The Forgotten Highlander

My Incredible Story of Survival During the War in the Far East

By: Alistair Urquhart

Narrated by: David Rintoul

Alistair Urquhart was a soldier in the Gordon Highlanders captured by the Japanese in Singapore. He not only survived working on the notorious Bridge on the River Kwai, but he was subsequently taken on one of the Japanese 'hellships' which was torpedoed. Nearly everyone else on board died and Urquhart spent 5 days alone on a raft in the South China Sea before being rescued by a whaling ship. He was taken to Japan and then forced to work in a mine near Nagasaki. Two months later a nuclear bomb dropped just ten miles away . . .

This is the extraordinary story of a young men, conscripted at nineteen and whose father was a Somme Veteran, survived not just one, but three close encounters with death - encounters which killed nearly all his comrades.

©2010 Alistair Urquhart (P)2025 Hachette Audio UK

Endurance

An amazing lifelong story of perseverance and relentless personal endurance. Life may be hard, but it could always be way harder. Keep putting one foot in front of the other one day at a time!

A Must Read or Listen

A powerful account of a WWII POW surviver. A Fantastic story with excellent narration. It’s an eyewitness’s real account of building “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” and the unforgettable journey of a young Scottish Soldier who was captured with the fall of Singapore and was imprisoned and tortured for six plus years.

Unimaginable Resilience: A Tear-Streaked Triumph Or maybe

This audiobook wrecked me-in the best way. Eight hours straight, tears streaming, no breaks. The Japanese captured him, and what they did… the smells, the suffering-it’s beyond imagination. No words capture the horror you endured. And coming home? Our government gave you nothing, no honor, no respect. It pisses me off. But your story shines like a star, giving me hope to push through. We have it easy-thank you for reminding me.

Blind allegiance to corporate felons.

Having been through Marine Corps boot camp I could relate to some of the useless cruelty.

The pain that he had endured

The resilience and the will to survive, What a man can do is amazing.