London - THEY are the heroes of a forgotten conflict halfway across the world.
In the 1950s and 60s, thousands of British troops put their lives on the line fighting for the south east Asian country of Malaya.
However, their brave efforts to defeat first Malayan communists and later Indonesian insurgents have never been recognised by Britain`s Ministry of Defence.
Finally, their sacrifice has been honoured by the Malaysian Government.
And yesterday more than 400 old soldiers were presented with the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal, at Leeds`s Royal Armouries, marking their service to Malaysia.
It was a proud moment for Leeds bus driver Bob Field who was one of the youngest troops to serve there, at 17.
The Royal Navy seaman was sent to Singapore – which was part of Malaysia – in 1965. His ship, HMS Devonshire, was at sea when he arrived.
Bob, 60, from Burmantofts, said: "I got there at 10pm at night and I was handed a Browning pistol. I sat down in a Land Rover and the man next to me had a sub-machine gun. I had gone there as a chef. I`m not sure what I imagined but this wasn`t it."
For the next month he had to guard the river from possible attacks by communists.
When the ship returned he was responsible for firing shells into the dense Malaysian jungle. He returned home to Britain 15 months later.
Bob took his seven-year-old grandson to the ceremony, where Malaysian defence attaché Colonel Alwi presented his medal.
Jacob said: "Grandad did all right. He did a good job – he deserved a medal."
Also along the other recipients was Bob`s friend and former colleague Keith Armitage, from Holbeck. The 72-year-old, who was in the Royal Signals corps, served twice in the Far East.
He first went there between 1954 and 1957 when stationed at the Changi air base in Singapore. He was posted there again between 1960 and 1963 when he served in Singapore, Borneo and Hong Kong.
His job in the Royal Signals involved relaying information to ships on the whereabouts of insurgents on land.
Grandfather-of-one Keith said: "It was a world away from anything we`d ever known. It was hot and dangerous and not a nice place to be at times. There were often riots and it was our job to go and dispel them.
"We did have some fun, though. I remember waking up one morning to find this fearsome snake in my bed. I started to jump up panic and it was a while before I remembered that we had had to kill it the night before. I was drunk and someone must have hung it on my bed!"
Thousands of men served in Malaya, Borneo, Singapore and Brunei during the Malayan Emergency and Borneo`s Indonesian Conflict.
Around 100,000 served in the Malayan Emergency from 1948 to 1960.
As a result of the jungle war, fought by British and Malay forces against the army of the Malayan Communist Party, nearly 2,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers died.
The 1962-1966 Borneo Indonesian Conflict claimed 500 lives.
The Malaysian Medals are not officially recognised by the MoD and ex-servicemen are not supposed to wear them on parade.
Bob plans to send his to his son, also Bob, who is serving in the Navy in the Indian Ocean.
He said: "He can wear it there.
"He will be proud of his old dad."
Source: www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk (29 Maret 2008)
