Death Was Our Bedmate: 155 (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment and the Japanese 1941-1945

By Agnes McEwan and Campbell Thomson

The book tells the story of a little known artillery regiment, the 155th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA which saw constant action during the ill-fated Malayan Campaign of 1941/42 and whose members later experienced the worst kind of hell as POWs of a cruel and bestial enemy.

Following the Japanese invasion of Malaya, the Regiment fought a brave and resolute rearguard action all the way down the Malayan Peninsular and onto the so called impregnable fortress of Singapore. Held in the highest respect by comrades and foe alike, this former territorial cavalry regiment fully deserved its Royal Artillery moto – Ubigue – ‘everywhere’.

In the years that followed, the Gunners slaved, suffered an d died on the infamous Burma Railway, in copper mines of Formosa and camps throughout the Far East. More men of the Regiment died as POWs than fell in action. They should not be forgotten.

Included is a full nominal roll which allows the reader to identify the camp/s where each individual Gunner was held. A Roll of Honour provides the date, place and cause of death and place of burial/commemoration of the Regiment’s casualties.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Mar 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781473822481

Agnes McEwan

Agnes McEwan was born in Lanarkshire in the years following the Second World War, the daughter of a former Gunner with the 155th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, RA, John McEwan, who survived three and a half years as a POW of the Japanese. His acclaimed account Out of the Depths of Hell was first published by Pen and Sword in 1999 and is now in paperback. Campbell Thomson is a retired senior police officer (Superintendent) who initially joined the local Lanarkshire Constabulary. Despite sharing the same cap badge of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry, he had no previous knowledge of this local Regiment until he read John McEwan’s book. This led to a close friendship with McEwan and a determination that the sacrifice made by the men of this little known Regiment should be told.