THEY fought together in Burma during the Second World War and saw their comrades die.

But courageous old soldiers never forget and they returned to Hampshire, 59 years after VJ Day August 15, 1945 to commemorate the day Japan surrendered to the Allies.

Now it's been decided that the Southampton and district branch of the Burma Star Association will disband forever. Formed in 1963, the group has seen its membership in rapid decline as the years take their toll.

Harry Keat, 81, who served as an armourer general in the Royal Air Force in Burma for three and a half years, said the time had come to close the branch which has just 35 members. At its peak there were 150 ex-servicemen who would attend regular meetings at different venues across the city as well as memorial services across the country.

Of 250 servicemen in Harry's own 273 Fighter Bomb Squadron, 16 pilots died in combat. Many lost their fight for survival after contracting malaria and dysentery.

Said Harry: "We were the second biggest group behind the South London branch but now we just don't have enough members to keep going. It's a sad but inevitable fact of life."

Thirteen veterans from the Navy, Army and RAF, who together protected India and drove the Japanese enemy back through Burma, this week marked the official closure of the branch at the end of this year. Mr Keat handed over the branch's Standard for safe keeping to Gerald Davies, the curator of The Gurkha Museum in Winchester. Pipe Major Krischna Rai of the Royal Ghurka Rifles played for the event.

Remaining BSA members will continue to meet at Archers Road Social Club for informal get-togethers