A special service was held in the Saundersfoot garden of a local Second World War veteran this week, as Duncan Hilling was finally presented with his medal from the conflict ahead of the 75th anniversary of VJ Day this Saturday by members of the Royal Welsh regiment.

Mr. Hilling and his wife Audrey were also joined by his fellow choristers from Tenby Male Choir on the couple’s lawn for the ceremony, where the ninety-four-year-old retired horticulturalist was handed the medal that was due to him in 1947 after serving with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in the Far East.

He refused a medal after the war because he had mixed feelings and did not feel he deserved one, after returning home safely.

Serving for three years in India, Japan and Malaya after joining up as an 18-year-old, Mr. Hilling was amongst the first British soldiers to witness the horrors of Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb, which led to the Japanese surrender to the Allies on August 15, 1945.

The service on Tuesday saw Mr. Hilling presented with his medal, along with a Veterans badge and a plaque.

“We visited Hiroshima, there is no way to describe the absolute devastation that was still there when we got there - melted hand rails, houses absolutely and totally destroyed,” said Mr. Hilling of what he witnessed at the time of the aftermath of the atomic bombs in Japan .

“We went down to Nagaski a couple of days later, and it was the same sort of picture, the city absolutely and totally destroyed.

Speaking of his reluctance at the time to accept the medal, he explained: “I felt that I hadn’t done anything really deserving of a medal, simple as that. I talked to lots of boys who’d been in Burma.

“They came back into the battalion before going home, and their stories were horrific. So I felt that while I was there ready to do anything, I was never asked to do anything.

“At the time I felt I had done nothing towards the execution and finish of the war, compared to the terrible hardship which some of the boys endured in the Far East, but seventy five years on, I can look at things in a different light,” said Mr. Hilling who earlier this year celebrated with his wife their platinum wedding anniversary.

“My family wanted the medal as a memento of what we did, so I thought ‘yeah why not?’

“I am honoured to accept this medal. I will wear it now in honour of the boys who were there,” he added.

Major Johnny Greatrex of the 160th Welsh Brigade who was at the presentation said: “Thankfully we were able to obtain the war medal on behalf of Duncan, and we thought it really important to come down today and present it to him, ahead of the VJ Day 75 celebrations.

“We will never forget them and we’ll remember their service and sacrifice.”

Regimental goat Shenkin IV was also in attendance at the presentation, while Sergeant Andrew Jones from the regimental band of the Royal Welsh played the Last Post and Reveille.

The occasion and an interview with Mr. Hilling were also recorded by a film crew to feature in a film being commissioned by 160th (Welsh) Brigade and funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Trust.