Major General Patrick Cordingley, commander of the Desert Rats in the first Gulf War and chairman of the appeal, said he had not met anybody who had not been moved by a visit to the arboretum, which is based in Alrewas.

BBC: Appeal push at 'inadequate' site

Wartime service: During Operation Desert Storm, Keating was deputy commander, Carrier Air Wing 17, participating in combat operations in from the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga.

CNN: Specials

The guerrilla commander guarding Mr Lizcano opted to desert, taking his hostage with him.

ECONOMIST: Not that hard, when any body will do

Just 27 years before South Africa's Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu - 80 last week - was born, a German army commander was issuing orders, in writing, to exterminate Namibians, drive them into the desert and poison the wells.

BBC: African viewpoint: Remembering German crimes in Namibia