Nagasaki

At 11.02 am on an August morning in 1945 America dropped the world’s most powerful atomic bomb on the Japanese port city of Nagasaki. The city was flattened, and more than 70,000 Japanese citizens were killed. Among the horrific scenes were also hundreds of Allied British, Australian, American and Dutch prisoners of war, working as forced labourers in the shipyards and factories of Nagasaki. This book tells their remarkable untold stories – from the bloody battles of the Malayan jungle, to the ‘hell ships’ transporting them to Japan, and finally the devastating impact of the world’s second atomic bomb.

Drawing on unpublished and rarely seen notes, interviews and memoirs, this unique book weaves together a vivid picture of defeat, endurance and survival against astonishing odds.



Cover: Public domain. Above centre: Dr Aidan McCarthy, used with permission