'Nobody was at the quayside when they returned..they were the forgotten ones'

Kathy Bollom, who wrote the book Remembering Billy - a Daughter's Memories of a Far East PoW Survivor, said: “There was nobody at the quayside when the ships returned. There was no end of war celebration. The families had no news whether their relatives had died. There were no parties and celebrations like there had been for VE Day. Men like my father returned to silence, they were the forgotten ones. Sometimes they

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were even asked where they had been all this time. My father’s family presumed he was dead.”

Richard Day, who died last month aged 98, fought in the Royal Welch Fusiliers at the Battle of Kohima which stopped Japan's advance into India. He recalled: “The worst part was crossing rivers at night — it was cold...then all night in wet clothes.