Former serviceman John Iles is being given a medal 50 years after he fought to win it.

But the Crawley pensioner isn't bothered about his tardy gong - he says he would rather have an official apology for the conditions he had to endure during the Suez crisis.

John, who is 72, was one of almost 300,000 British troops who served in Egypt during the emergency in the Fifties.

He says they were confined to camp for two-and-a-half years and would have been better off as prisoners of war.

He said: "I don't care about the medal - they can keep it. What I want is an apology from the Government. Either from Tony Blair or the Ministry of Defence, I don't mind."

The Government has just announced that thousands of servicemen and women who served during the crisis will be given a new general service medal and commemorative clasp for playing their part in the fight to keep the Suez Canal open.

It is a conflict regarded by many veterans as the "hidden war", when conditions were so bad that many combatants committed suicide rather than bear the poor rations and harsh discipline.

Mr Iles, of Feroners Close, Furnace Green, said: "It really was that bad. We queued at the cookhouse and ate mouldy bread. I used to scrape the weevils off and my mate used to eat them to gain protein.

"The tea was so bad it was only good for shaving in and the water was so polluted if you drank it you were lucky to survive."

Mr Iles lodged his complaints on a web site dedicated to the crisis, where he found hundreds of messages from other disgruntled servicemen.

He was attached to 109 Maintenance Unit with the RAF at Abyad, having previously served in Malaysia with 100 Bomber Squadron.

Discipline was harsh to ensure the troops did not slacken and a dirty button was enough to earn a man two weeks' "jankers" in the guardhouse.

Mr Iles said: "I was a very patriotic young man when I joined up in the Forties but less so when I came out. In fact, I gave away my Malaya medal to a relative."

John has had an official letter from George Gasston, Air member with RAF HQ at Innsworth, Gloucester.

It acknowledges his complaint and states: "Circumstances were extraordinarily harsh and outside the control of the service or other British authorities."

Crawley MP Laura Moffatt has welcomed the fact Suez veterans are finally to be honoured for their part in the last imperial action fought by British troops.