The Japanese army's lightning advance trapped them and they spent several years in horrific labour camps before the emperor's forces were finally defeated.

The rejection by a Japanese court of a legal bid to claim compensation for the victims is a major blow to the long campaign by the former prisoners to obtain compensation for their suffering.

They have vowed to battle on for compensation and an apology.

These are the key landmarks in their long campaign:

7 December, 1941: Japanese warplanes attack the US fleet in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. Japanese troops invade the British colony of Malaya.

January/February 1942: The Malayan capital Kuala Lumpur falls. When Singapore succumbs a few weeks later the largest British army ever is forced to surrender.

1942-45: The Japanese army holds 50,000 British PoWs captive, many of whom are used for forced labour, most famously on the Burma-Siam railway line in modern-day Thailand. More than 170,000 labourers died on the Burma-Siam railway, including 20,000 Britons.

14 August 1945: Japan surrenders.

1951:The San Francisco treaty is signed. It offers compensation of �76.

October 1971: Veterans and former PoWs protest when Emperor Hirohito pays a state visit to Britain and is made a Knight of the Garter.

February 1989:Several former PoWs return their campaign medals in protest when The Duke of Edinburgh attends the funeral of Japanese wartime ruler, Emperor Hirohito.

July 1994: The camp survivors begin a lawsuit, claiming �290m from the Japanese government for cruel and inhuman treatment between 1941 and 1945.

January 1998: The Japanese Government apologises for the suffering of British prisoners but does not budge on the compensation issue.

February 1998: British camp survivor Arthur Titherington gives evidence to the Tokyo court about the treatment they received by Japan's wartime forces.

May 1998: Veterans and sympathisers turn their backs on Emperor Akihito - Hirohito's son - during his visit to Britain.

26 November 1998: The judges at Tokyo District Court refuse the former PoWs' claim for compensation.