Fergus Anckorn

Fergus Gordon Anckorn (born 10 December 1918) is a former British soldier who, as starting as the conjurer Wizardus at age 18, is now the longest-serving member of the Magic Circle.[1]

He was born on 10 December 1918 and, at the age of eighteen, became the youngest member of the Magic Circle.[2][3] During World War II, he was captured by the Japanese during the fall of Singapore and forced, as a prisoner of war, to work on the Burma Railway and the famous bridge on the River Kwai.[3][4] Fergus Anckorn's story was recounted in an interview with Andrew Eborn at The Magic Circle [5] [6]

In 2016, during the tenth series of Britain's Got Talent, Anckorn was featured during the final act of magician Richard Jones, who eventually was chosen as the series' winner.

Fergus Anckorn married his wartime sweetheart Lucy "Lucille" Hose and has two children and four grandchildren.

References

  1. ↑ Jack Malvern (30 May 2016), "TV show's old soldier whose best trick was staying alive", The Times
  2. ↑ "Captive Memories", Far East Prisoner of War (FEPOW), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, 2007
  3. 1 2 Christopher Hudson (13 January 2012), "Conjuror on the River Kwai: How Britain's oldest magician performed his greatest trick - surviving as a Japanese PoW", Daily Mail
  4. ↑ Torture, starvation and heartache: the life of a POW soldier, BBC, 13 November 2014
  5. ↑ http://themagiccircle.co.uk
  6. ↑ http://octopustv.com
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