He became a prisoner of war and remained so until the end of the war. It was this four year ordeal that led to Ron losing his sight because of the malnutrition he suffered in the camp.
Ron says: “The Japanese brought in a bag of rice for each unit but only enough for one meal a day per man. We cut an oil drum in half and used the bottom as a boiling pot for the rice. Each man was given a scoop of rice but many were unable to eat it and looking at the portion of rice, one could see mice droppings and insects. Disease soon broke out resulting in many deaths.”