Incremental Gainz - Tom Boardman (special VE day tribute)

In celebration of VE day I have uploaded a special episode where I had the pleasure of sitting down and listening to the amazing story of Tom Boardman.

Tom Boardman, a great-grandad from Leigh, died in hospital at the age of 99 January 2018 following a short illness not long after recording this interview, so it one of the last times he would have told this incredible story.

The former prisoner of war revealed the brutal treatment he was subjected to at the hands of his Japanese captors during WW2.

He spent three years behind bars in Thailand during the Second World War, living in appalling conditions.

Tom contracted malaria 32 times during his incarceration and his weight plummeted to six stone.

But he kept the spirits up of his fellow comrades by entertaining them with a ukulele he made from ‘old Red Cross boxes and used telegraph wires’.

The talented ukulele player, who was a sergeant with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, also worked on the infamous ‘death railway’ in Burma during the war.

I have had permission from Tom's son Ron Boardman to use this interview to benefit the community and I think even more so in this difficult time it is an important story of resilience.