After seeing action in the Middle East, he was captured and spent the rest of the war working on the Thai-Burma railway.
The bridges of the Burma Railway, built by the Japanese during WWII, especially those over the River Kwai (Kwai Bridge)
Sergeant Geoff Edrich survived three years' captivity in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, during the Second World War, including a stint on the infamous Burma Railway.
In fact, he had been taken prisoner by the Japanese and remained a prisoner of war at the Changi Prison until 1945, working on the construction of the Burma Railway which crossed Thailand, a feat that inspired the Pierre Boulle book 'Bridge Over the River Kwai', and the film adaptation by David Lean.
During World War II, his father was made to work on the infamous Burma Railway in Thailand, while John with his mother and three brothers were prisoners of war in Malang, Surakarta and Ambarawa.
The eight seasons were divided by the Second World War, in which he was a prisoner of war in the Far East and worked on the Burma-Siam railway.
He was inspired to follow Padre Lionel Marsden, a former prisoner-of-war of the Japanese on the Burma Railway, to work for reconciliation with the people of Japan.
Burma Railway - a railway connecting Thailand and Burma constructed by the Japanese using POW labor during World War II
During World War II Thanbyuzayat was the western terminus of the Thailand–Burma Railway linking up with the pre-war coastal railway between Ye and Rangoon.
Additional American personnel such as Paul Stevenson accepted commissions with the United States Public Health Service and were sent to assist with malaria control during the construction effort.
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:A railway, starting from Mandalay, goes north-east to the bank of the Salwin which is to be crossed at Kunlong Ferry in latitude 23 degrees 20', whence, if ever built, it is to be taken north in Chinese territory and run parallel with the prevailing strike of the mountains, due north to Tali-fu; but this line will pass through a wild thinly-peopled country and it is doubtful if a private company will be found to build it.
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An article by Royal Arch Gunnison published in the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, November 27, 1941 stated that American Engineers still expected "12 to 15 months to complete" the railway and described a Dr. Victor Haas of the United States Public Health Service as in charge of sanitation and malaria prevention.
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In 1938, Edward Michael Law-Yone travelled to Yunnan from his native Burma to see the proposed route.
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Eventually, the airfield work was completed, and in September 1942, A Force was shipped to Thanbyuzayat to start work on the Burma-Thailand Railway.
However, after several weeks of evasion, around 4 March 1942 he was captured by the Japanese on Java and sent to work on the Burma Railway.