Remembering those Blesma Members we have lost - John Booth

Blesma member John Booth, who has died aged 98, was a former soldier from Lancashire who survived having both his legs amputated in a Prisoner of War camp on the notorious Burma Railway.

John - known to many as Jack -  was born on 14^th March 1918 in Chadderton, Lancashire, and was a driver for Co-op before he joined the Royal Artillery when he was 21 years old. He trained in North Wales and Woolwich but his girlfriend Irene Bell insisted that they wed before he was posted overseas so he managed to get a 48-hour pass for the ceremony at St. Gabriel Church in Middleton, Manchester, on 22^nd February 1941. They had just one night together before John was sent off to Singapore.

After 10 months, John and many others were taken as Prisoners of War as the Japanese over-ran Singapore. They were forced to 12-hour work details on the docks in tropical heat, surviving on meagre rations of rice, dead rats and snakes. They also suffered lethal beatings and forced to carry weights that killed them.

John was then shipped with 700 soldiers to work on the railways in Thailand and Burma. He was given a job of transporting water up a rock face from the river but developed tropical ulcers on both legs after suffering an insect bite and a bamboo scratch that went septic.

John was forced to have both legs amputated without any anaesthetic or dressings after having just five minutes to decide whether his legs come off or be left to die. With just a mosquito net to keep flies out, four of his friends held him down whilst a medic PoW amputated his legs with a saw. John said he was actually relieved as he was in so much pain from the ulcers and he was able to sleep for the first time in weeks. Most men died after the amputations, but John and fellow Australian, Billy Hargreaves were the only two double amputees to survive. The pair exchanged Christmas cards for decades.

When John returned home, Irene had found a little cottage for them to begin married life together and they went on to raise two children. John worked for the Co-op for 30 years doing maintenance jobs and remained independent, using his prosthetics for 70 years.

John joined Blesma in 1946 where he enjoyed meeting up with fellow veterans to share information, help each other and go on trips. John came to live at the Blesma Blackpool home for many years after he began to have a few falls and was much loved by residents and staff. John would often be seen riding along the streets of Blackpool on his motorised buggy.