A NORTH Essex veteran has been awarded a medal by the Malaysian government – more than 50 years after he served there.

James Wright, 70, served with the Royal Army Service Corps as part of a contingent sent to guard Brunei during a rebellion in 1962.

He drove tank transporters, then joined the regimental police and later the garrison police, guarding the airstrips through which supplies were brought into the country.

The Malaysian government decided in 2005 to recognise the troops who helped protect Malaysian independence between 1957 and 1966.

However, Mr Wright, of Burrs Road, Clacton, has received his Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal.

He said: “We were shipped out to defend Brunei after the sultan requested our support and I spent between six and eight months there.

“It was quite an adventure at the time. Everything seems easy at that age, though later you think: ‘What was I doing?’.

“We were not defending our own country, but somebody else’s.”

Mr Wright’s military experience started early, when he joined the Essex Army Cadets at the age of 12, enlisting in the Army aged 18 and serving for a total of six years.

After that he worked in the security industry and then spent 30 years as a lorry driver, moving to Clacton 11 years ago.

Mr Wright, who has four sons and three grandsons, hopes the medal will become a family heirloom.

He said: “It’s a shame my dad isn’t still alive He’d have been proud. Perhaps one of my grandsons will inherit it and will keep track of the history behind it.”