VETERANS of a 'forgotten' war are drawing up battle plans to keep alive an annual re-union dinner marking the 'green hell' they had to endure as they battled communist insurgents 60 years ago, writes Bert Houston.

For the numbers attending the event commemorating the part played by teenage national servicemen of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers in what was then Malaya in the mid 1950s are gradually fading away.

For many, the annual get-together – which is held in Peebles - is one of the highlights of the year, but sadly the numbers keep falling as age catches up.

Brigadier Alan Alstead insisted: “It’s simply a case of age catching up and must come up with ideas on just how we can keep the event going as long as we can.”

It’s now 60 years since these veterans started to return home from that tour of duty in which they faced “horrendous” conditions of debilitating illnesses, biting insects, unceasing heat and humidity as well as a hostile enemy of communist insurgents.

It was well dubbed a 'green hell' by these young teenagers at that time in 1955 to 1958, the majority of whom had never before been abroad.

John Crawford, of Melrose, who has organised the event in the past two years with the help of his wife Esther, said: “Most of us are on at least the 80 mark and that means the numbers continuing to dwindle.

“We have been looking at various options such as extending it to include other campaigns and although that just doesn’t have the same kind of camaraderie the fact is we are all King’s Own Scottish Borderers and it’s at least one option.

“We’ve just got to get our heads together and come up with an action plan.”

But he stressed: “We’re not just going to let it go …. we’re going to go down fighting as long as we can.”