CHANGES TO NEWSLETTER DISTRIBUTION

We have made the decision to cease publishing hard copies of the NESA newsletter for the time being.

The newsletter will now be published as an electronic version only and will be sent to all on our mailing list. We will still publish non regular periodic hard copies from time to time for the benefit of members only.

We are also re-working the FEATURES section of the web site. Due to the sheer amount of material this may take some time.

  The National Ex Services Association in its original guise was formed in 1987 by a group of disgruntled ex servicemen from the World War Two and Korean War era.

   In particular it was three men, Arthur Lane, Ken Coote, and Frank Ians who set the ball rolling. As they were based in Manchester and Stockport, membership gathered momentum from the individual regional associations at first, such as the Manchester eighth army veterans. Within a short time NESA had gained notice nationwide and had accrued over 2,000 members . The Newspaper ‘The NESA News’ had a circulation of over 20,000.

   Most of NESA’s members had experienced a lot of things which seem irrelevant or distant to many people today - outside of Hollywood films. Obviously the things they had experienced left a mark on them all. It also left many with concerns. These concerns were varied and real. They were as real as any man would like to have knowledge of. Arthur Lane for example, had joined the Manchester regiment as a fifteen year old boy soldier, a drummer. Before he was a man in today’s terms, he had taken part in action in Egypt and then Palestine before being posted to Singapore. When the Japanese joined the war by simultaneously bombing Pearl Harbour and attacking Indo Asia, he was still no more than a boy . He had already witnessed his mother burn to death at home and he was about to witness many, actually most, of his friends die equally violent deaths.

After taking part in a number of engagements and battles with the enemy as a member of an independent section on the Malayan mainland, he returned to Singapore where he and the other troops fought bravely against overwhelming odds and with hardly any equipment. Eventually overwhelmed Arthur spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese.

It was during this time that he and the others experienced what can only be described as hell on earth. Starvation, beatings, executions and forced labour killed hundreds of Arthur’s immediate comrades and thousands of allied troops in general. Arthur has written and published and continues to write and publish material about his experiences.

WHY

 As you can imagine these men came home having been dipped in and tarnished with what can only be described as the ‘waters of insanity’. They had a lot of questions and they had a lot of feelings pent up inside. Questions ranging across the spectrum; the need for war, to the way wars are carried out, to the way troops are equipped, to pursuing justice for those they had witnessed murdered or unfairly sent to death - friends and country folk. Bear in mind that those that had been POWs of the Japanese had come home very angry. Before the establishment of NESA, these men had watched over the years as many of the men they regarded as war criminals were let of one by one, being brought into the western world as forgiven and welcome. They and the other vets from the other theatres of war had to stand aside and depend on the probably overwhelmed Royal British Legion for help.

 In 1987 they had had enough, sadly many old heroes went into pauper’s graves having nothing but hidden hellish memories. The living were concerned that there was a misconception that these men had died being cared for.  Many felt that the legion working on its own needed so much funding and administrative staffing just to fund itself that it was never going to be effective as a charity on the scale it needed to be. Although some individual founding members of NESA held negative opinions about the Legion, contrary to the perception of many from certain quarters, the initial and fundamental grievance of the National Ex Services Association was with the government and not the Legion.

 The overall view of the founders of NESA was that successive governments had turned their backs on those who had served for their country. There was a deep veined concern that the government had sent them to war and then dumped responsibility for military ‘aftercare’ onto the Legion and charity, only to turn up twice a year on special days to receive the public limelight.

We wanted, and still wish, to provide the publicity necessary for the people of this country to be aware of the hundreds of anomalies which exist between our governments over the years and the service men and women who are sent out around the world to do their bidding.

The essential reason for forming the association was to try and create, maintain and nurture an organisation wherein the members could and would help each other in any way they could and one which would be big enough to challenge the government and not be scared of challenging the government in respect to their concerns.

The old soldiers, sailors and airmen ruffled a few feathers along the way and still do. But surely if anyone has the right to do so on such matters, then they do?

In the end, NESA itself survived but did not grow. The smaller associations began to dwindle as the years went on and the original NESA was put to sleep, a lack of resources and a changing world.

What happened to the original NESA?

The original NESA succeeded in many ways but it also failed.

To quote Arthur Lane, the early NESA was:

‘A comradeship, without which many of us would not have survived’.

That in itself was a success.

NESA first lobbied and headed the campaign for a veteran’s representative in each constituency which resulted in the appointment of a new government position

– the Minister for veteran’s affairs, in 1992.

NESA was the first to push for a Veteran’s week in 1987 but wanted it to be nationwide.

With the JLCA (Japanese Labour Camp Association), Arthur pushed for compensation from the Japanese government which resulted in each survivor being awarded with £10K.

There were also campaigns to recognise the Porton Down and Christmas Island veterans who suffered illness and and death due to the testing of new weapons and there were campaigns for justice for the unfortunate soldiers in Northern Ireland who were being accused of murder at the time.

The old soldiers, sailors and airmen ruffled a few feathers along the way and still do. But surely if anyone has the right to do so on such matters, then they did?

In the end, NESA itself survived but did not grow. The smaller associations began to dwindle as the years went on and the original NESA was put to sleep, a lack of resources and a changing world.

NESA exists as a publicity tool for campaigns and petitions for Ex Service men and women, their supporters and families . The NESA Web Site and News letter also act as a directory and form of communication for the UK’s Ex Service associations, charities and help organisations.        

The Royal Marine Commandoes have organised a charity march to honour those that have fallen in the

War on Terror.

For full details visit

THIS PAGE

or the official March4Honour site on the link below.

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DO YOU KNOW ANY SURVIVORS OF THE WW2 FAR EAST

POW CAMPS?

Arthur Lane is currently writing a historical reference book concerning the fate of Far East POWs and wishes to include a list of those still alive.

If you know someone who still survives and was captured by the Japanese please contact arthur@nesa.org.uk

CLICK HERE

FOR DETAILS

Member of

We are having technical problems which may occasionally make these boards difficult to read.

Please be patient with us and we will correct the problem as soon as possible.

FINAL MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR THE FAR EASTERN POWs

This year the National Ex Services Association  along with the FEPOW community and the Irish Guards singers will be holding what will probably be a final memorial service to all those who died during their captivity or have died since. The special service will be held in Liverpool and will also be for the remembrance of all who fought in the Far Eastern campaign.

Today there are possibly around 300 survivors and we invite them and all members of the FEPOW families to attend.

The Ecumenical Memorial Service will be held at Christ the King RC church, 78 Queens Drive, Childwal, Liverpool, L15 6YQ.

We are asking for all newspaper and magazine editors to put this date in their diary and give as much publicity as possible in the meantime to make our last memorial service a true and worthy dedication to those who gave their all.

For further information please contact Arthur

MORE - SCROLL DOWN

Arthur Lane see www.nesa.org.uk

61 Charles Street

Stockport

SK1 3JR

E arthurlane@ntlworld.com phone 0161-480-0114

ABOUT

ARTHUR LANE

SOUTH ATLANTIC MEDAL ASSOCIATION 82’s SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE

- 28th March 2010

The association members arrive on Friday the 26th and stay at the Prince of Wales Hotel for their annual AGM and formal dinner. The parade will form on Chapel St at 10-00 hours and march off at 10-15 lead by the Kings Division Normandy Band.

The Mayoral party will arrive at 10-30 and the Chairman of SAMA 82 will lead the Remembrance. The SAMA 82 National Standard will lead the standards. I would like to invite you all to join us on this day especially your Standard Bearers.

If you wish to attend please contact Steve on:

0791 491 8381

NEW BOOK RELEASE

At the end of the Second World War, investigators were sent to the Far East in search of the war criminals who had committed so many vile atrocities.

The leading British investigator was Colonel Cyril Wild, the son of the Bishop of Newcastle. For all his sterling work his only reward a miserable death. Many former

Far East prisoners of war were and still are of the opinion that Colonel Wild was executed on the orders of General MacArthur.

ACCIDENT or ASSASSINATION provides the questions that still need answering.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR CLUB OR ASSOCIATION

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE REGISTER

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Ex Services