POW helps launch Lanarkshire Yeomanry book

ONE of the few surviving World War Two Lanarkshire Yeomanry veterans has helped launch a new book about the Yeomanry’s Far East campaign.

By The Newsroom

Published 28th Feb 2019, 14:03 GMT

Tom Hannah in conversation with Campbell Thomson and signing copies of Death Was Our Bedmate.

Douglas man Tom Hannah, now living in Blackwood, was the guest of honour at the Death Was Our Bed Mate book launch in the Glo Centre, Motherwell.

Authors Campbell Thomson and Agnes McEwan appeared alongside 93-year-old Tom who spoke to the audience about his experiences and signed copies of the book.

Campbell said: “It was a privilege to meet and get to know Tom. Sadly, he is one of the few remaining survivors of a very special group of amazing men who would just not give in.

“They made it against all the odds and they, and those who perished, should not be forgotten.”

Tom survive horrors as a POW and working on the cruel Death Railway and he was one of the fortunate men of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry to make it back home.

He received little sympathy or recognition for what he had endured and it is only with the publication of the book – the title of which came from a remark made by him when describing what life and death was like on that terrible railway – that the story of Tom and his mates has been finally told.

For full details, and more about Tom’s experiences, pick up a copy of this week’s Carluke and Lanark Gazette.