Arnold Osmond Topliff was born in Derby on 9th March 1919, the first son of Ernest and Annie Topliff. Before WW2, the family lived in Quarndon in Derbyshire. His father had served with the Royal Navy before, during and after the First World War, initially on battleships and later as a submariner.

After he left school, Arnie Topliff became an electricity cable joiner working for the Derby Corporation. It was natural, therefore, that when he enlisted on 6 December 1939 and joined the Royal Corps of Signals, he became a Lineman. After his training, he was posted to the Far East, to the Hong Kong Signal Company.

After the Fall of Hong Kong, Arnold was taken into captivity and in late September 1942 he was moved aboard the cargo ship SS Lisbon Maru destined for labour camps in Japan. He survived the sinking and was shipped first to a camp near Shanghai and then on the Shinsei Maru to Osaka in Japan.

"Topper" Topliff, as he was known, spent most of his captivity at Osaka Main Camp No. 1B, named Honjo or Chikko and known by many of the prisoners as Hoincho. The camp was established to provide a workforce of stevedores for the commercial transportation companies using the nearby port. Around 500 survivors of the Lisbon Maru arrived at the camp on 11th October 1942.

In May 1945, Arnold was transferred to the small branch camp Notogawa (Camp No. 9B), which was on the shore of Lake Biwa, near Notogawa Station in Shiga Prefecture, about 30 miles north east of Kyoto. Here the men, Americans, Australians, British and Dutch, were engaged in dike and canal construction to create rice fields. Like Osaka, conditions were harsh, food poor and the two barracks were over-crowded.

The camp was abandoned by the Japanese guards just after the end of the war and Arnold arrived in Melbourne in mid September. One of the first things he did was telegram his parents to let them know that he was safe.

Arnold Topliff was one of only two men to earn a gallantry award in the aftermath of the sinking of the prisoner of war transport SS Lisbon Maru in October 1942. In common with the practice to publish awards to prisoners of war after their repatriation, the award of the British Empire Medal to Arnold Topliff "in recognition of gallant conduct in carrying out hazardous work in a very brave manner" was published in the London Gazette. The full recommendation stated:

Signalman Topliff was a prisoner of war aboard the Japanese Army transport Lisbon Maru when the ship was torpedoed by a United States submarine on 1st October, 1942. He was one of a small number of survivors who escaped by swimming to an island about eight miles distant, despite the ruthless efforts of the Japanese to destroy them by machine gun fire and other means. Another survivor was Captain C. M. M. Man of the Middlesex Regiment, and this officer had almost reached the same island when a change of current began to carry him out to sea. Seeing that Captain Man was in imminent danger, Signalman Topliff, himself in an almost exhausted condition, immediately re-entered the water, swam to the officer and brought him safely to land.

Arnold's medals group comprises the British Empire Medal (GVIR), 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, British War Medal 1939-45 and Defence Medal.

Arnold was demobilised on 1st May 1946 and returned home to Quarndon. He went to work with the East Midlands Electricity Board, where he became a mains foreman and he was a regular attendee at Royal Signals and Prisoners of War Reunions.

In early 1951, Arnold Topliff married Evelyn Sturgess and the couple had a son, Ian, born in 1957. Sadly, Arnold Topliff BEM died suddenly on 24th December 1969, aged 50 and was buried at St Paul Church, Quarndon.