ON the eve of VJ Day, an Epping Forest-based nationwide charity for war veterans has issued an urgent call for funds.

Lesley Clark, 47, of Barrons Close, Ongar, the chairman and treasurer of the JAVA Far East Prisoners of War Club 1942 (FEPOW), said her group needed more donations to keep its quarterly magazine the Java Journal running.

The 80 page magazine, which functions as the main link for the group's members, used to be published free of charge by Brentwood printers Oce but they were recently taken over.

Lesley said: “Local stationers Pen to Paper in Epping have offered us a great deal to print the newsletter, so it’s just now a matter of raising the funds.

“I don’t want to have to raise the subscription to our FEPOW and widow members prohibitively, neither do I want to have to stop publishing what they all so look forward to receiving.”

FEPOW supports members of the armed forces who were captured in the Far East during the Second World War.

Lesley joined the organisation 15 years ago because her father William Ellmore was one such veteran captured in 1942.

He was taken to Ambon, in Indonesia, where he and his colleagues were forced to walk 40 miles to build their own camp before being ordered to build a runway out of coral.

Lesley helps to run FEPOW from her spare bedroom where she organises outings and an annual reunion for the group.

She said: “We have over 250 members worldwide, made up of almost 100 FEPOWs, along with widows of FEPOWs and associate members who are generally family or researchers.

“We should remember and never forget what was sacrificed for us. So many people know about the war in Europe but the war in the Far East is sadly forgotten.”

Anyone interested in helping or joining the club should visit thejavafepowclub42.org or contact Lesley on 07909 694699.