THE search is on for old soldiers and their relatives who served their country in the Far East during World War Two and other conflicts in the area since the war.

Members of the Swindon branch of the National Malaya and Borneo Veterans' Association are putting up a memorial plaque in their honour at the Outlet Village shopping centre at Rodbourne and want as many people as possible to attend its official dedication.

In particular they would like to contact the family and friends of the late Captain James Villar, who was serving with the Royal Artillery during the Malayan Emergency when he was killed, possibly in a road accident, on October 29, 1956.

Little is known about Cpt Villar, but his name is on a Roll of Honour of old boys from the now long gone Swindon High School for Boys who gave their lives for their country.

The school was once in Bath Road and the Roll of Honour now hangs on the wall of Swindon's Christ Church in Old Town.

Veterans' spokesman Bert Evans said the Swindon branch has a membership of 145 - and that includes 48 in the town itself.

Others members live throughout Wiltshire and the neighbouring counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Gloucestershire and some are as far away as Canada and Belgium.

The Swindon branch plans to dedicate the new plaque on Sunday, April 6.

Said Mr Evans: "We are hoping for a maximum attendance of not only members but anyone else who might be interested. The ceremony will get under way with a parade at 10.30am and all other forces associations are invited to attend with their standards."

It is hoped the parade will be led by a small detachment of Gurkhas and the bugler will be a member of the Swindon branch.

Non-association members who also served in HM Forces in Malaya and Borneo will be particularly welcome at the dedication service.

The plaque will remember all members of HM and Commonwealth Forces, the Federation of Malayan Police, the Civil Service, St John Ambulance Brigade, Auxiliary Forces and the Merchant Navy who lost their lives during the wartime Japanese occupation and other conflicts in the region.

These include Java-Sumatra between September 1945 and November 1946, the Malayan Emergency 1948-1960, the Borneo Indonesian Confrontation 1962-1966 and the Brunei Insurrection in 1962.

Full details and information from Godfrey Burton on 01793 827210 or Bert Evans on 01793 824550.