VETERANS are calling on the Government to recognise their role in the Malayan Emergency.

In 1957 Britain granted Malaya, which became Malaysia in 1963, independence after a nine-year conflict between Commonwealth troops and native communist rebels who wanted to seize control of the country.

The battle between British troops and the rebels continued for three years, and the Malaysian Government has awarded medals to soldiers who successfully fought to maintain its independence between 1957 and 1960.

However, it has refused to award medals to troops who fought before 1957, saying it cannot recognise service carried out before it became an official state.

This has caused the surviving Commonwealth troops who fought between 1948 and 1957, which includes around 80 north Kent residents, to turn to Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) to request a rosette.

This would attach to the ribbon of their General Service Medal and the metal clasp would be inscribed with the word “Malaya”.

Joe Plant, who served between 1955 and 1957, and Tony Hamilton, who served between 1954 and 1956, have launched a petition asking for the rosette to be awarded to around 100,000 personnel.

The petition has almost 1,000 signatures so far.

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley will present it to Parliament in September and urge fellow MPs to pass legislation allowing the rosette to be awarded.

Members of the north Kent and south-east London branch of the National Malaya and Borneo Veterans’ Association are backing the campaign.

Secretary Bert Godsiff says almost all of its 220 members are eligible for the rosette.

He said: “We deserve to be recognised.”

The 74-year-old, who saw combat in Malaya in 1953 and 1954, added: “There are thousands of veterans, many now dead, who made a huge sacrifice to this country and Malaysia, and it is only right we should be decorated for this.”

During the conflict 519 British military personnel were killed.

Mr Plant said: “Many of the guys who went out there had little or no knowledge of what they were being sent there for, because it was just called an emergency.

“But it was a war, not an emergency. It was a harrowing war.”

The 73-year-old from Torpoint in Cornwall added: “Most of the guys who fought out there are now dead and most of the ones still alive suffer post-traumatic stress.

“All of them, whether they served before or after 1957, deserve to be officially recognised for their service.”

Mrs Gidley, whose constituency is near Southampton, says the men deserve recognition.

She said: “It is unfair troops who fight in one conflict get medals but those who fight in another do not.

“They have no control over which conflict they are sent to and they are all putting their lives on the line, so they should all be recognised.”

As well as the British military personnel killed, the conflict claimed the lives of 1,346 Malayan troops and police assisting the fight against the rebels, and 2,478 civilians.The rebel fighters in the Malayan National Liberation Army suffered 6,710 losses.

A spokesman for the MoD said: “Military personnel serving in Malaysia between 1957 and 1966 were awarded the British General Service Medal.

“Personnel who served in Malaya or Borneo between those dates can also be granted the Malaysian Medal, the Pingat Jasa Malaysia.

“It is long-standing Government policy awards will not be considered for service which took place more than five years ago, or if the recipient has received or is expected to receive a British award for the same service.

“The independent Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals has reviewed this matter several times and has made it clear it will not revisit cases more than five years after the completion of a military campaign.”

Read stories from the past at newsshopper.co.uk/news/features/retro