Out of the Depths of Hell

Scottish gunner John McEwan had some of the most harrowing experiences of any surviving Japanese POW in World War II. After enduring the usual deprivations of a Japanese prison camp, McEwan was among a batch of prisoners taken to Formosa (Taiwan) to work as a slave labor in a copper mine. This was dangerous work even for free laborers under peacetime conditions. McEwan was among the few who survived the especially harsh conditions at the mine.In addition to POWS, slave laborers included other people from the Japanese Empire, including Koreans, native Formosans, and even some Japanese who were out of favor with their government. Many of the incidents McEwan witnessed have been unknown to both scholars and general readers, and his book is an important contribution to the literature of the Second World War.