Forde Everard de Wend Cayley (1 November 1915 – 17 August 2004) was a British physician who was physician superintendent at Bevendean Hospital for Chest Diseases. He survived great deprivations whilst spending time in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during the Second World War.

Life

Forde Cayley was born in Ealing, London on 1 November 1915. His parents were Osbert Arthur Cayley (a solicitor) and Dorothy, maiden name Lewis. He was educated at St Edmund's School, Hindhead,

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Hugget ...

and

Middlesex Hospital Medical School Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

, qualifying as a doctor in 1939, when he became a house physician at Middlesex Hospital. On the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps, being attached to the Suffolk Regiment, and served with British forces in France. After their evacuation an administrative error sent him for some weeks on a catering course. In September 1941 he married Eileen Lilian Dalton, daughter of a Principal Clerk at the Law Courts in central London. Shortly afterwards he was posted to the Far East. He was captured by the Japanese when Singapore fell in 1942, and was held for a time in

Changi Prison Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison in Changi in the eastern part of Singapore. History First prison Before Changi Prison was constructed, the only penal facility in Singapore was at Pearl's Hill, beside ...

before being sent to a succession of camps on the River Kwai. Medicines were in short supply, and Forde Cayley tapped local knowledge to use extracts from indigenous plants to treat other prisoners of war and Japanese soldiers. At one point the Japanese officers at his camp attempted to seize his medical kit for use solely to treat Japanese: he refused to let them take it and received a severe beating. During the Japanese retreat he was taken to Nong Pladuk prisoner-of-war camp in Ban Pong District, Thailand. When allied planes made a bombing raid, there were many injuries and deaths among the prisoners. Forde Cayley escaped injury because he had taken shelter in a monsoon trench, but bomb splinters were embedded in his copy of

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

which he had been using as a pillow. With food in very short supply, he came close to death from

malabsorption Malabsorption is a state arising from abnormality in absorption of food nutrients across the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Impairment can be of single or multiple nutrients depending on the abnormality. This may lead to malnutrition and a variety ...

. While he was recovering, he was again nearly killed in another allied bombing raid: all those who had taken shelter in the trench next to his died. Forde Cayley was repatriated following the Japanese surrender. Although in poor health, with recurrent bouts of malaria, parasites and the effects of several years of poor nutrition, he sought work immediately on his return to England. He worked at St Stephen's Hospital in Chelsea (now incorporated into

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is a 430-bed teaching hospital located in Chelsea, London. Although the hospital has been at its present site since only 1993, the hospital has a rich history in that it serves as the new site for the Westminst ...

) and then the

Royal Brompton Hospital Royal Brompton Hospital is the largest specialist heart and lung medical centre in the United Kingdom. It is managed by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. History Consumption in the 19th Century In the 19th century, consumption was a c ...

before, in early 1951, taking up the consultant-level post of medical superintendent of Bevendean Hospital on the outskirts of Brighton, where he remained until his retirement, after which he undertook work as a locum. For his first years at Bevendean Hospital most of his patients had tuberculosis, and he helped to test new drug therapies.Munk's Roll: Lives of Members of the Royal College of Physicians http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/5372 Forde Cayley died in a nursing home in

Thames Ditton Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross ...

, Surrey on 17 August 2004.

Selected publications

*''A Doctor in Peace and War: Memoirs of Dr. Forde Cayley''. 2001.

References

External links

Cayley Family History website: Forde Everard de Wend Cayley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cayley, Forde Everard de Wend 1915 births 2004 deaths Forde Everard de Wend 20th-century British medical doctors Royal Army Medical Corps officers British Army personnel of World War II Burma Railway prisoners World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Suffolk Regiment officers