When an iron ingot fell on John Lee's hand and burst two fingers, the only sympathy he got was a rifle butt in the face for not being able to work.

Emaciated to the point of skeletal, prone to bouts of dysentery and beaten regularly, John was one of the "lucky ones".

For the former Vaux worker made it back to Sunderland alive – unlike 197 of his 600 comrades in the 125 Anti-Tank Regiment.

"I got home four years to the day that we left to go abroad. There was no reception, as by then it was all forgotten," he recalls.

The men of the 125 have not, however, been forgotten by Sunderland historian Alan Burns, who has just published a book about the regiment.

Using an official 1946 history of the unit as the basis for his work, he has updated the original material by adding personal stories and information.

And his book, A History of Sunderland's Own 125th Anti-Tank Regiment, also contains a detailed Roll of Honour of those who died.

"Japanese prisoners of war faced the constant threat of death, disease, beatings, torture and starvation 24-hours a day," he said.

"They watched their comrades die in terrible circumstances, and helped to bury them.

"There was no counselling when they returned home, they were simply told to get on with their lives. It is to their credit that they did
just that."

As war clouds gathered over Europe in 1939, so extra Territorial Units were created around Britain – and the 2nd 74th Field Regiment was born.

The recruits came from every part of Sunderland, working by day in banks, shops, offices and shipyards, and training by night at Seaburn.

With the outbreak of war, the unit was absorbed into the regular army.

Renamed the 125th Anti-Tank Regiment, it was now a full-time force.

But it wasn't until October 1941 that the soldiers were finally shipped off to battle. Not, as expected, to the Middle East, but to Singapore.

Disaster struck, however, just a few miles from the port. When their ship, Empress of Asia, was blown up, the men were forced to swim for survival. Only a few days later, and without proper weapons to defend themselves, every single member of the regiment was captured by the Japanese.

"They were sacrificed in a badly-planned debacle," said Alan. "For, within days of landing, the garrison of Singapore surrendered.

"Many felt they had been used as political pawns, to appease complaints that the British had not taken the defence of Singapore seriously enough."

As prisoners of the Japanese, the men were trapped in brutal slavery.

Death and disease were their constant companions for the next three years. Many were sent to work on the Burma-Siam "Death" Railway, where beatings, starvation rations and sickness claimed the lives of thousands.

Others toiled in the copper mines of Formosa, or the coal mines and steel industries of Japan, working 18 hours a day for just a bowl of rice.

Former prisoner Len Gibson said: "I watched so many of my friends die when they shouldn't have. They just needed better food and medical help.

"The conditions were absolutely terrible. Of the 1,000 men who started work on one building project, only 300 were left after just three months."

Even moving between camps, in Japanese boats so dirty and cramped they were nick-named "hell ships" by the prisoners, proved fatal for some.

"In the worst of these ships, men suffocated or went mad," said Alan. "Desperate for something to quench their thirst, some drank their own urine. A few slashed their bodies and licked their own blood.

Others died in friendly fire at sea, or during bombing raids, when allied bombers attacked the Burma-Siam railway line and nearby warehouses."

It would be three-and-a-half long years before this living hell finally ended. But by this time, tragically, almost 200 125 soldiers were dead.

"My book outlines the experiences of some members of the regiment, but cannot begin to tell the complete story of what happened," said Alan.

"Many left home as little more than boys, but now they were men and everyone had stared death in the face, not once but many times.

"For every three who had set sail in October 1941, one did not return and, of those who survived, many were maimed for life."

* A History of Sunderland's Own 125th Anti-Tank Regiment, by Alan Burns, is published by Ouseburn Publications and costs £10.99. To roder a copy contact Alan on 551 9549 or email him at: ouseburn@ntlworld.com

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