In his interview he talks about his early life in Liverpool including recollections of the blitz and his first job as a rat-catcher. On the way to Korea, Alan and a friend set-up a make-shift photographic studio taking pics of some of the families that were also en-route to the Far East.

He arrives in Pusan and then travels towards the front line where the desolation and cold are striking memories.

Alan’s unit, a tight-knit group of 30 specialists, was tasked with teaching soldiers on disease prevention and health and hygiene. He talks in detail about his work including the various medications and processes for keeping the troops fighting fit. He reflects that despite the brutality of the war, there were surprisingly few cases of mental trauma.

Alan was in Korea during the ceasefire. When he returned to England he married and became an army reservist. One morning he receives a telegram and by the afternoon he was back in barracks.  Then he’s posted to the Suez and the start of a difficult posting.

In later life, Alan became President of the British Korean Veterans Association and was instrumental in the building of the Korean War memorial on London’s SouthBank.