Herbert James "Ringer" Edwards (26 July 1913 – June 2000) was an Australian soldier during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. As a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

(POW), he survived being crucified for 63 hours by Japanese soldiers on the Burma Railway. Edwards was the basis for the character Joe Harman in Nevil Shute's novel '' A Town Like Alice'' (1950; also known as ''The Legacy''). The book was the basis for a 1956 film (also known as ''The Rape of Malaya'') and a 1981 Australian television miniseries of the same name.

Early life

Edwards was born in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

.WW2 Nominal Roll, 2002, "EDWARDS, HERBERT JAMES"
Access date: 6 June 2007. He spent much of his adult life working on

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle stat ...

(ranches) in

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...

Australia. The nickname "Ringer" means a stockman who works on cattle stations, alluding to the stockmen's practice of ringing mobs of cattle at night, keeping them in a tight mob, which can be easily controlled. In the morning, as the cattle are moved off, a ring of manure remains. The term is shortened from "shit ringer". A gun shearer (the shearer who shears the most in a particular woolshed during an annual shearing) is also called a ringer; however, there is no evidence to suggest Edwards was ever a shearer. Edwards enlisted at

Cairns, Queensland Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after Sir William Welling ...

, on 21 January 1941, and was posted to the 2/26th Battalion. The

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

became part of the 27th Brigade, which was assigned to the 8th Division. As the possibility of war with the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

increased, the main body of the division was sent to garrison the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

colony of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, later in 1941. The 2/26th fought the Japanese in the

Malayan campaign The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allies of World War II, Allied and Axis powers, Axis forces in British Malaya, Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the World War ...

and the

Battle of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...

. Edwards, along with the rest of the 8th Division, became a POW when the Allied forces at Singapore surrendered on 15 February 1942.

Experiences as a POW

Along with many other Allied prisoners, Edwards was sent to work as

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

on the railway being built by the Japanese army from

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. In 1943, he and two other prisoners killed cattle to provide food for themselves and comrades. They were caught by the Japanese and sentenced to death. Crucifixion was a form of punishment, torture and/or execution that the Japanese military sometimes used against prisoners during the war. Edwards and the others were initially bound at the wrists with fencing

wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

, suspended from a tree and beaten with a

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal Club (weapon), club used in the sport of baseball to hit the Baseball (ball), ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more t ...

. When Edwards managed to free his right hand, the wire was driven through the palms of his hands. His comrades managed to smuggle food to him and he survived his ordeal. The other two men crucified at the same time did not survive.

Post war

After the

Surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

, Edwards was released and was discharged from the army on 4 December 1945. British novelist Nevil Shute met Edwards in 1948 at a station in Queensland.Nevil Shute Norway Foundation, "1948"
Access date: 6 June 2007. Some of Edwards' experiences, including the crucifixion, became the basis for the character Joe Harman in ''A Town Like Alice''. Unlike Edwards' experiences, the entire story takes place in Malaya. The other main character, Jean Paget, was based on the separate experiences of a Dutchwoman whom Edwards never met. The novel was the basis for subsequent adaptations, including a 1956 film and a 1981 television miniseries. In the former, the Harman character was played by Peter Finch, and in the latter by Bryan Brown. Edwards later returned to Western Australia and settled at Gingin, where he died in 2000.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Ringer 1913 births 2000 deaths Australian Army personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Japanese war crimes in Burma Australian torture victims Australian prisoners of war Australian prisoners sentenced to death People from Fremantle People from Cairns Burma Railway prisoners Australian Army soldiers Prisoners sentenced to death by Japan Australian people imprisoned in Japan