THE last veteran of the Battle of the Imjin River has planted a Korean oak tree in memory of those who died in the conflict.

Mr Royston Mills, of Cinderford, is the last surviving prisoner of war in Gloucestershire who fought in the Korean War in 1951. The tree, which came from Korea, had been donated by a former soldier of the Gloucestershire Regiment, Mike Houghton MBE, of Lydney, as a permanent memorial to the men in the regiment who fought and died in Korea and at the Battle of the Imjin.

He was joined on Sunday by Lydney Town Council members to plant the tree in Bathurst Park.

Lydney Mayor Cllr Bob Berryman said: "The planting of the tree was well attended. Roy was sent to fight in the battle as a national service man at the age of 19. He chose to serve with the Gloucestershire regiment as he lived in the county but while he was in North Korea he was captured by the Chinese where he remained as a prisoner of war for 18 months. We had an interesting conversation."

The Korean War was initiated as the result of invasion of Nationalist South Korea by military forces of Communist North Korea in June 1950. The 1st Battalion The Gloucestershire Regiment acted as a unit of the brigade of a force that was put in place to buy time before the American re-enforcements could arrive. They held off a considerable opposing force outnumbering them hugely, for four days.

An explanatory plaque will be put in place early in 2014.