VETERANS from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry will tomorrow pay tribute to three soldiers who died during fighting in Cyprus in the 1950s.

More than a dozen veterans will travel from Oxford to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, to attend the Dedication of The Cyprus Campaign Memorial, and to lay a wreath in honour of their three comrades who dies during the campaign between 1955 and 1959.

The soldiers served in Cyprus and will pay tribute to Gerald French and Michael O'Carroll from Banbury, who died in the conflict. Some of their relatives are expected to attend.

The third casualty, David Neill, was from Scotland.

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During the Cyprus Emergency, British soldiers fought against the Greek Cypriot militant group, the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), which was attempting to remove the British from Cyprus so it could be unified with Greece. Cyprus was granted independence in 1960.

Roy Bailey, who lives near Hungerford in Berkshire, is among those who will attend the ceremony.

Mr Bailey, 80, who served in Germany and Cyprus after signing on for three years' national service, said: "I knew Gerry French - he was in my section and I laid a wreath at his funeral in 1957.

"It's a long time ago but these comrades should not be forgotten."