Bringing Ghosts to life

Researching history means entering a world of Ghosts.  The presence of people from by-gone ages can be felt as one moves around places and buildings trying to imagine the past, and piece together a mental jigsaw from (often) limited snippets of information.  As an amateur historian with a military interest (and background) I have wandered around many ex-British army locations around the globe. 

Most recently I visited some sites in Singapore.  The big picture, the top down view of the campaign is clear, yet it is very hard to get a perspective from ordinary people who were not at the top of the tree - and it is their stories and memories that are vital to truly understand how life must have been.

The Railway Man and the Forgotten Highlander

Both were Scots who were imprisoned by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore during World War Two, and who were forced to work on the infamous railway of death, the Burma-Siam railway, that the Japanese subsequently started constructing.  Both are still alive and in their nineties:  Alistair Urquhart, author of the 'Forgotten Highlander' lives in Broughty Ferry, overlooking the Tay Estuary near Dundee; Eric Lomax, author of 'The Railway Man', lives in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

How do you cope with the aftermath of witnessing death and extreme trauma?   Young people fighting in Afghanistan are facing the same issue today, although not on the scale of what was witnessed by Urquhart and Lomax.  They belong to a generation who were expected to deal with the pain and suffering on their own........while fortunately today's veterans can expect help!