Harold Martin passed away in Albany this week aged 103-years-old. He was one of the last surviving World War II POWs left in Western Australia.

Mr Martin was captured by the Japanese and was sent to work on the notorious Thai-Burma railway. After surviving this, he was put on a ship to be sent to work in the Japanese coal mines but it was bombed by the US Navy. He then survived days in the ocean before being rescued by the US Navy.

Iris Thomas was a close friend of Mr Martin’s who travelled back to Burma with him. She joined the Weekend Catch-Up where she told Mark Gibson the story of how she met this extraordinary man and learnt of his incredible story.

“[He was] a very humble man,” said Ms Thomas. “One who shied away respectfully form the word ‘hero’ but in everybody’s eyes he was our hero.”

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