Soldiers of the 'forgotten war'

IT has been dubbed the "forgotten war," but next week the heroic efforts of 207 North East servicemen and women will finally be remembered.

Old soldiers, sailors and airmen who fought together in the forests and jungles of Borneo will again stand side-by-side in Sunderland to be presented with the medals they deserve.

However, these medals have not been bestowed by their own country, the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal is being presented to the veterans from the Malaysian government.

The government wanted to present servicemen from across the Commonwealth with the medal as a sign of gratitude for their bravery during the conflicts from 1957 through to the mid 60s.

In January this year, the British Government's committee on the grant of honours, decorations and medals, finally gave the go-ahead for the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal to be awarded to British veterans.

But, although the veterans can have the medals they are still not allowed to wear them on official parades.

The veterans, proud of their involvement in the fight against terrorism and communism in the South East Asia region, are unhappy about the ban.
Gordon King, secretary of the Tyneside branch of the Malaya Borneo Veterans' Association, which covers the North East, is organising the medal presentation in Seaburn on Saturday, August 4.

Gordon, who served in South East Asia from 1952 to 1955 and 1963 to 1965, said the association is fighting for the rights of ex-servicemen to wear the medal.

The 73-year-old said: "We are very bitter about it. The Australian, New Zealand and Fijian lads are all allowed to wear them after the Queen granted them permission.

"But, the British forces have been stopped and are not allowed to wear them. It is disgraceful really."

The Ministry of Defence says a General Service Medal was awarded to all the servicemen involved in the conflict, and the decision was taken to preserve the integrity of that accolade.

Not only will former servicemen and women be presented with the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal, but anyone who made a contribution to the fight, including civilians, such as members of the St John Ambulance and the WRVS, women's voluntary service.

Gordon said: "Being able to do this presentation is a big, big thing for us. It's taking quite a lot of organising.

"It has been non-stop really over the past couple of months. Hopefully it will go really well and be a good day."

A high-ranking officer from the Malaysian Army will travel to Wearside to make the presentations at the ceremony in Dykelands Road TA Centre, Seaburn.

City veteran proud to be collecting medal
NEIL McKenzie, 65, from Ryhope will be one of the 207 veterans who will be presented with their Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal in Seaburn next week.
Neil was serving as a cook in the RAF at Borneo in 1964, based on the airfield at Brunei.

The Smith Street man said: "I remember at one point I was on guard duty and handed a gun I had never used before and one bullet. Not sure what I was going to do with that if attacked."

Neil said he is very proud to be going along to collect his medal and looking forward to the ceremony.

He said: "Eventually they have decided it was a war and we all deserve some recognition for what we did."

Harold Power, 68, vice-chairman of the Malaya Borneo Veterans' Association, fully supports the former servicemen and women getting their medals.

The Thorney Close pensioner spent 18 months in Malaysia as a lance corporal with the Royal North Lancashire Regiment.

The father-of-five said: "I got my medal through the post because I applied for it, but there are more than 200 people going to be coming along for the ceremony.

"The conflict was one of Britain's bloodiest undeclared wars and it was really rough in the early part."

The Thurso Close grandfather-of-three, said he was posted out there in 1958 and said the early troops had borne the brunt of the fighting.
He said: "We were mostly on patrols and helping move people away from the jungle edge to safer places."