A WAR veteran is retracing his wartime steps of 60 years ago to pay his respects to the fallen comrades who never made it home after the second world war.

Douglas Wilks travelled to the Far East, where as a Royal Artillery soldier he engaged in one of the campaign's most fierce battles.

The 84-year-old is visiting India with ex-servicemen, widows and relatives to mark the 60th anniversary of key battles that acted as a turning point in the war against the Japanese and led to allied victory.

The poignant journey, which began at the weekend, has been organised by The Royal British Legion in memory of the thousands of men who died fighting Japanese forces, between December 1941 and September 1945.

This week and next, they will visit Dimapur, Imphal and Kohima, where the Japanese were prevented from advancing further into India, and hold memorial services to remember the vast human sacrifice.

Mr Wilks, of Witton le Wear, said: "It will be a nostalgic and very moving experience, especially visiting the cemeteries and war memorials.

"Imphal to me was just another battle - gunfire, noise and din. The fighting was ferocious. The Japanese were a merciless enemy and I saw evidence of brutality. A lot of people lost their lives through fighting and due to illness."

Troops fighting in the Far East were so remote from the British people that they became known as the Forgotten Army.

A grandfather-of-eight, Mr Wilks is keen that the efforts and bravery of Allied troops during the Forgotten War are remembered by future generations. He said: "It is important it isn't forgotten. My grandchildren would have liked to have come with me. As they get older they appreciate how difficult it was to be at war.

"The hardest part was being so far away from home and my wife, Emily, as I was sent overseas just three and half months after we married.

"It was tough, we lived wet, especially when the monsoon broke and the travelling was hard on narrow, rough routes and through jungle. We ate rice and whatever supplies pilots could drop for the troops and there was a lot of malaria and dysentery, I lost so much weight that when I finally did come home Emily barely recognised me on the platform at Darlington train station.

"I felt I would like to pay my respect to those who didn't get to come home to their families and lost their lives for today."

Mr Wilks, who spent most of his army career as a bombardier and was discharged as a sergeant, hopes to find the graves of the five men from his unit, the Royal Artillery 1st Medium Regiment, who died in India.

He said: "Map references were taken of jungle graves so they could later be moved to cemeteries. I hope to find the graves of those who served in my regiment. It will be comforting to see that they have been buried properly with marked headstones."