A PRISONER of war who worked on the River Kwai bridge and was the longest-serving member of the Magic Circle has been remembered.

Fergus Anckorn lived in Hassocks for many years until he died of bladder cancer on March 22 at the age of 99.

Born near Sevenoaks in Kent, Fergus first found his passion for magic after being given a magic set for his fourth birthday.

He fell in love with magic as he grew older and at the age of 18, he was performing under the moniker Wizardus.

He became the youngest member of the Magic Circle just as he began his adult years.

Although he enrolled to train as a journalist after leaving school at the age of 16, Fergus never followed a career in the industry.

He instead found himself working in various temporary roles, becoming a clerk at a tiling company prior to his time serving in the Second World War.

During the war he served in the Army and was eventually captured by Japanese soldiers during the fall of Singapore.

He had been shipped out to Singapore with his regiment as reinforcements in 1942.

His captors took him as a prisoner of war, forcing him to work on a number of project to boost infrastructure, including the Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway.

He also worked on the bridge on the River Kwai, which famously became the subject of the film of the same name in 1957.

He became known by many as the “conjurer on the River Kwai”.

During his time as a prisoner of war, Fergus used to entertain others with his magic tricks and was often forced to perform for his captors.

He had lost a shocking amount of weight by the time he was released following the liberation of his regiment.

He was one of only a third of those captured in his regiment to survive the traumatic experience, surviving a massacre at a military hospital in Singapore.

After the war, he worked as a special police officer back in his hometown of Tonbridge, before later moving to Hassocks, where he lived with his wife Lucille, who predeceased him.

Fergus is survived by their two children.