Just over 50 years ago, Noel John from Narberth was sunning himself on the banks of the Nile in Egypt (writes Patrick Jones). This was no holiday, however, for Noel, together with 200,000 British troops, had been rushed out to meet a crisis when Egypt revoked a 1936 treaty on the numbers of British troops deployed in the Canal Zone.
As a result of the increasing threat to the canal, thousands of British troops were quickly sent to Egypt. During the next few years 300 would die at the hands of terrorists, rioting crowds and guerrillas.
The 103-mile Suez Canal opened in 1896 under British control and connected the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. It was therefore of huge strategic importance.
The emergency began in October 1951 with skirmishes, which resulted in much bloodshed, and after the British withdrew in 1956, the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, immediately nationalised the canal, bringing about the Suez Crisis.
In a rash response, a joint British-French invasion force of paratroopers retook the canal in 1957. But this action was overruled in the United Nations, by 65 votes to one, and an ignominious retreat of British and French forces ensued.
The British embroilment and the dubious decisions made by the British Government led to resignations and eventually spelt the end of Prime Minister Anthony Eden's role in politics. The repercussions of the conflict still reverberate today when Britain's role in the Middle East is debated.
The servicemen involved in the 1957 invasion have already received medals, but since the 1951-1954 fighting was termed an emergency, no medal was struck and veterans like Noel have been dubbed 'the forgotten army'. Now that has all changed and the hazardous role played by the British troops has been recognised with the award of a campaign medal.
After National Service in the RAF, Noel returned to his post as a director in the well-known James John Builders Merchant business which formerly traded in Spring Gardens, Narberth.
"One of the worst things," said 72-year-old Noel, "was that nobody told you what was going on. We took our orders and got on with it.
" Occasionally they would put you in the back of a lorry, stick a Sten gun in your hand and ferry you down to Ismailia and back. You were probably in as much danger from the chaps in the trucks behind as you were from the locals," he added.
Noel returned home safely and has a fine collection of photos of his time in Egypt. Now, 50 years later, he has the medal to complete his collection.