Death Railway survivor Dies Ot 91.

SEREMBAN: Almost the entire John Philip De Mello family has heard of his stories about the notorious Death Railway project during World War II.
 De Mello, who was among those who survived the horror of being forced to work on the project, died at the age of 91 at the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital on Monday following an illness.
 His remains were cremated at the Jalan Templer crematorium here yesterday. De Mello, who was attached to Malayan Railways, was taken by Japanese soldiers to work along the Thai-Burma border in 1941.
 De Mello’s son Basil, 60, said his father was also involved in the construction of the bridge over the Kwai River and would get excited whenever the movie on it was screened.
 “My dad lost many of his friends who were also forced to work on the railway. He told us of the uncountable hardship he and his friends had to endure as prisoners of war,” he added.
 More than 300,000 labourers were said to have been forced to work on the 415km railway stretch to link Bangkok and Rangoon (now Yangon).
 Although Basil could not recall when his father returned to Malaya, he said De Mello was gone long enough for him to be fluent in Thai.
 He said his father was hired as a Thai interpreter by the British after his return and eventually rejoined Malayan Railways. De Mello leaves behind wife Maria Chin Yoon Nyong, five children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.