{{Short description|British Army officer (1919–2012)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}} {{Use British English|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Eric Lomax | image = Photo of Eric Lomax.jpeg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Eric Sutherland Lomax | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1919|05|30}} | birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2012|10|08|1919|05|30}} | death_place = Berwick-upon-Tweed, England | other_names = | occupation = Military officer, author | spouse = {{marriage|Agnes Scott Dickson|20 November 1945|1982|end=div}}<br>{{marriage|Patti Wallace|1983}} | children = 3 | known_for = ''The Railway Man'' }} '''Eric Sutherland Lomax''' (30 May 1919 – 8 October 2012)<ref name="BBC"/> was a British Army officer who was sent to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in 1942. He is most notable for his book, ''The Railway Man'', about his experiences before, during, and after World War II, which won the 1996 NCR Book Award and the PEN/Ackerley Prize.
==Early life== Lomax was born in Edinburgh on 30 May 1919. He left the Royal High School, Edinburgh, aged 16, after entering a civil service competition and obtaining employment at the Post Office.<ref name="independent">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/eric-lomax-war-hero-whose-experiences-in-the-far-east-became-a-bestselling-memoir-8204221.html|title=Eric Lomax: War hero whose experiences in the Far East became a bestselling memoir|work=The Independent|date=10 October 2012|location=London|first=Martin|last=Childs}}</ref><ref name="Guardian obit">{{cite news|last=van der Vat|first=Dan|title=Eric Lomax obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/09/eric-lomax |accessdate=10 October 2012|work=The Guardian|date=9 October 2012|location=London}}</ref> On 8 April 1936, he became a sorting clerk and telegraphist in Edinburgh.<ref name="LG 8 May 1936">{{London Gazette |issue=34282 |date=8 May 1936 |page=2991 }}</ref> On 10 March 1937, he was promoted to the clerical class.<ref name="LG 9 April 1937">{{London Gazette |issue=34387 |date=9 April 1937 |page=2280 }}</ref>
==Military service== In 1939, aged 20, Lomax joined the Royal Corps of Signals before World War II broke out.<ref name="NY Times obit">{{cite news|last=Yardley|first=William|title=Eric Lomax, River Kwai Prisoner Who Forgave, Dies at 93|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/books/eric-lomax-river-kwai-prisoner-who-forgave-dies-at-93.html?_r=0|accessdate=10 October 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 October 2012}}</ref> Following time in the 152nd Officer Cadet Training Unit, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 28 December 1940. He was given the service number 165340.<ref name="LG 24 January 1941">{{London Gazette |issue=35056 |date=24 January 1941 |page=547 |supp=y }}</ref> He was a Royal Signals officer attached to the 5th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery.
As a lieutenant, he was captured by the Japanese following the surrender of Singapore in February 1942.<ref name="NY Times obit" /> He, along with the other Far East prisoners of war (FEPOW), undertook a forced march to Changi Prison.<ref name="Guardian obit" /> He was then taken to Kanchanaburi, Thailand<ref name=BBC /> and forced to build the Burma Railway.<ref name="NY Times obit" /> In 1943 he and five other prisoners were tortured by the Kempeitai and convicted of "anti-Japanese activities" after a clandestine radio was found in the camp. He was transferred to Outram Road Prison in Singapore for the remainder of the war.
On 12 September 1946, it was gazetted that he had been mentioned in despatches "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services while [a Prisoner] of War".<ref name="LG 10 September 1946">{{London Gazette |issue=37720 |date=10 September 1946 |page=4574 |supp=y }}</ref> He was awarded the Efficiency Medal (Militia) in 1949<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/38517/supplements/385 |title=Viewing Page 385 of Issue 38517 |publisher=London-gazette.co.uk |date=1949-01-21 |accessdate=2012-10-08}}</ref> and was granted the honorary rank of captain.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/army-obituaries/9596599/Eric-Lomax.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=Eric Lomax | date=9 October 2012}}</ref> He retired from the Army in 1949.<ref name="independent" />
==Later life and death== Unable to adjust to civilian life, Lomax joined the Colonial Service and was posted to the Gold Coast (now Ghana) until 1955. After studying management he worked for the Scottish Gas Board and the University of Strathclyde. He retired in 1982.<ref name="independent"/>
Lomax was the first patient of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. His later life included reconciliation with one of his former torturers, interpreter Takashi Nagase of Kurashiki, Japan. Nagase had written a book on his own experiences during and after the war entitled ''Crosses and Tigers'', and financed a Buddhist temple at the bridge to atone for his actions during the war.<ref>{{cite web |title=Prisoner of War Learns To Forgive, Reconciles With His Interrogator|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1995/0809/09131.html|author=Andreae, Christopher|work=Christian Science Monitor|date=9 August 1995}}</ref> The meeting between the two men was filmed as a documentary ''Enemy, My Friend?'' (1995), directed by Mike Finlason. The film received several awards.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}
Lomax's death, at the age of 93, was announced by the BBC on 8 October 2012. He died in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-19878770 |title=Eric Lomax: The Railway Man author dies aged 93 |publisher=BBC |work=BBC News|date= 8 October 2012|accessdate=2012-10-08}}</ref>
==Personal life== A keen railway enthusiast and transport photographer, Lomax joined the Stephenson Locomotive Society in 1937,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.stephensonloco.org.uk/Obit_Lomax.html | title=E S Lomax - Obituary | access-date=3 October 2014 | archive-date=6 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006121130/http://www.stephensonloco.org.uk/Obit_Lomax.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> and his enthusiasm for railways stayed with him to his death.
He married his first wife Agnes Scott Dickson ("Nan") on 20 November 1945, just three weeks after being liberated. They had three children, Linda May (14 December 1946 – 13 December 1993), Eric (18 June 1948) and Charmaine Carole (born 17 June 1957).<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/dec/28/railway-mans-forgotten-family|title=The Railway Man's forgotten family: 'We were victims of torture too'|work=The Guardian|date=28 December 2013}}</ref>
In 1980, Lomax met British-born Canadian nurse Patricia "Patti" Wallace who was 17 years his junior. She moved from Canada to the United Kingdom in 1982. Lomax left Nan several months later and married Patti in 1983.<ref name="guardian"/>
==Autobiography and film== Lomax's autobiography ''The Railway Man'' was published in 1995. John McCarthy, a journalist who was held hostage for five years in Lebanon, described Lomax's book as "an extraordinary story of torture and reconciliation."
Lomax's story was made into the BBC television drama ''Prisoners in Time'' in 1995, starring John Hurt as Lomax, Randall Duk Kim as Nagase, and Rowena Cooper as Patti.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139541/|title=Prisoners in Time|publisher=IMDb|accessdate=2012-10-08}}</ref>
A film adaptation was released in 2013. Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, the film stars Colin Firth and Jeremy Irvine as the older and younger Eric Lomax respectively,<ref>{{cite news|first=Pamela|last=McClintock|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/toronto-2011-colin-firth-set-233540|title=Toronto 2011: Colin Firth Set to Star in World War II Drama 'The Railway Man'|quote=Jonathan Teplitzky begins shooting the big-screen adaptation of Eric Lomax's real-life account in February|work=Hollywood Reporter|date=9 September 2011|accessdate=10 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/war-horse-jeremy-irvine-colin-firth-255468|title='War Horse' Star Jeremy Irvine to Play Young Colin Firth in 'The Railway Man'|first=Daniel|last=Miller|work=Hollywood Reporter|date=2011-10-31|accessdate=2011-11-12}}</ref> and Nicole Kidman as Patti, the woman who befriended and later married Lomax.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-17870048 | title = Colin Firth 'overwhelmed' by Scot's film story| date = 27 April 2012| accessdate = 27 April 2012| publisher = BBC News}}</ref><ref name="fa">Simon Richards, 'Two TFA Council Members Making the News', ''Freedom Today: The Journal of the Freedom Association'', Spring 2012, p. 5</ref> The film moves between Lomax's time as a FEPOW on the Burma Railway and his later life around the time of his reconciliation with his captor.
==Other== He was a council member of The Freedom Association.<ref name="fa"/>
==Works== * ''The Railway Man'' ({{ISBN|0-09-958231-7}})
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|4671561}} *[http://www.britishpathe.com/video/burma-death-railway Pathe News footage of the Burma Railway] {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomax, Eric}} Category:1919 births Category:2012 deaths Category:20th-century Scottish writers Category:People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Category:People from North Berwick Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Category:Scottish torture victims Category:Royal Corps of Signals officers Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:British World War II prisoners of war Category:Burma Railway prisoners Category:Military personnel from Edinburgh