1/19/2024 0 Comments Korean war navy veteranWhat was to follow was like a nightmare, a nightmare that was to last two and a half years.” “We were told they were massing up a huge army getting ready to attack – this time a big one. Having endured a bitterly cold winter, and spending Christmas and the New Year guarding the line and facing their first face to face battle with the enemy in February 1951, Bill and his fellow troops were told the Chinese were preparing a counter-attack in April 1950 - after losing ground in the months before. At this point, China entered the war, concerned by the proximity of the UN and American troops to their borders. I can’t explain how I felt, it was a strange feeling, but I will always remember.”īy November 1950 Bill and his battalion had moved north crossing the 38th parallel, the border between North and South Korea, after the South Korean and UN forces pushed the North Koreas back. I remember seeing the two dead men covered up on stretchers waiting to be taken to the UN cemetery. “One of our companies was attacked by these guerrillas and we lost two men, and about 10 were wounded. Over the next couple of weeks, they were sent 200 miles north where they spent the time guarding bridges and on anti-guerrilla duties – small groups of the enemy attack across a wide area. Sailing on troopship Empire Windrush, Bill and his comrades travelled across the Mediterranean Sea, through the Suez Canal, down the Red Sea, over the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean finally reaching the port city of Busan, South Korea. He joined the Gloucester Regiment under Colonel Carne and after just a couple of weeks, they set sail for South Korea. “I missed the Second World War, so when the Korean War started in 1950 and the government wanted ex-Army volunteers for 18 months I couldn’t join fast enough,” Bill says.
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