>> Hi, everybody, from inside the St. David's Chapel ... >> Correct. >> ... of the Llandaff Cathedral. >> Correct. >> Yes. I am here with Mr. John Kenyon, who is the archivist for the Cathedral, and I'm here to honor the 32 Welshmen who died during the Korean War. Yesterday, I met the veterans of the war and the regiment, and many of them knew a lot of them, and I just ... so again, they're not just names, but they are ... and we're. >> Still remembered. >> Yes, and someone's sons and friends, so I do come here and think of them. When was this built? >> Well, it was dedicated in 1998, and the inscription is engraved by Yein Reece, who is based in West Wales. He's a superb calligrapher, carving lettering on the stone, and this is one of four examples we've got of Yein Reece's work, the most recent work that he's undertaken, so I hear this place, this entire place is dedicated to ... Oh, here it is, the Welsh, the Royal Welsh. >> It was built after the devastation in the second World War when the cathedral was damaged by the war parachute mine. >> Yes. >> This new chapel was built linking the cathedral to the new offices [INAUDIBLE] regiment were inscribed by Mr. Cayon on the east wall there. >> Yes, we'll take you to over there, where it says ... I mean, it lists all the conflicts, but I couldn't help but notice Korea right here. Korea, 1951 to '52, and while the war lasted until '53 and technically still at war, the Royal Welsh was involved in it. >> In those years. >> It was in those years. They suffered heavily, but I just loved how all the pew has the Welsh battalion, different battalions, the first, second, this. >> [INAUDIBLE] Wales [INAUDIBLE] commemorative plaques of the colonels of the regiment, some generals, but known as colonels of the regiment, and that all is going back into the 1700s. >> I do want say because I brought my brother, Jan, on ... Today is Wednesday, so on Monday, during the [INAUDIBLE] cheese and prayer for the Korean War veterans, so I was so happy, so thank you, Chris. You must have shared our feeling with her, so thank you so much, and we're going to show you inside the cathedral, and Mr. Kenyon is going to lead us to another place where it honors Korean War veterans. >> That's right. >> So we'll follow ... >> Which way? >> Either one. >> We'll go this way. >> When was this chapel built? >> It was in the 1950s. >> 1950. >> '50s, yeah, all done by George Pace, who was the architect charged with restoration of the cathedral [INAUDIBLE]. >> It's such a hallowed place, and it couldn't be a better ending to my journey. Oh, wow, are those ... >> Yes, these are all ... >> ... original flags? >> Yes, yep. They're just left there, and they're unconserved, so they'll slowly deteriorate until [INAUDIBLE] church grounds, so they're left unconserved. >> So this church ... >> And hanging here as well. >> This church is how old? >> The church as we see it, the earliest part of it is 1120s. >> Wow. >> But it was a church here long before that going back 1,000 years or so, but the building we got is 1120. The big arch we see ... >> I'm in a place that is 900 years old, and I shared with Reverend Jan, but one of the veterans when we were reciting ... The citations of the Medal of Honor recipients, he said something that I will never forget, so look how beautiful this is, but he said as we were reciting ... Reading their citations, he said sounds travel all throughout the universe eternally, and as I was praying earlier, I felt I wanted to change that a little bit to fit this occasion, and I said also travels, and it remains in eternity as well, so think of all the prayers that were made in this hallowed place for 900 years. >> This is the big arch [INAUDIBLE]. That's the earliest one, and then this piece is postwar [INAUDIBLE] similar one on the church's new [INAUDIBLE] to the 1500s. >> Beautiful, so everyone, if you come to Cardiff, Wales, please, visit this cathedral. It is just absolutely beautiful. >> So we're walking on the south aisle now. >> And I have to say for ... I've never visited a cathedral that honored veterans. Some people think veterans, war, but as the reverend prayed, they defended peace. >> You'll find [INAUDIBLE] earliest thing. This stone is even earlier. This is probably about the year 1,000. It's known as the only the Christian monument. It's part of a cross. >> Year 1,000? >> Yeah, about year 1,000. >> Wow, and [INAUDIBLE] because even one death is precious and far too many. There is ... You can see right here, Mr. Seaton killed in Korea, and you think that he was ... >> He was a member of the Old Llandavian, so the Cathedral School. I don't remember whether a member [INAUDIBLE] but he was an old boy, but he wasn't serving in a Welsh regiment. Otherwise, he would have been commemorated in the David Chapel, so he must have been serving somewhere else in the British Army in a different regiment. >> So again ... >> So those are the two main areas, David Chapel and this memorial here. >> So again, everyone this is the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardaff Wales and the last stop in my 10-day journey across both Ireland and Wales to honor veterans and promote peace. I thank you for joining me on this journey. It has been extremely humbling and gratifying. Like I said, yesterday, one of the veterans told me that it was his first time in almost 70 years somebody in-person thanked him for his service in Korea, and that really devastated. I think we cannot say thank you enough to our veterans, so please, if you see a veteran, go and say thank you. It really does brighten their day and make everything worth it. >> And thank you for your visit as well. >> Oh, thank you. >> It's been a pleasure to welcome you to the cathedral. >> Thank you, so bye-bye, everybody.

>> Wow. >> ... [INAUDIBLE] kind of mold. The actually had the mortar between, and you can see the carriers going back, the centurions going back, they were actually retreating away from the Imjin. >> I've never seen that picture, nor the frame below. That is ... >> That ... Well, the picture's called [INAUDIBLE] at Imjin [INAUDIBLE] with Her Majesty on it. They were all made in Hong Kong. A lot of lads got these made in silk in Hong Kong. The picture to the left of it, that is General Majury. All right. He was a young lieutenant in Korea and was captured and spent a lot of time as a prisoner of war [INAUDIBLE] later on. The other one here, this is Brigadier McCord, who won an MC at Happy Valley as a young lieutenant, and then various pictures of the boys [INAUDIBLE] Belfast and different stories of the forgotten heroes and their stories. This is the [INAUDIBLE]. This was written by an American soldier and Lieutenant Majury. >> Wow. >> The original is in St. Giles' Cathedral. It was written in rice paper, and it's in St. Giles' Cathedral. This is just a copy of it. So each day, they held prayers, and they had different services for Easter, Christmas, all in the prisoner-of-war camp. >> Mmm. >> The original is in St. Giles', just in the cathedral. >> Wow. I couldn't but help notice the ... >> The Korean flag, the North Korean flag. >> Yeah, North Korean. >> That was found in the heist at Seoul when we went back into Seoul, so when we recaptured Seoul again, that was found in the heist. These weapons here: The first weapon is a Russian weapon used by the Chinese, and it had a folding bayonet [INAUDIBLE] that was quite vicious and [INAUDIBLE], and we couldn't heal the wound. Now, the second one is a Chinese copy of a Russian weapon, and you normally see them with the round magazine on them, but the Chinese preferred that type of magazine because it didn't jam. The third weapon is Colonel Charlie's rifle. >> Mmm. >> Now, Colonel Charlie didn't like carrying the big rifle that the militia got, so he swapped it for an American M1 carbine. >> Wow. >> So that belongs to Colonel Charlie, but we don't tell anybody that. >> Okay, don't tell anybody. >> The bottom one is a Mosin-Nagant, which was issued to the Korean ... North Koreans and the Chinese, and it's a Russian rifle, as well. >> So are these artifacts actually donated by the veterans? >> The weapons were brought back by the regiment, and then they were decommissioned. Most of these things were given to ... by people who had actually donated them. >> Wow. >> The little Korean flag [INAUDIBLE] signed by all officers just before ... >> Oh, my God. >> ... the Battle of Happy Valley. And ... >> That is amazing. And one of them must have drawn this, right? >> Yes. Yeah. >> Wow. So this is original, original. >> That's original. That's original signatures of the officers in the battalion just before Happy Valley. >> Wow. >> That's the Ambassador's medal that you seen earlier with a little miniature. The British-Korean [INAUDIBLE] Korean. These are medals issued to Chinese volunteers that fought for the North Koreans. >> That's amazing. >> And this is a book made up by Captain Sully. He found all these propaganda leaflets from the Chinese and ... >> Yeah. >> ... Korean, as well. North Koreans, as well, so it's a booklet of that. That's a little map of the Battle of Imjin. >> Mmm. >> And ... >> Well, Ms. Charlie, I want everybody to introduce Ms. Charlie, who is the daughter of Mr. ... Colonel Charlie, who passed away a month ago. >> Mm-hmm. >> But she told ... He told Ms. Charlie why Happy Valley, which is one of the major battles, is called Happy Valley because I was wondering ... Suffered 157 casualty, and it seemed a little bit ironic to call it Happy Valley. But why was it called Happy Valley? >> Well, it was called Happy Valley because the Regiment had already given the name to the area because they had ... When they arrived in Korea in Busan and Pusan, they had the early November 1951, 1950. Albert was one of those on the troop ship that came in, and they were moved ... It was still ... The war was nearly over, and they were moved up, up, up towards what is now North Korea by train, by truck and things. And they're basically pushing the forces the other ... the opposing forces north. Suddenly, the Chinese Communists, they go up the other river, and so these Chinese Communists ... Troops were involved, and they started moving down. And this was early December, down the Korean Peninsula. And the first time that the battalion was able to stop and have a proper meal and know they weren't going to have to pack up and move on at any minute was in this valley just north of Seoul. And, consequently, I think it was the [INAUDIBLE] Sarge "Shifty" Dawson. I don't know what his real name was, but ... >> Jack Dawson. >> Jack Dawson. He was the one, I think, who gave the name Happy Valley because, at last, he was in charge of the cooking, and, at last, they could do the cooking without being bothered by too much. Another nickname the troops gave it was Compo Canyon. Compo was named for the food ... tins of food they were given. And so Compo Canyon, Happy Valley, has to do with food. That's why that valley was given that name. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> Mr. Glass, can you tell us ... I know it's almost 200 years of history, but what would you say is one of the major accomplishments of the rifle regiment in Korea? >> In Korea, well, we were the only Irish regiment that were there, and the lads came from the north, the south, and we trickled out of [INAUDIBLE] tricked out of [INAUDIBLE] they were all ours [INAUDIBLE] at that time. We lost so many men. The Battle of Happy Valley [INAUDIBLE]. The real reason we lost so many men [INAUDIBLE] was because when the Chinese had started to come down, the Americans, on one flank, had been ordered to move at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, so they moved. The [INAUDIBLE] on this flank were told to move at 6 o'clock. They moved. The Chinese were watching this, so the Chinese infiltrated both flanks of the rifles. Captain Charlie's platoon was the farthest platoon when he was ordered back. We just got back when everybody ... The ambush happened, and the ambush was virtually 2 kilometers long. That's how many, and they just kept cutting the convoy into pieces. And then the small groups [INAUDIBLE] got surrounded and fought [INAUDIBLE]. >> Well, despite the odds, I know that it was a major battle which was significant in the entire war, this battle, so the contributions are immense. And last but not least, Grandpa Albert, what is the significance, because I know even in the Commonwealth, everybody has different color, but why does the rifles ... Why is this called the rifles green? >> What? >> Why is this color the rifles green? >> Well, it's Irish green [INAUDIBLE]. The green of Ireland, the Emerald Isle. >> Yes, I just wanted you to tell it to the people. >> Well, I think the pattern in the [INAUDIBLE] if you look in this cabinet here, you'll see the British army wore red. >> Mm-hmm. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Even in America. >> Yes. >> Whenever [INAUDIBLE] the Rifle Regiments were formed, and the Rifle Regiments took green to move forward and to [INAUDIBLE], so it was actually a bit of [INAUDIBLE]. >> That is very true. >> So when we turned from the 88th [INAUDIBLE] to the Royal Irish Rifles, we become a rifle regiment, so we took on the rifle green ... >> Rifle green. >> Yes. >> ... which we [INAUDIBLE]. So if we even look at the rifles in the British army now called the Rifles [INAUDIBLE], they wear rifle green. >> Yes. >> So that's ... >> Less conspicuous. >> [INAUDIBLE] and they march faster than everybody else because they have [INAUDIBLE]. >> Well, I was ... >> They walked. They marched faster than everybody. >> Well ... >> Oh, yes. [INAUDIBLE] Regiment march. Normally, the Regiment march is 120 paces to a minute ... sorry, 140 to the minute, but the rifles did 120. Now, people [INAUDIBLE] ... >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> ... [INAUDIBLE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> Oh. >> So all Rifle Regiments march faster than normal [INAUDIBLE] regiment. >> Why do you think? What do you think the secret is to the fast walking? >> Get there faster. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] walk fast. >> [INAUDIBLE]. The other major battle we had was Imjin, was, again, another part. Everybody talks about the Imjin River and the Glosters. The reason the Glosters were captured was ... and quite, I will say, because of where we were, we were holding blocking positions and ordered forward. The Belgians who were there had fell back, and the Chinese stopped in the Belgians and us and cut us in two, captured half the rifles. The other half just about flocked away, but they completely surrounded the Glosters, who were up in [INAUDIBLE] Imjin River. >> Mmm. >> But this was all [INAUDIBLE] Glosters being [INAUDIBLE] ... >> Mmm. >> ... but don't think we were there, but it's because we were in blocking positions [INAUDIBLE] we were cut in two by the Chinese, as well. But the Glosters were captured virtually intact because of where they were. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> And what happened to the Glosters was, they [INAUDIBLE] and the next morning [INAUDIBLE] aircraft come in with supplies [INAUDIBLE]. I'll never forget this [INAUDIBLE] and they couldn't [INAUDIBLE] the drop zone to the [INAUDIBLE]. It was just a catastrophe [INAUDIBLE]. >> Well, I do want everybody to note that the Irish contributed all significantly in the Korean War, and the reason why I'm here is to make sure that these unsung heroes are remembered, preferably honored. As you all know, the Korean War is called the Forgotten War, but that doesn't mean we should forget the heroes that fought then, and especially of the Irish and your father for their sacrifices and the 157 men who died. And thank you so much for opening, not only opening the museum for us today but really being the protector of the memories because this is all not only just history but stories that should be passed down, and I just appreciate you so much for being the keeper and the guardian of their sacrifices. >> Yes. No, we will never forget these. >> Yes, thank you. So, everybody, we're going to go to the memorial and pay tribute and lay some flowers. So I'll see you there. Bye! >> [INAUDIBLE].

>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> My name is Asam Kanat, and I was born in [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Our unit went to Korea in 1952, and we stayed there over 13 months, and I was part of the medical team. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And we had a hospital at the war zone, and we would treat injured soldiers, and if it was a really serious injury, we would take them back to the city. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We were mostly in the hospital, but we would see Korean people once in a while, and we would talk to them a little bit. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I went to Seoul and Pusan, but most of my time was taking injured soldiers to hospitals or moving them to the required place. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Has he ever been to Korea? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Afterwards? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It's been 64 years since I was in Korea, so I don't remember much. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> His friend was able to. It was for veterans [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> But I was sick, and I could not go to Korea again. >> Okay.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> My name is Krylov Ailey.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> In Korea, I was called Lee.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So I am born the 23rd of July, 1931, in [FOREIGN LANGUAGE].

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So I went into the Army the 8th of June, 1949.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So 1950 was the first call for volunteers to go into Korea.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> He only went with the second detachment.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So this was going on through May [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] 1950?

>> Fifty-two.

>> 1952 until June ’52 where you were in Luxembourg and in Belgium.

>> Oui, mm-hmm.

>> Okay.

>> Yeah.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> And then they went to Belgium.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So they finished their instructions there.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Meersburg.

>> To Meersburg.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So in March in ’52, they went by airplane from the airport, Meersburg.

>> Meersburg.

>> Meersburg, where?

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> And then first to the Azoren Islands.

>> And then Newfoundland.

>> Then Newfoundland.

>> Springfield.

>> Springfield, yeah.

>> Oklahoma.

>> Oklahoma.

>> San Francisco.

>> San Francisco.

>> Hawaii.

>> Hawaii.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] yeah.

>> And then Tokyo.

>> And then Tokyo.

>> And then from Tokyo, I was [FOREIGN LANGUAGE].

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Then they went from Tokyo by boat to the south of Japan, Sasebo.

>> Yeah.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Okay.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So they went to Korea, and then for 2 months, they were trained.

>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. Yeah. Yeah.

>> In training, and then … [FOREIGN LANGUAGE].

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> And then the first time they went to the front.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So then they went …

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Then they went second time to the front in September of ’52, 1952.

>> Yeah.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> And they went to the first post, not far away, about 1 kilometer away from the Chinese.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> And then they had two periods there …

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> … during the whole period that they were there.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> You could not bring your head high because all the time it was shooted.

>> Yeah.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> And then they went back, and they went again to the front.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> They were the day when there was rain period.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> And they were 3 weeks in the front, and they were totally wet from the morning to the evening.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So that’s the period, rain period, for the rice fields.

>> Yeah.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Excuse me, please.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So they went back from the front.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> When they went back, the activities was mainly to make patrol, patrol.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> And he remembers he was a special rotation.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> He received another name. It was [FOREIGN LANGUAGE].

>> Aven, Josh.

>> Josh Aven.

>> Josh Aven. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE].

>> So he … They changed the name because his father was officer in the army of the Czar.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> And at this time, they were still persecuted.

>> Yeah. Yeah.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> They have a name to protect him, and then he would come into where they would test prisoner. He would have been in danger with his name.

>> Yeah.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> He received a citation, may be different from [INAUDIBLE] patrol is what we did, which we did.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So that was, he had the graduation because he was very contentious with a big conscious, and very high … He was very cold-blooded, how you call it. He was very … He not was so emotional. He kept his cold blood.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So he was … He received this, all the contention, because of the patrols, and he says that he was very conscious and did his job very well.

>> I have a question, so I know … I learned that your father … So you’re ethnically Russian?

>> Russian, yeah, yeah, Russian.

>> Ethnically?

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So his father was Russian, but his father married here in Luxembourg, during the Luxembourg warfare.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> When the revolution finished in Russia, some people freed from Russia.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Then the white Russians, they had no more financial means.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So they start to … They found work in Luxembourg in the north of the country in Wiltz. There were still industry for to make leather at this time.

>> So my question is, because in the Korean War, Russia was on the other side of the war, right?

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> North Korea was supported by Russia.

>> How did that feel? How did it affect you if any way?

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So this … He says the Navy received protection, but he said he never faced Russians to fight them.

>> True.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So they changed the name.

>> Aven, George. Aven George.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Aven, George.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> His real name is Krylov, yes.

>> Yeah.

>> To protect himself, he changed it to protect himself.

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So he wants to say something more.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So when he was in enrolled with his army in 8th March, the 8th of March, ’49, the 8th of March, ’49, Tuten Werner was his first chief in this part of army.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> And then in the 23rd of January, 1950, they went back to Luxembourg, and then the following stations …

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So from Japan.

>> Tokyo, Okinawa, Bangkok, Karachi, Beirut, Nice, Luxembourg.

>> Nice is the south of France and then Luxembourg.

>> Wow.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So they were not … no isolation, so they had a lot of … In the ears, it was very hard, tough.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So he went back to the army to the stay there at his end, and his last grade was …

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So since 1986, he’s in pension.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> If you want to ask something …

>> You also visited Korea many times, right?

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Four times, I visited.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So the firs time he was there …

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> The first time he was there was 1976, and there he could see still a lot of poverty. He could see what the people suffered.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> That’s the second time he was there in 2010, 2013 and then 2016.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So what you could see …

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So you could see what they really succeeded to do a lot of very hard work. It’s very hardworking people.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Also too good, also too can confirm this.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> I think that’s all.

>> I hope that you’re very proud, also very proud.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> Thank you.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> I am very proud.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> He likes South Korea. He’s very stoked when he goes to Korea. It’s no … How you call this in English. There’s no …

>> Traffic jam.

>> Yes.

>> No, no, no.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> It is very clean, and it’s a discipline he can experience there.

[FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> So and also he can see in Korea the people know what Luxembourg is, and the children learn in the school to know all the different nations who participated to help liberate Korea.

>> Well, again …

>> Thank you.

>> No, thank you.

>> Thank you. Thank you. That was …

>> Okay. I’m Alan Everett. I’m not Australian. I came from England originally. I served in the First Essex Regiment, and in those days, in 1952, all the British men at the age of 18 conscripted, and so I was conscripted, and I elected to stay in the army for 3 years rather than just 2 years National Service because that was half pay, and I served in Germany, then Korea and then Hong Kong, so that was my 3 years which was spent mainly overseas. I was very fortunate in my training because I was trained to be a signalman, so I went to the School of Infantry in England, and in that School of Infantry, all the officers and NCOs all combined in their exercises, so it was quite an all-embracing training, so I then went to Germany, and then my battalion got moved to Korea, and we arrived just after the ceasefire, so I’m not a peacemaker. I’m a peacekeeper. So we were stationed on the southern bank of the Indian River for 12 months, and that was incredibly cold and incredibly hot, and we didn’t get to see much of the people because we were in a defensive position, and so most of the stories we heard were from the previous people who had been through the war itself, so that was quite a challenge, and I found since I left the army and I was trained in Hong Kong, as a national servicemen, you’re allowed to get some retraining to get back into civilian life. I wanted to go to agriculture college, and I had to study chemistry to meet my qualifications, so I went to the Royal Agriculture College at Cirencester in Gloucestershire, and I did my course there. Farmed in England, met my wife Nicole who you’ve met, and we had been together for 8 days, and then I came out to Australia, so that was quite [INAUDIBLE], and when I arrived in Australia, I got myself a job. It was great. A year later, I rang up and proposed to Nicole, and she came out with her mother, and we got married over here, so quite a different story to what you expected, I guess. So my servicing career, I did so much there because I was working in the signals office, and being part of the brigade and the companies that reformed our defense positions, so I was in contact with people all the time, so when the opportunity here came available for to be a secretary for the Korea Veterans, I offered to take that job on, so I’ve been National Secretary for 8 years, but I haven’t been involved in the war side of the whole thing. The impact of the Korean War hit me when I had been here some time because the Australian soldiers that came back from Korea were not recognized as having been part of a war, and they were actually refused entry, particularly in New South Wales, to go into the returning servicemen’s clubs. They said they weren’t eligible to be members, and that took some time to overcome which is very sad, but that’s the sort of reception the Australian soldiers got when they came back to Australia. We didn’t have that in England. We just went back, and we just got on with our jobs, and it was no problem. Here in Australia, in Maldon, every year, we have a church service run by a Korean church in Maldon, and we have one of our biggest attendances of the year. We have about 90 people turn up, and about a good half of them will be veterans, [INAUDIBLE] one, and one day I was standing next to a father with his little Korean boy, and the little boy talked to his father and said, “Why are all these people here?” His father thought for a bit, and he said, “Well, without these people, I wouldn’t be here. Your family wouldn’t be here, and you wouldn’t be here.” I think that says it all. It’s such a moving experience to me. I found that quite fascinating, and the Korean community here are so helpful and want to look after the veterans as we get less and less, so it’s a beautiful encounter, that was. Now, we’ve given you the background to the memorial in Queensland, in Cascade Gardens. To me, that is the most beautiful memorial that anyone could make for any country. It’s a tribute to the people of Korea as well as the veterans from all nations who served, and when you see it, there’s a whole history that goes with it, but it’s well worth it, set aside in a beautiful park, and it depicts everything that is Australian and Korean. It’s just so well … And then, there’s another little memorial in Alexandra Heads, which a small association got formed in Queensland and the Sunshine Coast, and they made it specific for their veterans, so they’ve got this wall, and when one of their members dies, they put a brass plaque on the wall with his name and his service record on it, and I think that’s another one of the best memorials I’ve ever seen, so that’s my story.

>> My name is Michael Bladen, and I went to Korea with the Royal Canadian Navy. I was there from 1954 until 1955, and basically, our job was to patrol up and down the coast to make sure that nothing was going, nobody was intruding on ROK land or sea area, and one of our major things that we did was to take clothing and provisions to the islands that were isolated by the Korean War. So that was a large part of what we did, and we used to darken ship and patrol every night, and essentially during the day, we were there 2 weeks at a time, and then 2 weeks we would go into rehab in Hong Kong or Japan, any one of those places, and then back in for 2 more weeks, so it was each time. And then that essentially was what our job was.

>> So you’re telling me that you were in Korea after the armistice?

>> After the armistice, that’s correct.

>> Not a lot of …

>> They were still fighting in early part of the ’54 though.

>> Not a lot of people know that.

>> Not a great deal, but it was sort of back-and-forth skirmishes but …