Fife veteran receives Malaysian campaign medal after 50 years

When he attends the annual Remembrance Day service, old salt James Wells proudly wears the campaign medals he was awarded for serving in Malaya in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

However, this year the 72-year-old former Royal Navy engineer from Glenrothes will have another medal to wear, courtesy of the Malaysian Government.

They struck the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (PJM) award in 2005 for presentation to British veterans and others who served in operation, but for six years the wearing of it was not endorsed.

However, a few days before Remembrance Sunday last year, it was announced Her Majesty the Queen had granted permission for British and Commonwealth veterans to wear it.

Mr Wells, who served aboard HMS Whitby in Malaysia between 1962 and 1964, said: ”I will be proud to wear it alongside my other medals and thank the Malaysian Government for their kind gesture.”

He was congratulated by Glenrothes and Central Fife MP Lindsay Roy, who said: ”It is fitting those who served in Malaysia have been given this permission.”