How Moray soldier survived as a Japanese POW
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During the Second World War a young volunteer soldier from Elgin spent over four years as a captive in the Far East.
Over the next four weeks we will feature his remarkable tale of comradeship, resourcefulness and resilience.
Here is part one.
Bill Barr Cochrane and the rest of his regiment set sail from Liverpool on a former cruise liner.
Before the Second World War began the 26-year-old had been working at the family's music store on Elgin High Street.
Now, as a member of the Royal Signals, he found himself billeted in one of the ship's ornately decorated state rooms.
Designed to house a pair of wealthy passengers in peacetime comfort, the slight problem with the room was that Bill was just one of 14 soldiers crammed inside.
The military had commandeered the SS Orcades to help with the war effort.
Several theories and rumours were busy circulating amongst the ranks as to where in the world it, and they, were heading.
Yet the wisest course was to ignore all the gossip because, in truth, nobody knew.
To try to avoid the Nazi submarines the ship first travelled west to Trinidad, before tracking back the other way across the Atlantic.
Eventually the Orcades stopped to refuel at Cape Town in South Africa.
Bill and his pals were enjoying shore leave when, on December 8, 1941, the news came about Pearl Harbour.
The Japanese air force had launched a surprise attack on the US naval base, causing the ferocious global conflict to escalate even further.
All leave was immediately cancelled and the Orcades set sail again the very next day, heading eastwards.
Finally, word came about their destination.
They had been posted to Singapore.
Bill and the others arrived on January 27, 1942 – just 18 days before the British colony fell to the Japanese.
Interviewed in 2005, he stated: "I've no firm reason to say this but it was fairly obvious that our commanding officer was virtually pleading with the British government to turn us around and make for Australia.
"But the problem was a lot of the civilians and children hadn't gone off the island when told to do so. They needed the ships to get them off."
Bill's regiment disembarked and found themselves stationed at a rubber plantation, where they awaited the inevitable.
He recalled: "The next thing we knew was that the island had surrendered. The Japs had got the water supply, they'd got everything, so there was not much we could do.
"My section officer came to me and said, 'Cochrane I'm making you up to Sergeant because one of the Sergeants has decided to make a go for it'.
"But those that had any sense at all realised that the chances of you escaping were virtually nil.
"Although one or two did make it, it was only single figures."
After being ordered to surrender, Bill and the others were interned by the Japanese.
They were held within a military camp in an area of Singapore called Changi.
"Quite comfortable", was how he described it. "But I realized after a while I didn't want to stay there because you'd just rot."
Instead, Bill volunteered for a work party of about 500 POWs who were employed on Singapore's docks.
"I felt it was very much better that you've got something to occupy your mind. And we had quite a reasonable time there. The fact that you were loading and unloading ships gave you more opportunities to be light-fingered.
"On one occasion it turned out to be four tins of rock salmon that I'd swiped from one of the ships."
During the run-up to Christmas in 1942, it was learnt that the Japanese were organising the POWs to go north through Malaysia up into Thailand.
After being marched to Singapore's train station, they were loaded aboard a series of closed metal rail trucks.
"It was either 35 or 36 fellas who were in each of these trucks. And that was hell actually ... because the heat alone. The only way we could manage it was for half to be standing while half were lying down."
After several days the train eventually came to a place called Chumphon.
Next week: Put to work on the 'Death Railway'.
