The fall of Singapore was described by Winston Churchill as 'the greatest disaster in our history'. This Friday is the 60th anniversary of the event in which troops trapped by Japanese forces came to be known as the 'forgotten army'.
Meg Parkes' father was one of several thousand British and Commonwealth troops who became a POW and who lost touch with their families. Then, due to a surprising turn of events, he managed to get word to them in Scotland. Notify Alec Rattray is based on Megs' fathers wartime diaries and correspondence. She talks to Jenni about her reasons for writing this extraordinary story. Meg Parkes, Notify Alec Rattray, Publ. Kranji, ISBN 9 9541428 0 2, £11.50 An exhibition about Atholl Duncan is on at the Voirrey Embroidery Centre at Brimstage Village on the Wirral until March 2nd.
