Former town clerk and veteran, Eric Dawkins, has condemned the UK Government for failing to adequately recognise the sacrifices made by those who served in Malaya in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

As in previous years, Mr Dawkins laid a poppy in Falmouth’s Garden of Remembrance on Friday, marking his cross as a tribute to all those who died during what was referred to as the “Malayan Emergency” which saw 35,000 British army soldiers deployed with 519 killed.

While the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal, instituted by the King of Malaysia, was awarded to those who served between 1957 and 1965, all those whose service fell before Malaya/Malaysia became an independent nation, are not eligible.

Mr Dawkins was in the Army and served in Malaya for three years between 1948 and 1951, working as part of the recovery teams who were sent in to retrieve vehicles and even people left stranded as a consequence of the Communist guerrillas’ ambushes.

Forced to live in “horrendous” conditions and risk their lives daily, Mr Dawkins is angry that the British Government refused to recognise their efforts with a campaign medal, instead presenting veterans with a simple clasp.

“We have to rely on a clasp and our general service medals,” said Mr Dawkins, who will be 85 next month. “The Royal British Legion has been campaigning for years, but has been getting nowhere.

“It was the only campaign not recognised with a medal, I think we were sidelined by the Korean War.

“What upsets me is the fact there were so many who lost their lives, and not just regular soldiers, but conscripts as well, and there has been no recognition for the part they played.”

It was after Mr Dawkins, who lives in Penryn, returned from Malaya in 1951 that he decided to quit the Army and go into local government – a move which eventually led to him becoming town clerk in both Falmouth and Penryn.