Lucky Johnny: The Footballer Who Survived the River Kwai Death Camps - Hardcover

In 1938, Johnny Sherwood was a young professional soccer player touring the world with the all-star British team the Islington Corinthians. By 1942, he was a soldier surrendering to the Japanese at the siege of Singapore. He was sent to a POW camp deep in the heart of the Thai jungle, where he was starved, beaten, and forced to build the notorious "railway of death"on the River Kwai. Johnny kept his and his men's spirits up with tales of his soccer past, even organizing matches until he and the other prisoners became too weak to play. One day, he encountered a brutal Japanese guard and was shocked to recognize him as a Japanese soccer player he once played against. Many years after Johnny's death, his grandson, Michael, discovered an old manuscript hidden in the attic of his mother's house. It was Johnny's own account of his wartime experiences the story too horrific to reveal in full to his loved ones. In the tradition of bestselling memoirs like"The Railway Man," "Lucky Johnny"is an inspirational tale of survival against the odds."

Johnny Sherwood played professional soccer for Islington Corinthians, Middlesbrough, Reading, Aldershot, and Crystal Palace. During the war, he was a Sergeant in Great Britain's Royal Artillery. Sherwood suffered lifelong effects from his POW years, but went on to become a pub landlord and successful bookie. Michael Doe is Sherwood's grandson. He discovered his grandfather's manuscript hidden in the attic of his mother's house in 2013.