Leaving school at 15, Keith Nutter worked refurbishing shoe-making machinery before joining the army at 18, serving as a wireless operator in the Royal Norfolk Regiment. After basic training at Colchester, Keith applied for the Parachute Regiment. However, after sustaining a head injury during a motorbike accident, Keith was returned to his unit. Despite losing his opportunity to join the regiment he wanted, Keith remains grateful, as his service allowed him to visit a country that he only heard of for the first time upon joining the army. Keith speaks on the leisurely voyage he and his comrades had out to Korea, his first impressions on arriving in Pusan, and the devastation witnessed as they took a train North to Britannia camp in Samichon Valley. Keith goes into some detail about his training and role as a wireless operator, the conditions of living and working in the signalling bunker, and the process of transporting and using the radio set. Keith also addresses how the role of communicator relies heavily on trusting your platoon as you were ‘deaf to the battle environment’ due to the headset and unable to open fire easily due to handling the microphone. Keith talks of the listening, capture, and recce patrols he was involved in. One such patrol involved ambushing Chinese soldiers digging a trench on an unoccupied hill in the middle of the night. During this ambush, Keith, along with three other men, were responsible for collecting the wounded and stayed until first light to try and find the two men that remained unaccounted for. For his bravery displayed here, Keith was mentioned in dispatches; however, he speaks modestly, describing how he ‘was proud of it, but I just done me job … nothing brave.’ It was on this patrol that Keith lost a very close friend, Roy McDonald, killed by a Chinese mortar. Though he didn’t shed a tear at the time, once home, the devastation of the loss of his friend hit him hard. Keith was interviewed for the Britannia magazine in which he spoke about the sympathy he had for the Chinese army as the British had ‘better weapons, better clothing, better food’. When asked how he feels all these years later about being a veteran, Keith proudly says that he ‘loved it in C Company’, he’s really glad he went, and has ‘never regretted it.’ It led him to meet lifelong friends, one of whom he revisited Korea with some years later.

After deciding at the age of 10 that a military life was the life for him, Darren Swift joined the Royal Green Jackets in 1982, aged 16. Darren shares memories of training and how keen he was to get to work and start earning money. He talks about his three tours of Northern Ireland, and the path that led him to becoming a tracker-dog handler and being paired with his perfect partner, Troy the German Shepherd. It was during his third tour of Northern Ireland that a coffee-jar bomb was dropped where Darren stood, severely injuring him and instantly killing his friend. He talks in graphic detail about his catastrophic injuries, the immediate aftermath of the blast and the hectic drive through Belfast to the Royal Victoria Hospital – his story is not for the faint of heart. Following 18 months’ rehab at Headley Court, Darren decided to leave the military and has gone on to carve out a niche role for himself as a film and TV extra, in addition to becoming a very successful skydiver and competitive snowboarder. Darren reflects matter-of-factly on the impact of his injuries, both mental and physical; and his resilience, courage and enduring good humour truly are an inspiration to all.