AN ex-soldier from Preston is urging people to support a long-running campaign to gain recognition for the many servicemen who died in the Suez Canal Zone in the 1950s.

John Hunt, 69, of Carrfield, Clayton Brook, has spent the last 15 years involved with the Suez Vets campaign trying to persuade the Ministry of Defence to commemorate those who died.

He is now attempting to step up the campaign after years of fighting for recognition have proved ultimately unsuccessful.

During this time a garrison of 80,000 British troops, many of whom were doing National Service, were stationed in the Canal Zone.

Conflict came about after treaties with Great Britain and encouraged terrorism on a scale to rival many other operational troublespots following the Second World War.

John, who served for several months in Egypt with the RAF, said: "We were attacked on a regular basis, but as well as this the conditions were awful. Accommodation, food, hygiene, you name it -- it was a hell hole!"

He went on to say many soldiers were there for years -- 54 of his friends were killed on duty while another 279 died as a result of the poor conditions.

The situation in Suez was one of a number of conflicts that happened after the Second War, and although it rates 10th in this list for the sheer number of fatalities, no one has received a medal.

John said: "We want to redress the balance and make sure those who fell are recognised by the Ministry of Defence with medals.

"The Government knows the figures are correct, but we feel they want to sweep it all under the carpet so as not to upset Egypt."

A number of MPs have championed the cause in the past, including Chorley's Lindsay Hoyle, who John encouraged people to contact in support of the campaign.

John said: "Although they have done their best, we still need to do more. As it is we feel we are the outcasts of British military history.

"The more people who write to their local MP the better chance we have of honouring those that died in an acceptable manner."

There was an invasion of Suez by British and French troops in 1956 after Colonel Gamel Abdul Nasser had nationalised the British-owned Suez Canal. The waterway, a vital strategic link between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, was blocked for a long time, forcing ships to go round the African continent. CAP