To someone who was enslaved on the Thai-Burma Railway, a humble lane in a restful retirement village in seaside Adelaide might not seem especially remarkable.
But for 101-year-old World War II veteran Keith Fowler, who was recently honoured by having that lane named after him, the small thoroughfare has become a source of pride and joy.
"It was unbelievable, something that came out of the blue, but I must admit I was very, very proud and very, very happy to accept," the former prisoner of war said on Remembrance Day.
"I never thought anyone would do something like this for me.
"It was the biggest surprise and I feel honoured that my community thought I was worthy."
Fowler Lane recognises one of the Somerton Park retirement village's most popular residents, and Mr Fowler — who turns 102 on November 19 — has lived there independently for 15 years.
It's a more tranquil setting than the one he was confronted with eight decades ago.
As a young man, he enlisted in 1940 in the Australian Imperial Force, serving in Syria and Java before he was captured by the Japanese and forced to work on the Thai-Burma Railway for more than three years.
"When we arrived in Thailand, we were asked for six volunteers to step aside. No-one did, so I was ordered to join the group," he said.
"For some reason, I was then ordered back to work and replaced with the chap standing next to me.
"Those six men consequently came home to Australia and I became a prisoner of war for three years – but I'm grateful because if I'd come home to Australia, I would've been redeployed and there was every chance I was going to die in Papua New Guinea."
Mr Fowler endured gruelling conditions, and was forced to work barefoot as a hammer and tap labourer.
"There were so many things that happened to me for a reason. Luck was on my side and I chose to be thankful I was directed away from being killed," he said.
"Someone was watching over me out there as there were so many times I should've been killed."
Living life the 'way I wanted to live it'
After the war ended, Mr Fowler returned home to Australia in October 1945 and was discharged from the army.
"I landed in Australia, kissed the ground, and I came home as though I'd only been away for a fortnight. My trouble started about six years later when the whole episode of my POW life hit me like a storm, and I had 10 years of hell," he said.
"Life was hard and I wasn't a very nice person to be around for a few years."
Psychotherapy helped him overcome that battle, he said, helping him to live his life "the way I wanted to live it".
Mr Fowler is now the last surviving member of his machine gun battalion after his best mate, Jack Thomas, passed away last December aged 101.
Mr Fowler and Mr Thomas both experienced similar horrors on the Thai-Burma Railway, but it wasn't until they were into their 80s that they met at a battalion reunion and struck up a formidable friendship that lasted for two decades.
Christian MacIntosh, who is operations manager for Levande, which runs the Somerton Park retirement village, said Mr Fowler fully deserved having a street named after him.
"Keith bravely fought for our country and the naming of Fowler Lane has been well received by his neighbours in a sign of their respect for his service and friendship," Mr MacIntosh said.
Mr Fowler attended a Remembrance Day service at West Terrace Cemetery on Friday — and said that, despite the travails of his wartime service, he was now as "happy as a lark".
"I'll always mark this day, it's an important time to honour the bravery and sacrifice of those who fought for our country," he said.
"We should do it more often.
"I'm so proud to be an Australian, it's the best country in the world."
