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Canal Zone Veterans

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by poetic-pansy (U3108778) on Wednesday, 1st February 2006

  Isn't it time the men who fought in the canal zone in the late '40s and '50s received recognition of the time they served there? Thousands of military personnel spent several years there. Some never came home, but who remembers the so called 'little war' of Egypt except those who actually served.

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by DaveMBA (U1360771) on Thursday, 2nd February 2006

  Politicians do not want to know about the downside.

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Thursday, 2nd February 2006

  Isn't it time the men who fought in the canal zone in the late '40s and '50s received recognition of the time they served there? Thousands of military personnel spent several years there. Some never came home, but who remembers the so called 'little war' of Egypt except those who actually served.Β 
  
  Those who served in the Canal Zone in the period 1951-1954 are entitled to the General Service Medal (so, same recognition as Cyprus, Aden, Northern Ireland etc).
  
  The violence was grim for the troops involved, buthardly a "war". If you mean Suez, that was in '56, two years after we withdrew from the Canal Zone.

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• Message 4

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by DL (U1683040) on Thursday, 2nd February 2006

  Isn't it time the men who fought in the canal zone in the late '40s and '50s received recognition of the time they served there? Thousands of military personnel spent several years there. Some never came home, but who remembers the so called 'little war' of Egypt except those who actually served.Β 
  
  Thousands of military personnel also have served in various conflicts round the world, and there is very little recognition for them either, so why are the veterans of the Canal Zone any different to those who have fought in all of Britain's "Small Wars" in the past 50 years of so-called peace since WW2?
  
  Those who fought there would have received a GSM in recognition of campaign service (as the previous post said), the same as all the other "little conflicts" that have gone on. All those who fought in all of these wars are to some extent forgotten about, perhaps with the exception of the Falklands and the first and second wars with Iraq. You don't see many big budget movies being made about Sierra Leone, or the bunch of UN missions that we Brits have taken part in, and in this day and age, if they ain't made a movie about it, it ain't really that important. Cynical I know, but true.
  

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by Lord Ball (U1767246) on Thursday, 2nd February 2006

  Well, the problem is that the Government has excluded a large group of men from receiving the medal there. One of my older relatives served in the canal zone and fought in the canal zone but did not receive a medal because his regiment was shipped out 1 day before he was eligible to get it. Meanwhile, another relative who was only a cook received a medal for being there, not actually fighting.

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• Message 6

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Thursday, 2nd February 2006

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• Message 7

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Thursday, 2nd February 2006

  So what do you think the qualifying period should have been?

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• Message 8

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by DL (U1683040) on Friday, 3rd February 2006

  Lord Ball,
  
  That's just the way the cookie crumbles I'm afraid. I have ex-service friends who spent two months on the Saudi/Iraqi border prior to the actual war who didn't get the Gulf Medal, despite being out there, and at the same time, I have other friends who arrived 3 days before the ground war, and left three weeks later who DID receive the medal (the qualifying period for the period 16th Jan-28th Feb 1991 was only 14 days in theatre) complete with the bar for service during the actual war.
  
  Again, the same applies to the UN and NATO service medals (I think it's 60 days to qualify for those), so again, it isn't anything other than the norm. You could spend 59 days in heavy fighting, and get nothing, or you could spend 61 days peeling spuds in the cookhouse and get a campaign medal. That's just the way it goes. The troops who served in the canal zone aren't any different to anyone else, if they haven't received anything.

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