Former prisoner of war Eric Lomax, whose moving memoir about working on the "death railway" in Thailand has been turned into a film starring Colin Firth, has died at the age of 93.
Lomax, who was captured at the fall of Singapore in 1942, was among thousands of servicemen who were used as slave labour by the Japanese on the railway.
He later came to terms with his treatment by meeting his interrogator many years later and writing about his experiences in his book The Railway Man.
Lomax, who was originally from Edinburgh, died on Monday in Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Rachel Cugnoni, of his publisher Vintage Books, said: "The Railway Man was one of the landmark books of the 1990s.
"It tells Eric's incredible and moving story with grace, modesty and exceptional humility.
"It is a book that stands as a testament to the great capacity of the human spirit for forgiveness."
His book has been adapted this year for a forthcoming movie in which Oscar-winning star Firth plays him in later life. Jeremy Irvine plays him in his younger days.
Lomax was a signals officer who was captured with many other Allies in Singapore and held at the island's Changi jail. He was eventually taken to the Thai town of Kanchanaburi where he worked on the railway link to Burma.
The horrific conditions of the prisoners as they built the line, with a terrible loss of life, famously formed the basis of David Lean's 1957 film The Bridge On The River Kwai.
Lomax endured savage beatings when guards found a radio he had helped to build.
He went on to become a lecturer at Strathclyde University, but was haunted by his treatment and met the interpreter who had interrogated him while he was tortured, Takashi Nagase, after he wrote about his remorse in a book.
Lomax's wife, Patti, contacted Nagase and both men returned to Kanchanaburi to meet in 1993 and eventually became friends.
Andy Paterson, the producer of the new film, said: "The cast and crew of The Railway Man are deeply saddened to hear of Eric Lomax's death. All our thoughts today are with his family.
"We remember with great pleasure Eric and Patti's visit to the set in Berwick-upon-Tweed, just a few months ago.
READ MOREhttp://news.msn.co.nz/worldnews/8544880/death-railway-pow-eric-lomax-dies
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