How do you survive when you’re beaten, starved and humiliated as a prisoner of war in a camp on the Thai–Burma railway? ‘You stick together, that’s what you do,’ says David ‘Digger’ Barrett. ‘You scam, lie, steal, cheat and hate the bastards with as much energy as you love and protect your mates.’

Digger was given his nickname at an early age by his father. It was prophetic: as an eighteen-year-old looking for fun and adventure, he enlisted as a private and served in World War II. After surviving the Malayan campaign, he would spend over three years as a Japanese prisoner of war.

It would take Digger more than fifty years to rid his mind of the hate he had for the guards of the Imperial Japanese Army. His story of courage, mateship and survival takes him from the prison camps of Thailand and Burma to the fight for reparations for all Australian POWs of the Japanese.

Honest and unflinching, and with the Aussie soldier’s larrikin streak, Digger’s Story is an unforgettable journey.

Brian Robertson