Suez Canal war veterans get medals |05 October 2006

She said that the veterans had pressed actively for some years after the war for the medals to be instituted for their service.

“But it was not until 2002 when the case was taken up by Prime Minister Tony Blair that an exceptional award of a General Service Medal was agreed,” she said, thanking those who undertook the “assiduous task of collecting names of possible recipients and taking them to the Ministry of Defence in London.”

“We rightly remember this morning all those comrades who served with you in the Suez Canal, including those buried in the Egyptian cemeteries of Moascar and Fayid, and it is my honour to acknowledge formally your service with the British Armed Forces in Egypt, by presenting to you these medals,” she said.

She asked the former soldiers to record their own history so that it is not forgotten.
The principal secretary for Foreign Affairs, Claude Morel, was among those who attended the medal presentation ceremony.