ONE of the last surviving British Second World War prisoners of the Japanese has celebrated his 100th birthday in Devon.
Ernest Taylor, who was born just before the First World War began, was joined by family and friends in his home village of Christow to mark his century milestone on July 27.
He was imprisoned in the notorious Changi prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Singapore in 1941 – and lived to tell the tale.
"How I've got to this age I don't know," he said. "You needed a sense of humour at Changi. Otherwise it was murder."
Ernest was born to Henry James Wilfred and Effie Taylor in Cirencester, just eight days before the outbreak of the Great War.
"My parents reckoned I started the First World War. I must have been in a lot of trouble," he joked.
Ernest moved to London aged 20 and worked as a coach trimmer until 1939.
At the start of the Second World War he enlisted as a tradesman before being shipped out to Singapore.
"Unfortunately I was captured by the Japanese out there. I couldn't run fast enough!" he said.
He was one of around 2,000 prisoners at Changi – one of the worst Japanese POW camps.
Ernest said: "It was a bit rough. We lived off just a few ounces of rice a day, and I slept outside on the ground because it cooler than inside at night."
He was given the job of repairing uniforms because he could use a sewing machine.
But Ernest soon suffered the wrath of the prison officers after being caught sewing up the pockets in an act of rebellion.
"I was taken outside into the hot midday sun and made to hold up bricks as long as I could," he said. "They stood there with a bayonet rifle waiting for you to fall. If you put them down, they made you pick them up again."
Before getting malaria he gave his 'special' blood through an aluminium tube to help friends. He still bears the scars today.
Ernest managed to survive at the prison until the end of the war when he returned to Britain and only needed a short stay in hospital.
"We helped one another to survive and depended on each other. Those were marvellous friendships," he said.
Ernest returned to coach trimming, and was married to a nurse named Anita for 10 years until her premature death. They had no children.
Today Ernest lives with Barbara Brown, 68, his carer and landlord. His interests include Arsenal Football Club, watching theatre and reading.
He reveals of the secret of living so long is simply a good diet and not much alcohol.
"I don't drink much, but I do enjoy my food," he said.
Upon turning 100 he received a card from the Queen, a letter from his favourite football team and many other cards and presents.
"Am I 100? No one tells me!" he joked.
