When Captain Reginald Newman was imprisoned at the brutal Kuching prisoner of war camp in Borneo during the Second World War, he spent three years doing hard labour and surviving on a cup of rice a day.
However, the British army captain, from Powys, Wales, spent his free time dreaming of caravan holidays back in his beloved homeland and, when he managed to get his hands on a scrapbook and coloured pencils, he began creating meticulous plans for a luxury two-berther he could build upon his release.
However, when Mr Newman was finally set free at the end of the war, the memory of his time in the barbaric Japanese prison camp left him so traumatised that he hid away his detailed drawings and didn't share them with his family.
Thirty years later, his daughter Jan discovered the pencil-drawn plans while clearing out her father's possessions and was astounded at just how detailed the tiny designs, written on a 4x7 inch notepad were.
Jan eventually contacted the team behind hit Channel 4 show Amazing Spaces, showing presenter George Clarke her father's ambitions for the 1930s caravan.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4028478/Tear-jerking-moment-daughter-British-WWII-POW-drew-meticulous-plans-1930s-caravan-captivity-sees-dream-realised-70-years.html
Thanks Dave!
It looks like the book was also hand bound. I am amazed at the resourcefulness of people all the time. Additionally, he probably had to keep all this hidden from his captors. This is off the chart cool.
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