Albert (Bert) Charles Long grew up in Hendon, North London, and enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment on 9th April 1934. Prior to that he worked as a poultryman.

He went with the regiment to Egypt (where he learnt to swim in the Suez Canal) then to Singapore and finally to Hong Kong.

Bert was captured by the Japanese when Hong Kong fell. He was on the Lisbon Maru and thankfully was one of the survivors who managed to swim to Dongyi island. When recaptured he was sent to a prison camp in Osaka and made to work on the docks.

The family know very little detail of his experience there. The only time he ever spoke about it in my presence was on two occasions. One when the Herald Of Free Enterprise went down, and he commented that he knew what it was like to be on a sinking ship, and once when the programme "All Our Yesterdays" showed troops during the capture of Hong Kong. He commented then that "I'm in there somewhere".

He was repatriated via the USA. He was taken to Angel Island in San Francisco, and then across America by train, and home to Southampton on the Queen Mary.

Bert met Joyce, who was a friend of his sisters, and married her in July 1949. His daughter was born a year later. He worked as a laundry engineer, and then for the Post Office until retirement.

He was a fantastic gardener and had a large garden and allotment to look after.

He used to go off on his own on Christmas Day for a short while to remember his comrades. He was a very gentle person with a great sense of humour, and is much missed.