As a lieutenant, he had been captured by the Japanese following the surrender of Singapore in February 1942. He, along with the other Far East Prisoners Of War (FEPOW), undertook a forced march to Changi Prison. He was then taken to Kanchanaburi, Thailand and forced to build the Burma Railway. In 1943 he and five other prisoners were tortured by the Kempeitai and convicted of "anti-Japanese activities" after a clandestine radio was found in the camp. He was transferred to Outram Road Prison in Singapore for the remainder of the war.