A PROUD former serviceman has been honoured for his bravery during a brutal conflict – more than 40 years after it ended.

Former sailor Les Carpenter, of Garsmouth Way, Garston, joined former comrades at the Duxford Imperial War Museum on Tuesday, April 6, where he was presented with the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (PJM) medal for his service in Malaya during 1965.

Thousands of British and Commonwealth troops were engaged in Military action in the country from 1948, when a Communist-backed insurgency threatened to destabilise the region.

Brigadier General Othman Bin Jamal, of the Malaysian High Commission, was on hand to present medals to over 100 veterans for their service in the country between 1957 (when it gained independence) and 1966.

Mr Carpenter, who served aboard HMS Loch Fada, said: “I was very honoured to be at the ceremony. It brought back a lot of memories, especially the patrols in the Malaccan Straits and the searching for gun runners who used booby trapped sampans [small boats], one of which killed a Midshipman and blew a huge hole in a ship’s hull.

“A lot of people don’t know much about the conflict so it is nice that they are doing this. Even I didn’t know what it was all about until I arrived there.

“But a lot of people died out there to promote the freedom that Malaysia enjoys today and I think it is important for us to remember that.”