8:10am Friday 2nd October 2009
By Clare Kennedy
THANK YOU! That’s the message from Malaya veteran Tony Hamilton to hundreds of Daily Echo readers who supported the campaign to remember the forgotten heroes of the 1950s conflict.
All of our 450 readers’ coupons and letters were handed over to Tony and Romsey MP Sandra Gidley at the town’s Royal British Legion Club and will soon be presented to parliament.
Mrs Gidley has vowed to take up the cause – which has also seen a 5,000 signature petition collected nationwide – with the Minister for Veterans Kevan Jones.
She said: “The response has been amazing and the Echo’s support has been great.
“The cause is important to me because we don’t recognise our armed services enough. There is already no consistency in who is awarded a medal.
“The decisions are very arbitrary.”
Around 1,500 Royal Hampshire soldiers helped to defeat Communist terrorists who wanted to seize control of the then British colony of Malaya.
But their role in the conflict, known as The Malayan Emergency, has never been given any formal recognition apart from their General Service Medals.
Now they want the Government to give them a rosette they can attach to their medals.
The veterans were spurred into action after the British and Commonwealth soldiers, who fought against the Communists after Malaya gained independence in 1957, received a Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal from the Malaysian government.
However the Malaysian government has said it cannot recognise service carried out before it became an official state.
Campaign organiser Mr Hamilton said: “We feel we took the brunt of the conflict and gave two years of our lives.
“A little rosette to say we were there before 1957 would be a great help to us. It would make a lot of us quite happy.”
He added: “I really want to thank the Daily Echo and readers for all their support during the last few months.
“I cannot thank them enough.”
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