Did you or a relative serve in the Aden Emergency of 1967?

If you or a relative served in the Aden Emergency on 20th June 1967, you are invited to a Service of Remembrance at Heywood Memorial Gardens on Saturday 17 June.

Chairman of the Lancashire Veterans Association, Harry Mills, said: “On 20 June 1967, our lads were ambushed when Britain were pulling out to go home - 22 were shot.

“There’s around 300 British buried there. Back in those days, you were buried where you died. Many cemeteries have stones with names on because you can’t always visit the burial sites.

“We’ve lost around 16,000 soldiers in forgotten wars like Aden, Borneo and Korea. They say to triple that amount for injured, which is nearly 50,000 just from these wars.”

The Aden Emergency took place from 14 October 1963 until 30 November 1967.

Aden, now part of Yemen, was established as British Territory in 1839 to provide a base for ships en route to India.

By the 1960s, British sought to stabilise the region by creating a federation between the Aden colony and surrounding protectorates.

However, by 1967, Britain was forced to withdraw from the colony after ‘political differences’, says Mr Mills.

Following the departure of the British, Aden became part of The People’s Democratic Republic of South Yemen, and was established as present day Yemen in 1990.

The service will be hosted by Lancashire Veterans Association on Armed Forces Day to commemorate all who died serving their country in the ‘Forgotten Wars’, including the Aden Emergency.

The service will start at 11.30am.

An Armed Forces Day parade will leave Heywood Pub (7 Stars) at 1.00pm as part of Heywood's 1940s weekend.