TODAY (Saturday August 15) is the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

The five-year conflict officially came to an end with the surrender of the Japanese to the Allies after the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And this week, in the approach to VJ Day, a 94-year-old Pembrokeshire man who served in the Far East was finally presented with his medal from the war.

Duncan Hilling of Saundersfoot served for three years with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in India, Japan and Malaya after joining up as an 18-year-old in 1944.

Western Telegraph:

He was amongst the first British soldiers to witness the horrors of Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb.

Returning home from the war safe and sound, Mr Hilling felt unwilling to claim the medal that was due to him.

"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," said the retired horticulturalist, as VJ Day approached.

But the modern Army had other ideas, and sourced Mr Hilling's Second World War medal.

This was presented to him, together with a Veterans badge and a plaque, outside his home in Saundersfoot last Tuesday - with regimental goat Shenkin IV and a bugler in attendance as Mr Hilling shared his memories with an Army film crew.

Western Telegraph:

His comrades from Tenby Male Choir lined up on the lawn in tribute to their senior member, while his wife of 70 years, Audrey, also 94, gave a moving declamation of Binyon's The Fallen, including the moving words 'they shall grow not old'.

Mr Hilling then spoke the Kohima Blessing - 'when you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today' - before Sergeant Andrew Jones from the regimental band of the Royal Welsh played the Last Post and Reveille.

Western Telegraph:

The stories of Mr Hilling and the dwindling number of other Second World War veterans are being recorded to feature in the film being commissioned by 160th (Welsh) Brigade and funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Trust.

"We are very keen to capture the story of our veterans and their testimonies. If we don't record these, hen youngsters will never know," said the Brigade's Major Jonny Greatrex, who first became aware of Mr Hilling's war service when it was mentioned in a recent Western Telegraph article on his Platinum wedding.

"Its been a real privilege to hear Mr Hilling's stories today, and to recognise the service which he has given to his country."

Western Telegraph:

Mr Hilling, who also played his harmonica and sang for the film crew, said: "Seventy five years on, I can look at things in a different light. I am honoured to accept this medal, not for myself but in tribute to the boys who died and suffered in the Far East.

"And I know that my children will enjoy it after my days."