Retired army officer calls for Dunkirk soldiers to be honoured

Lt Col Trevor Powell's father Hugh served in the British Expeditionary Force

A retired Army officer is campaigning for thousands of World War Two soldiers to be honoured.

British Expeditionary Force (BEF) soldiers were the first British soldiers to fight in France and Belgium between 1939 and 1940.

Retired Lt Col Trevor Powell, from Betws Diserth in Powys, said they had never been recognised for the campaign.

He has now launched a petition for the BEF to get recognition in the form of a clasp for their 1939-45 star.

Mr Powell said: "No medal was ever struck to recognise the considerable contribution of members of the British Expeditionary Force in 1939-1940.

"With the approach of the 80th anniversary, it would be fitting for some formal recognition at last to be made to the few remaining survivors of this undervalued force."

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Mr Powell's father Hugh Powell was one of the thousands of men sent to fight in France in 1939, before he contracted meningitis and was brought home just before the Dunkirk evacuations.

His father is looking forward to celebrating his 101st birthday at his home in New Zealand.

The BEF were eventually evacuated from Dunkirk beaches, where almost 350,000 men were rescued thanks to a flotilla of little ships during Operation Dynamo in May 1940.