WAR veteran Arthur Titherington has hit out at news that the Queen is to give the Order of the Garter to Emperor Akihito of Japan.

He and other former Japanese prisoners of war believe the honour - Britain's highest for chivalry - is badly timed.

It is due to be bestowed during the Emperor's state visit in May, just as many veterans await the outcome of a long legal battle for compensation from Japan.

Arthur, of Church Green, Witney, is chairman of the Japanese Labour Camp Survivors' Association. He said: "My first reaction is a scream of despair.

"It is a kick in the teeth for every ex-serviceman who was a prisoner in the Far East."

The 76-year-old former Witney mayor represents 9,500 former servicemen. He was a prisoner in Taiwan for three-and-a-half years during the Second World War.

He added: "The Queen is entitled to do with her honours as she wishes. But knowing, as the world must know, the role the Japanese played in the war, for which we have still received no proper apology, I cannot help but think she was wrongly advised by the Government."

Martyn Day, solicitor for the Japanese Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees Association, said: "The PoWs feel that it is a surprising gesture. "I think many will be very disappointed and very surprised that the Queen sees fit to take this course of action."

"It comes at a time when the Japanese have found it still impossible to properly atone for what they did in the Second World War to PoWs.

"Many of the PoWs and internees, who are now in their 70s and 80s, would like to see this resolved before they die. It is not something which has lessened with time, but which has come to the fore in the last few years."

Representatives of PoW campaign groups recently travelled to Tokyo to put their case for compensation at a final hearing before the judicial authorities there.

They have even threatened protests during the Emperor's visit if the matter is not resolved by then.

Buckingham Palace apparently made the decision after informal discussions with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.

The award is believed to indicate the importance the Government attaches to next month's British visit, the first by a Japanese emperor since 1971.

Former prisoners of war marched to the Japanese embassy in London yesterday to demand an apology and compensation.

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