Author and war veteran; Born January 7, 1921; Died February 27, 2008. JOHN McEwan, who has died aged 87, was a proud Lanarkshire man and the author of a much-acclaimed war memoir, Out of the Depths of Hell.

In his book, McEwan described his wartime experiences as a gunner with the 155th Field Regiment (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) RA and subsequently as a PoW of the Japanese in the notorious Kinkaseki copper mine on Taiwan.

His regiment, which was in the thick of the fighting during the bitter Malayan campaign between December 1941 and February 1942, is acknowledged in all the military histories for the heroic action it put up at the battle of Slim River where the commanding officer, Colonel Alan Murdoch, was killed and the adjutant, Captain Charles Gordon Brown, won an MC but lost an arm.

Even serving Japanese officers of the time grudgingly accepted that the Lanarkshire regiment was one of the few to cause them problems. In his book, Seventy Days to Singapore the American military historian Stanley Falk, writing about the unstoppable Japanese advance through Malaya, said of the Slim River action: "Finally, two miles below the bridge, at about 9.30, they the Japanese met their match: a regiment of field artillery (the Lanarkshire Yeomanry), moving forward to support the 28th Brigade. A howitzer detachment got its 4.5 piece into action, knocked out the leading tank and impressed upon the others the wisdom of withdrawal."

In the thick of this fighting, McEwan celebrated his 21st birthday. His time as a PoW, first at Changi in Singapore, where he witnessed the massacre of scores of unarmed Chinese men and women, and then in the hell of the copper mine, was the ultimate in horror. Despite this, his account has been universally described as a story told without bitterness In his book, Spotlight on Singapore Lt Col Dennis Russell-Roberts writes: "Those of us who were privileged to observe both officers and men of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry during these years of captivity are able to testify to the value of a county association in that important relationship between officers and men.

"This yeomanry regiment set an example of behaviour as prisoners of war which simply could not be rivalled (and their outstanding part in the campaign, especially at Slim is yet another story). They were like one great big family in which everyone took care of everyone."

After liberation in August 1945, McEwan was repatriated via the United States and had nothing but praise for the kindness and care given to him by the US armed services. On his return to his native Lanarkshire he married "the girl he had left behind", Nan Ferrie from Craigneuk - who had been the catalyst in his determination to survive the hell of captivity.

Like many others in his position, he received no formal help from a grateful nation and the derisory compensation of £72 from the Japanese was an insult which remains to this day.

Michael Hurst, MBE, director of the Taiwan PoW Memorial Society, whose aim it is to ensure that the men of Kinkaseki and the other camps on the island are never forgotten, has said of McEwan and the other PoWs: "They were truly remarkable men. Their strength, courage and fortitude never fails to amaze me."

McEwan, born in Motherwell, was the youngest of a family of two girls and four boys. His brother, Richard, served in the sister regiment, the 156th Field Regiment (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) RA and saw action in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Stephen was with the Royal Artillery in Burma and Dan was engaged on essential war work on the home front.

On leaving school at 14, McEwan started work as an apprentice butcher but, finding his job gone when he returned from the war, he began work with the local postal service, where he remained until retirement.

He is survived by two sons and two daughters, his wife, Nan, having died in 2004.