From Birmingham to the Thai-Burma Railway: A War Diary

Liz (Sutcliffe) Shields was born in Birmingham in 1947, grew up in Arley, Worcestershire and moved to Milford, Co. Donegal in 1973. Her father, Robert “Bob” Sutcliffe, was born in Yorkshire in 1911. With the outbreak of WWII Bob enlisted as a Gunner in the Royal Artillery, before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and posted to 137th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1941. In September 1941 Robert Sutcliffe began his diary: describing the voyage, arrival at Singapore and deployment to the north of Malaya to resist the Japanese invasion; action at the Battles of Jitra and Slim River and the final Battle for Singapore before becoming a Prisoner of War on 15th February 1942, when the Allies surrendered to Japan.

Liz has faithfully transformed her father's diaries into this wonderful book about endurance and survival. I was delighted and honoured when she asked me to design the book for her in 2015.