AN Army veterans' association has come under fire after sending one of its members a newsletter featuring his own obituary - almost two years after his death.

And the memorial to Basil Smith in the National Malaya and Borneo Veterans' Assoc-iation pamphlet even failed to get the correct year of Mr Smith's death, despite the group having performed a guard of honour at his funeral.

Mr Smith reached the rank of corporal during his 22 years with the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), in which time he served in Germany and Malaya before finishing his forces career at Catterick, North Yorkshire, in the sixties.

Cpl Smith died of heart failure on May 23, 1999, following a series of illnesses, and the family, including his widow Dorothy, were very pleased when the association held the guard of honour.

But, when his daughter, Audrey Simpson, was opening mail at her mother's home, in Shildon, on April 26 this year, she came across an envelope addressed to her father.

Normally, she would have marked the envelope 'deceased' and sent it back, but a note regarding the return of the letter if undelivered caught her interest and made her open it to find the newsletter inside.

The upsetting leaflet not only featured the obituary, which stated her father died in May 2000, but also invited him to the association's annual general meeting in October in Leicester.

Mrs Simpson, who also lives in Shildon, said she had contacted the association's national chairman, David Niel, who apologised and said he would put the matter into the hands of the local branch chairman.

But she has not heard anything since.

"It's heartbreaking really, to see that. Obviously, they knew he died, because they provided the guard of honour," she said.

"To me, this should never have happened. they said we would get a written apology and I feel that a week was long enough under the circumstances."

David Niel, national chairman of the association, said he had placed the matter in the hands of the local branch chairman, Dennis Askew, who Advertiser staff were unable to contact before going to press