MANY would say doughty Jack Edwards, taken prisoner by the Japanese in 1941, has never stopped fighting World War II - and if they saw him in action last weekend in Tokyo they would not be far wrong.
In the space of a few days Mr Edwards severely embarrassed the parent company of the firm that ran the mine he slaved in after his capture, came close to a public brawl with a group of fanatical Japanese right-wingers, and almost lost an arm trying to hand a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa.
Sha Tin's best-known Welshman flew to Tokyo only days after he was moved to tears hearing Mr Hosokawa admit Japan's war guilt on the radio.
First stop was the offices of the Nikko Kodyo conglomerate. For four years after he surrendered to the Japanese at Singapore in 1941, Mr Edwards was forced to work in appalling conditions in a copper mine run by the Nippon Mining Corporation, that has since been swallowed up by Nikko Kodyo.
The experience, which many of his comrades failed to survive because of the abject conditions and the sadistic guards, was chronicled in his book Banzai You Bastards! Mr Edwards is sueing for damages from the company and wants an admission it ran the mine.
Senior management refused to concede anything at a meeting with Mr Edwards and his Japanese lawyer, until one accidently blurted out the names of two of the brutal overseers, forcing the company to admit there ''might be evidence'' connecting Nikko Kodyo.
The next day Mr Edwards was due to give a speech at the International Forum for Asia-Pacific Reparations. Before that he wanted to personally deliver a letter of thanks to Mr Hosokawa for his comments, and urge him to authorise compensation for Japan's wartime conduct.