Letter of the Day: '˜Forgotten War' vets should be honoured
I read with interest your article about the addition of new plaques for the Havant War Memorial (Fallen heroes to be honoured on memorial, Jan 18).
However, veterans of the war that prevented World War Three are, as usual, neglected. Mention is made of conflicts in which the British Army was involved around the world: Falklands, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, but there is no mention of Malaya or Borneo, nor of the war which we fought a long way from home between 1950 and 1953, the Korean War.
Local veterans of our war will agree with me that we have become used to being forgotten, which is sad when it is remembered that almost on Havant’s doorstep we have 12th Regiment Royal Artillery based at Thorney Island, one of whose batteries carries the Honour Title awarded by HM The Queen in 1954. I refer to 170 (Imjin) HQ Battery.
Today, the battery carries forward the title Imjin, which was awarded to its predecessor, my unit, 170 Independent Mortar Battery for our involvement in the Imjin River battle in April 1951, where the British Army’s 29th Brigade suffered 1,078 casualties in just four days, more than all the combined conflicts mentioned in your article.
We refer to ourselves as veterans of the Forgotten War.
It would be nice to be remembered on occasion.
Jim Jacobs
Angus Close, Fareham