After being captured in Singapore and transported to the infamous Burma railway Colonel Cary Owtram was appointed the British Camp Commandant at Chungkai, one of the largest POW camps. Many ex-prisoners testified to the mental and physical courage that he showed protecting POWs from the worst excesses of their captors. In addition, it is clear that Owtram bore heavy responsibility for those under his charge and the daily trauma of dealing with the unpredictable Japanese.

Recollections of his family supplement this memoir, vividly demonstrating the agony and worry experienced by family members waiting back home.