Ernest Edward (Ted) Senior at Thomas Hardye's School, Dorchester, Dorset, wearing school colours, 1927-1928 (c)

Photograph, 1927-1928 (c).

Ted Senior was born in Ambala, India on 6 April 1911, to Ernest Wilfred Senior, a sub conductor in the British Indian Army, and his wife, Rebecca. The family returned to England and settled in Dorchester, Dorset. Here Senior attended the Thomas Hardye School where he excelled at athletics and as an army cadet. He joined the Army aged 18 and saw service with the Dorsetshire Regiment, the Indian Army Ordnance Corps and the Ordnance Branch of the Independent Indian Army.

Senior was captured by the Japanese during the World War Two (1939-1945). He was among the thousands of prisoners of war (POWs) forced to work, in brutal conditions, on a railway being built to link Burma (now Myanmar) and Siam (now Thailand). He later endured a traumatic voyage to Japan where he was put to work in the mining district of Ube. During this time, he kept a diary which reveals the horrific life that he and his fellow prisoners endured.

From a collection of 52 photographs relating to Major Ernest Edward (Ted) Senior, Dorsetshire Regiment, Indian Army Ordnance Corps and the Ordnance Branch of the Independent Indian Army, 1918-1952.