Jack's story begins in 1920 in the London distracts of Peckham, Deptford, and Greenwich, enjoying life as a Cockney Lad in pre-war London, unaware that the years ahead would foster difficult times ending in a deep love for Scotland. Pitched into World War II having initially joined the Territorial Army he found himself in 1942 a prisoner of war of the Japanese. Surviving harsh conditions on the Thai-Burma railway, he returns to marry his Scottish sweetheart who had waited for him for four and a half years hoping all the time he was still alive and would return. Jack found post-war life not easy; he became a widower twice, and happiness and sadness came in equal portions. Life on the railway still haunted him and after 65 years he returns to the Kwai. Finally he gets back to Scotland and finds a second Scottish bride, thus bringing happiness for the years to come, and the hope for reaching 100 years of age.
