A DOZEN veterans of one of Britain's forgotten wars returned to the region this week to pay tribute to the city whose generosity kept them going through their darkest hour.

Since the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, the former officers of the 1st Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, most of them former National Servicemen, have met in London to remember their comrades and reminisce about their battlefield experiences.

But this time - 53 years after the conflict - the veterans met in Durham, invited by one of their number, the city's mayor, Councillor John Lightley, to say thank you to the city and its residents.

By the time the battalion arrived in Korea in September 1952, the war had become bogged down in the kind of trench warfare last seen in Flanders - with the British, Americans, Australians and South Koreans facing Chinese and North Korean forces across no man's land.

Less than three weeks after arriving, the battalion was in the frontline, under bombardment from enemy artillery, at risk from sniper fire and at the mercy of the Korean winter.

During the 1950s, residents of Durham collected thousands of comfort parcels in a relief effort to support their countrymen fighting on the other side of the world.

Radios, biscuits, warm clothing and other items poured in from every corner of the county and were shipped to the men in the frontline during the winter of 1952-1953.

Coun Lightly said: "The parcels were indeed a comfort to the soldiers in the DLI and were a great source of joy at the time.

"We always meet in London to chat over old times but, as I am mayor of the city this year, I thought it would be nice if we could all meet up in the city and visit the DLI museum."

Among the old soldiers making an emotional return to Durham was Captain Brian Tonkinson, who wrote Subalterns, a book about his time in Korea, and received the MBE for his military service.

Now living in Surrey, the 76-year-old former Darlington Grammar School pupil joined the Army and was 24 went he was posted to Korea.

A senior signals officer and later an adjutant at regimental HQ, he said: "Korea was quite an experience - it was a war of artillery duels, minefields and night patrols, some of which turned into firefights."

The comfort fund yielded so much money, every platoon received a radio and there was a constant flow of parcels.

Capt Tonkinson said: "The spirit of the people of Durham in support of the regiment was tremendous, there was nothing they wouldn't do to help us. No county served its regiment better than the County of Durham."

During a year and a week in Korea, of which 21 weeks were spent on the frontline, 24 soldiers from the 1st Battlion of the DLI were killed and 121 were wounded.