Burma veterans to end reunions

Veterans of the longest retreat in British military history are stopping their annual reunion due to fading numbers.

For New Zealand-based holders of the Burma Star, this year's VJ Day remembrance ceremony on August 15 in Rotorua will be the last, organisers say.

The remaining 28 veterans attending the service are between 85 and 96, and three or four have died in the past year.

"To get together we have to travel long distances, and many are now too old or infirm to do so," said Alan Peart, 82, an ex-pilot, and the president of the Burma Star Veterans. The Burma Star was awarded to Allied soldiers for operational services during the Burma campaign, from December 1941 to September 1945.

Invading Japanese soldiers forced British and Indian ground troops into a demoralising retreat through thick jungle from Rangoon to the border with India over 1200km away. The weary troops became immortalised as the Forgotten Army, as, at the time, Britain was preoccupied with fighting nearer home.

Although few New Zealanders were in the land forces, hundreds were in the Air Force and Navy in the region. Many still suffer ailments such as malaria, which they contracted while retreating through mosquito-infested swamps and rainforest.

"We've lost quite a few in the last year - around three to four - yet we're determined to come together one last time for VJ Day," said Mr Peart, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in Burma.

- NZPA