War heroes fighting to protect the watery graves of their fallen colleagues have received the backing of the Western Daily Press.

The Second World War veterans are furious that the wrecks of two ships off the coast of Malaysia have become the target of souvenir-hunters.

HMS Repulse and the HMS Prince were sunk by Japanese torpedoes in 1941 with the loss of 840 British lives.

And like many of the 12,000 vessels sunk in battles since 1914, they are being raided by deep sea divers looking for authentic trophies of war.

Now the veterans are calling for an international agreement to be drawn up which places a moratorium for 100 years of raiding any sunken ships.

The Western Daily Press is supporting the cause and has printed a coupon for readers to send to the House of Commons to make their feelings known.

In a tough-talking editorial, the paper said: “It is time to halt the sickening plunder.

“The Press backs the call for All-Party action to press for international laws to allow our heroes to rest in peace.

“It should not matter whether these are British war graves, or Japanese or German or any other nation. They should all be respected and all protected.”

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