VJ Day: Three remarkable men of the Cambridgeshire Regiment

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Returning prisoners of war, led by John Beckett, marching past Ely's war memorial in November 1945

The end of World War Two 80 years ago meant liberation for three men who were "beacons of humanity and resistance to evil".

Noel Duckworth, George Easingwood and John Beckett were captured with the 2nd Battalion The Cambridgeshire Regiment at the fall of Singapore in February 1942.

They were a chaplain whose courage prevented a massacre; a sergeant who tirelessly cared for the starving and injured; and a captain who created a hidden radio to provide morale-boosting news updates.

"They found themselves in this unimaginably awful situation and did not give up or give in to selfishness - it's an incredible story," said Felix Jackson, from Ely Museum.

The 2nd Battalion was a territorial division, "a unit imbedded in the local Ely population, quite often it was sons following fathers," said Mr Jackson.

In 1941, they were heading to India for garrison duty, when the attack on Pearl Harbour took place and the ship they were on was rushed to Singapore.

After fierce fighting but against impossible odds, the British, Australian and Indian forces were ordered to surrender.

The Cambridgeshire Regiment was about 1,900-strong when it reached Singapore, but by 1945, 784 officers and men had died fighting or as prisoners.

The conditions the Japanese Army inflicted upon the prisoners of war (POWs) have since become a by-word for brutality and cruelty, while millions of civilians also died in the South East Asian countries the army occupied.

The padre who 'used his charisma'

Chaplain Noel Duckworth pictured in late 1945. He rowed for Great Britain in the 1936 Olympic Games

Chaplain Noel Duckworth (1912-1980) loved rowing - and the sport would go on to save his life.

At 5ft 2in (1.6m), the vicar's son from Yorkshire coxed for his college at the University of Cambridge, for the university boat club - and for Great Britain during the 1936 Berlin Olympics, said Mr Jackson.

By the outbreak of World War Two he was a Church of England priest and he joined the 2nd Battalion as its padre - the name given to Army chaplains.

As Singapore fell, field hospitals were being overrun and the injured were being executed, so the order went out that it was every man for himself.

"Amazingly, Royal Army Medical Corps personnel elect to stay behind and look after the wounded and Noel Duckworth sees it as his duty to do the same," said Mr Jackson, co-founder of the Cambridgeshire Regiment Research Trust.

The group he was with was captured and the order to kill was about to be given.

The padre's story featured on the TV programme This is Your Life in 1959

Mr Jackson said: "Noel steps forward and starts berating the Japanese officer and everyone around him, giving them a proper parade-ground telling off.

"There's a moment of hesitation and the officer recognises Noel from his rowing days - the Japanese had a rowing team at the Olympics - and, according to multiple reports, this stops the massacre, all because he stood up and did what he could."

This episode set the pattern for the way he behaved during his years of captivity, paying the price with "incredibly severe beatings" for standing up for his fellow POWs, said Mr Jackson.

"He would use his charisma to trade with the guards for food or medical supplies - everyone speaks so highly of him as this remarkable chap, getting up to a little bit of mischief," he added.

After the war he worked in Ghana, before returning to Cambridge to become chaplain of the newly founded Churchill College.

The selfless medic

Ely's Sgt George Easingwood (1919-1987) was awarded the British Empire Medal for his bravery and devotion as a medic, which saved many of the prisoners

"George Easingwood's story is another one of moral courage, he is caring from the off," said Mr Jackson.

At the time of capture, the grocer's assistant from Ely was an acting medical sergeant, triaging patients alongside a doctor.

He was initially held at Changi Prison before being sent to join the POWs toiling relentlessly as slave labour while building the Burma to Thailand railway.

They were also expected to work on docks, airfields, in coalmines, shipbuilding yards, steel and copper works.

So in 1944, Sgt Easingwood was among thousands of Allied POWs crammed into unmarked and disease-riddled "hell ships", sent to become slave labour in Japan.

He was selfless in his care of the men he was with, who were suffering from tropical diseases and malaria, malnutrition and torture, said Mr Jackson

Mr Jackson said: "He is sent to Tokyo knowing that when the Allied invasion comes, they're all going to be killed - except the atomic bombs are dropped and the war is over."

On his return home, he was nominated for a British Empire Medal by fellow-survivors.

"The citation talks about the incredible care he showed during a terrible cholera outbreak in 1943 and how he looked after 750 men during the voyage to Japan, despite suffering from [tropical disease] beri-beri and marked malnutrition, while refusing to rest when his medical officer said he was too ill to work," said Mr Jackson.

Sgt Easingwood remained in Ely for much of the rest of his life, marrying and staying active in a Far Eastern Prisoner of War (FEPOW) club until his death.

Saved by a Rolex

John Beckett was a young captain when he was captured, but on liberation went on to become a colonel and is seen here with Queen Elizabeth II in 1955

"Within four months of capture, John Beckett comes up with a plan to scavenge whatever machinery and electronics they can to create a rudimentary radio," said Mr Jackson.

"He knew there was huge personal risk, if the radio was found he risked beatings, torture and probable execution - but morale is suffering and he felt the best way to help that is to get hold of news about the war."

Capt Beckett (1914 to 1987) was a solicitor in Ely before the war, who had followed his uncle Lt Col Archer and taken a commission in the Cambridgeshire Regiment.

"He described the absolute shock of being told to surrender and within a few weeks he was getting a bit itchy and keen to push back so comes up with the idea of making a radio - it's this quiet resistance that's quite remarkable," said Mr Jackson.

Capt Beckett would seek out men from the Royal Corps of Signals to help create a much smaller radio (above) which remained in use until mid-1944

The initial radio was hidden in the latrine's roof, but it was too big to be portable so over time, a radio was developed small enough to fit into his 8in by 6in (20cm by 15cm) water bottle.

Captain Beckett was the one listening to the updates and writing them down.

Mr Jackson said: "There was one occasion, where a Japanese sentry stumbles across him doing this, works out what is going on, but see his fancy Rolex watch and takes that in exchange for not reporting him."

He also kept a secret list in his bible of the names of the men who went missing or died - or got moved into different work groups - as a record for when the war ended.

On his return to Ely, he married, remained in the territorials, and ended up becoming its commanding officer.

A group of Allied prisoners of war celebrating after liberation

Mr Jackson said: "They were such remarkable men and it's important we remember them because they were people from the communities we live in now.

"A vicar, a grocer's assistant and a solicitor - people who risked everything to help those around them and are beacons of humanity and resistance to evil."

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