SCOTTISH country dancers laid on a special performance to celebrate a 90-year-old prisoner of war.

Pat Bowler was just a child when she was taken as a prisoner in Singapore during the Second World War.

Pat, who turned 90 earlier this year, requested one of her friends, and fellow club member, to choreograph a special dance for her inspired by her early life in the Far East.

The idea proved to be particularly poignant, as this year marks 80 years since Victory in Japan Day, when Japan surrendered to the Allies after the USA dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

More than 90,000 British troops were casualties in the war against Japan – 30,000 died, and 37,500 were held as prisoners of war.

Pat’s choice of song was an upbeat Japanese protest song from the 1960s called Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto.

It is a song the artist wrote returning from protests against the US’s continued military occupation of Japan more than 15 years after the war.

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A group spokesperson said: “For Pat, it is an uplifting reminder of happy times. Anyone with a bit of knowledge of Scottish country dancing, though, will realise it is a very unusual choice, with none of the accordions dancers are used to.”

The dance is called The Singapore Shuffle: not only a reference to Pat’s time in Singapore, but also a nod to the famous Singapore Sling cocktail and the fact the couple change partners several times.

In the introduction and close, the dancers offer respectful Japanese bows to one another in reference to the song’s origin.

For the performance, the dancers also used fans, folded paper flowers and a kimono.

The group said it was a “vibrant fusion of time, space, music and movement” and a joyous celebration of Pat and survival through challenging times.

John Tyson, the dance’s deviser, said: “Since my grandparents were not only Scottish country dancers, but also active in the Far East throughout the war, this felt like a poignant way to honour their memory, along with all those others who have either been through war, or are in the midst of it today.”

The club dances weekly at Shaftesbury (Dorset) and North Cheriton (Somerset), and anyone interested in getting involved should email scottishdancing.shaftesbury@gmail.com