Jim Selway grew up in Mill Hill, London. Though his father had served in the First World War, his own military path was sparked by an uncle’s advice to pursue tanks. After Sandhurst, which he found something of a disappointment, he was commissioned to Germany where he first encountered the formidable Centurion Mk3. By 1952, his regiment was ordered to relieve the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards in Korea.

In his interview, Jim recalls the static nature of the conflict when he arrived: tanks holding no-man’s-land and protecting the vital position of the Hook. As a commander, he was known for being aggressive in action — “you just lived and breathed, about to be attacked.” He describes both the safety the tanks offered and the risks of leaving their armour.

Jim’s reflections span the camaraderie of Commonwealth troops, close ties with Australian comrades, light-hearted moments on R&R in Tokyo, and even the cast iron bell he brought home — still rung daily at Bovington. For Jim, Korea was the making of him as an officer, and he remains determined that it should never be remembered as the “Forgotten War.”

Joining during the Second World War, Betty was sent to train at the Welsh Barracks near Wrexham. After performing well in her tests, she was sent to interview with the Intelligence Corps in London. She remembers being immediately taken to sign the Official Secrets Act and proceed to working in listing translated messages in Bletchley. It was at this posting that she discovered her talent for paraphrasing, and from this point onwards was given the task of paraphrasing translated enemy messages to be sent on to Burma. Remarkably, Betty was then sent to work in the Pentagon before moving to the British Army Staff base in Washington DC. In her interview she describes the lack of news made available to American civilians surrounding the war in Europe, and her frustration at the lack of understanding future employment had on the highly classified status of her military work. When asked her thoughts on the disbandment of the WRAC, Betty felt disappointed that there was no longer a women's army as she enjoyed the independent identification of the female corps.