in 2011, and one year later the memorial was completed, featuring one of his wartime cartoons on its face.

At the event on Saturday were Anthony Truett from the Birmingham Association of Far East Prisoners of War, Sgt Major Michael Kinnear from the Salvation Army in Chalk Farm, who played The Last Post, and Sergeant Chris Maynard who led a procession of veterans from Camden and Islington.

Cllr Matt Cooper’s grandfather Thomas Driscoll

Also there was Labour Party councillor for Camden Town, Matt Cooper, whose grandfather Thomas Driscoll was a prisoner of war in the Far East.

Cllr Cooper said: “The Far East is often not the main story of that war, and it can be really overlooked. But it’s such an important part of history to remember. It was quite a difficult thing, so a lot of those men just never spoke about it to their families.”

Cllr Cooper spoke about the glorification surrounding the Second World War identified by Ms Keane: “It’s important young people learn about it in schools – they need to recognise the really abject human suffering that happened. When people think about things in Europe, there’s a kind of glorification.

“You have stories about D-Day, the Blitz, and other great victories. However, if you look at the war with Japan, it was just horrific on almost every level – there was lots and lots of human suffering. That generation of men have died, and it’s their children and grandchildren carrying it on now.”

He added: “It’s fantastic, the work that all of the volunteers involved in the Far East Memorial have been doing over the years, making sure these events happen. Anything that can be done to make sure that keeps happening and people keep learning and understanding a little bit more would be fantastic.”