Arthur Titherington Compensation Campaigner

The World War II labour camp survivor, Arthur Titherington died at the weekend, aged 89. Tributes have flooded in for the veteran from all over the world. Arthur was best known for his incredibly hard work in campaigning for compensation for former Japanese prisoners of war.
In 1942, Arthur himself was captured by the Japanese army; he was taken to a prison camp in Taiwan in which he was held for three years. Arthur was one of many members of the army who were captured by the Japanese, in total there were 50,016. Of the people who were captured, over 12,000 of them either died or were killed whilst being held.
Arthur Titherington was the chair person for the Japanese Labour Camp Survivors Association, the purpose of this group was to campaign for compensation and also an official apology from the Japanese Government.
Many MPs have paid tribute to the great veteran, much also paying tribute to the dedicated work which he completed. The former MP, Martin Bell described Arthur as a fantastic man.
In 2000, the British Government made steps towards awarding those who were held captive with compensation. Each former prisoner who was still living was awarded 10,000 each.
The Japanese Government held the view that this issue had been settled in the early 1950s; at this time each person who has been held captive was given a compensation amount of 76. Although the Government refused to apologise for their participation in the holding of service people. To this day, the Japanese Government continues to refuse to enter discussion regarding compensation or an apology.
A solicitor who represented Arthur described him as one of the most courageous and strong willed people he had ever met.