An Army veteran says he has been treated with contempt by top military brass following claims he was ousted from commanding a parade honouring fallen comrades.

For almost 20 years on Remembrance Sunday, former pioneer sergeant James “Blue” Cooper has proudly paraded with his Vipers Old Comrades at the foot of a memorial to soldiers killed in Northern Ireland.

Previously, the names of nine fallen men from the Queen’s Regiment had been read out by Mr Cooper at the Monument to the Fallen, which was moved last year to Leros Barracks following the closure of Howe Barracks.

But after two decades, Mr Cooper, who served with 3 Battalion PWRR, says officers at the Queen’s Regimental Association decided he should no longer lead the parade, and the Prince of Wales’s Royal Regiment and Queen’s former officers should take over.

It has proved a bitter blow to the grandfather, of Suffolk Road, Canterbury, who served seven tours in Ulster and lost two friends in the Troubles.

He said: “It was our little parade and a precious time to remember our friends.

“I don’t recall any Queen’s Regiment officers ever attending before and am appalled by this discourteous behaviour.

Mr Cooper first became aware of the apparent snub when the order of service for the parade was emailed to a friend.

A meeting about its future had been held in his absence, with the regimental association blaming miscommunication for an invitation failing to reach Mr Cooper.

On the day of the parade he and the Vipers still attended Leros Barracks, but Mr Cooper turned down what he deemed to be a “reluctant last-minute offer to be involved. I was so upset by what happened and how I was spoken to when we arrived that I didn’t accept,” he said.

The association insists Mr Cooper has not been excluded from the service and said it welcomed his future involvement.

But in a letter written to him following the last parade, Queens Regimental Association secretary Alasdair Goulden said: “Let it be quite clear, you and the Vipers are just one group of people who revere our Monument to the Fallen.

“You believe that you are the custodians. You are not – 3PWRR are since it is in their barracks.

“It will be their decision in conjunction with the association as to how Remembrance Sunday will be organised in future.”

Mr Cooper says he and his fellow veterans are keeping their options open about whether to attend the parade this November or to hold their own.