TO HELL AND BACK

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: nov/dec 2025 :: RMTnews 23 Former RMT press officer Geoff Martin’s book about his father is one of the most important books you will read on the experiences of ordinary soldiers who endured the horrors of the ‘Forgotten War’ in the East during World War Two. The fact that the author had to publish it himself in the middle of celebrations of the 80th anniversary of ‘Victory in Europe’ is just one more indictment of a scandal that did not end in 1945. After suffering long years in captivity, starvation, disease and torture, Cliff Martin had to fight on for another half a century before finally getting his War Pension in 1993. It is hard to believe that successive governments could have been so petty, callous and vindictive toward the hardy few who had survived such unimaginable hardships over so many years in Japanese captivity whilst serving their country. After joining the army, Cliff Martin found himself in Shanghai in 1938 where he rose in the ranks to sergeant-major. But by 1942 he was retreating down the Malay Peninsula and surrendered to the Japanese Army at the Fall of Singapore. This defeat was so comprehensive, brought about largely by military brass incompetence, it may well explain why, even today, it is largely overlooked by the media and political elites alike. But surrender was only the beginning of Cliff’s ordeal as he was enslaved to work on the ’Death Railway’, a rail line linking Bangkok and Rangoon, running through some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world. Prisoners endured hard physical work 18 hours a day, malnutrition, malaria, starvation and routine beatings by sadistic Japanese guards. Anyone who tried to stop the torture was given even worse treatment. Those to sick to stand were denied rations and medical staff that demanded equipment to care for the sick also faced casual, routine, unimaginable violence. Having survived the Death Railway, Cliff faced a fresh nightmare on the Hell Ships which shipped prisoners to Japan to slave camps like Mitsushima, yet another hell on Earth. Little is known today about these terrible convoys made worse by the fact that the Japanese inexplicably failed to mark the ships with the Red Cross in contravention of the Geneva Convention. As a result, many were torpedoed by US submarines who picked up survivors and the first stories of the horrors suffered in captivity began to circulate. Facing invasion from US Forces, the Japanese issued the infamous ‘Kill All Prisoners’ order but once the Japanese emperor announced complete surrender this call for mass murder was only partially carried out. Such was the terrible condition of the men that when the end of the war finally came, leaflets were dropped warning prisoners not to eat large quantities as it would kill them. It is difficult here to convey the depth of deprivation Cliff and his comrades suffered and endured for so long but there is redemption here to. US forces that liberated Mitsushima watched as Sergeant Cliff Martin lead his men in formation out of the camp to freedom. Indeed, what is perhaps the most incredible part of this story is that he not only marched out of captivity but went on to create a loving family with his wife and children. However, the trauma of these experiences clearly never left him, along with the physical scars and constant headaches, and he felt a deep sense of injustice that continued to inform his world view. It seems that Cliff clearly understood that he came from a class who were often dealt the rough end of things, but he never buckled under and fought back fiercely on behalf of his family for the rest of his life. That is something worth fighting for and it is certainly something worth writing about. Buy this book, read it and remember. Brian Denny From Stepney to Hell … and back: Cliff Martin’s journey from the East End to the Death Railway…and liberation by Geoff Martin, is available in paperback on Ebay for £10 or from Printed Matter, 185 Queens Road, Hastings TN34 1RG. TO HELL AND BACK One man’s journey through poverty, the Death Railway and liberation REDEMPTION- Cliff Martin surviving against all the odds