William Ure was born in 1914 and brought up at home in Glasgow until he was 7 when he was told his mother had died. He then lived with his uncle, before being placed in a children's home.

William found out as an adult that his mother had not died, but had left the family and she was alive until he was in his 60s. His name was misspelt. It is Broomfield not Bloomfield, but there was no one to tell him that at the time.

William joined an Army band at 15, playing piccolo and clarinet. He travelled to various overseas placements including Malaya, Egypt and India and played water polo and hockey for the Army.

William was Captured in Hong Kong on 25th December 1941. He survived the sinking of the Lisbon Maru and because he was a strong swimmer, he managed to keep afloat for hours, until rescued by Chinese fisherman.

After William was recaptured by the Japanese he was taken to Osaka camp. He was also in Hiroshima. He worked in a factory and in a mine, where he broke his arm. He escaped, but was recaptured.

When the Japanese surrendered, William went out of the camp to find food for the weakest. When liberated, he volunteered to help the US army with the weak survivors.

After the war, William spent a few years with the War Graves Commission, helping families to locate graves and records of loved ones. When he came back from Japan, he was in an air crash and most people were killed, but he managed to climb out of a crack in the plane and run before it went up in flames.

William remained in the army for a few years, leaving after 23 years' service, and then working for construction companies doing admin work.

My mother ran a pub with her father in Everton, South Yorkshire and my dad went into the pub and met her. They married a few months later in 1957 and I am their only child. They lived in Newark until he died of a stroke aged 75 in 1989.