I am very proud of my father - telling his story will keep the memories alive.

This website has several aims. Primarily it is intended to be a lasting tribute to Roy and to record as much as is known about his 92 years from May 1916 (during the dark days of World War I) to the time when he passed away in April 2008.

It is a record of what is known of Roy's military service and the oppression and suffering he endured at the hands of the Japanese during the three and a half years as a prisoner of war on the Burma-Thailand Railway.

The section about his life as a Prisoner of War is dedicated not only to Roy but to his comrades and the many thousands of brave men and women who endured such unimaginable hardship at the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army.

We must all hope that the sacrifice made by so many will never be forgotten.

The final section of my research traces the history of his family and records the progress so far in recording both his past and the present Collins family roots.

I had only a few small pieces with which I started this journey into the past and I now regret that I only became interested enough to record what I could about my Father, his family and his wartime experience when he was in his later years. Like many who were captured at Singapore he seldom talked about his experience as a PoW and after more than 60 years the memories were fading.

There are so many questions I would like to ask him now and I would love to be able to share with him the treasures I have uncovered from our family history.

My research is ongoing and will probably never reveal answers to all my questions but I will record my results here as accurately as I can, in the knowledge that what I have documented will be available to future generations.

Ray Collins