VETERANS OF one of Britain's bloodiest conflicts were yesterday rewarded for their sacrifices more than 50 years after the event.

Soldiers who fought a guerrilla campaign in the jungles of Malaya against communist insurgents were presented with medals specially commissioned by a grateful Malaysian government.

Some 125 medals were awarded at a special ceremony at the barracks at Berwick-upon-Tweed.

"The Pingat Jasa Malaysian medal is the only non-British medal the Queen has granted her approval to," said a spokeswoman for the King's Own Scottish Borderers regiment.

Almost 100,000 troops served during the Malayan Emergency between 1948 and 1960. Veterans of the conflict have referred to it as Britain's "forgotten war".

Around 2000 soldiers from Britain and the Commonwealth were killed in the conflict, which led to the emergence of the independent democratic nation of Malaya.

The Pingat Jasa Malaysian medal was commissioned by the Malaysian government to recognise the sacrifices made by British soldiers.

The pioneering jungle warfare techniques that they developed during the conflict have since been applied all around the world.

Another 35 medals were posted to soldiers unable to attend the ceremony in the Scottish Borders, at which round 300 people turned out to parade during the regiment's annual commemorations of the Battle of Minden, fought against the French on August 1, 1759.