Retelling the history of members of the Cambridgeshire Regiment and others locally who served in Singapore in WWII, who were freed from captivity 80 years ago this month, after the end of World War Two.
They were last minute sacrifices, shipped into Singapore in January 1942 to assist its failed defence only two to six weeks before Britain's far east base surrendered. Then treated so cruelly as Japanese prisoners of war for three and a half years.
Lewis Herbert, former Leader of Cambridge City Council, shares the experiences of Cambridgeshire’s soldiers. As he did for Open Cambridge in 2015 on the 70th Anniversary of the war ending.
The Mayor of Cambridge, Councillor Dinah Pounds, will welcome everyone and open the event.
784 out of the 1900 members of the two Cambridgeshire Regiment battalions never made it home - over four in every ten. Most deaths were caused by brutal slave labour, and totally inadequate food and medication. The survivors who returned to Cambridgeshire had plenty to cope with too.
Relatives and friends of those who served in Singapore and the Far East are particularly welcome.
