A hospital volunteer has recalled the terrifying moment he faced armed soldiers as he fled dictatorship in Uganda for the UK.

Northwick Park Hospital volunteer Jatin Shah made an emotional visit to Buckingham Palace on the 50th anniversary of British Asians escaping Uganda.

More than 70,000 fled the country in 1972 after dictator Idi Amin ordered them to leave the country within three months, claiming God had spoken to him in a dream.

They were forced to hand over their businesses, homes and savings and threatened with prison if they remained.

Born in 1956, the then teenager heard that soldiers would shoot people “on the spot” as they reached checkpoints escaping Uganda.

Harrow Times: Jatin ShahJatin Shah (Image: London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust)

He said: “It was a frightening time, with curfews and soldiers on the streets.

“My father got a call one evening from a friend saying the army was looking for him and that we needed to pack a suitcase and leave straight away.

“I remember the worry on my parents’ faces as we passed through numerous armed check points on the long drive to Entebbe airport.”

While at the checkpoints, soldiers “just helped themselves to whatever they wanted”, the volunteer claimed.

The Ugandan-born worker managed to start his life again after entering the UK with just one suitcase.

He has spent the past 22 years as a Northwick Park Hospital volunteer.

Harrow Times: He currently works in Northwick Park HospitalHe currently works in Northwick Park Hospital (Image: London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust)

More than 200 people attended a function at Buckingham Palace with King Charles III for the 50th anniversary.

It included presentations by David Dimbleby and Jon Snow, who reported from Uganda as young journalists.

Mr Snow told guests: “Today we bask in what Uganda was deprived of - an innovative and dedicated population of motivated people who have done so much to boost our own economy and our own well-being.

“Uganda’s loss has proved Britain’s incomparable gain.”

Idi Amin presided over one of the most brutal dictatorships in Africa, with up to 300,000 deaths attributed to his regime before he was forced out of power several years later.

Almost half the people that escaped settled in the UK and 16 temporary resettlement camps were set up across the country with 63 voluntary sector organisations.