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JOHN-PAGE

A veteran interview with

John Page

John Page was a Linesman in the 20th Field Regiment. In Korea, his job was to repair damaged lines and ensure there was minimal disruption.

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About John Page

From a rural background working with tractors, John was first conscripted into the Royal Horse Artillery then, after a period of training in Germany, was transferred to the 20th Field Regiment and on to Korea.

John vividly remembers the journey to Pusan (now Busan) and arrival at Christmastime 1952. He describes how the area had been devastating by the war. John was a Linesman and responsible for repairing damaged wires between the guns and the infantry. He showed incredibly bravery as this work could often be at night and risked mortar attack if the enemy saw their lights. Despite this, John loved this work.

John was then sent to the Hook for observation duties and was there for the Third Battle of the Hook in May 1953 which he recalls in detail. The Hook was a ridge which offered a valuable position and John describes how thousands of Chinese soldiers were sent to try and take it. The firing was intense, including napalm from American aeroplanes, which John expresses reservations about the use of. John was in Korea for the armistice and was demobbed close to Christmas that year.

Reflecting on the war, John says he is glad they were sent to help. He has since returned to South Korea and is impressed with the nation’s growth and modernity.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Lizzie Gray

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Home | Veterans | John Page

A veteran interview with

John Page

JOHN-PAGE

John Page was a Linesman in the 20th Field Regiment. In Korea, his job was to repair damaged lines and ensure there was minimal disruption.

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Page, John. A Veteran Interview with John Page. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, n.d. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/john-page/. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
APA Style:
Page, J. (n.d.). A Veteran Interview with John Page [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved May 25, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/john-page/
Chicago Style:
Page, John. n.d.. A Veteran Interview with John Page. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee. Accessed May 25, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/john-page/
Harvard Style:
Page, J. (n.d.). A Veteran Interview with John Page. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/john-page/ (Accessed: 25 May 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Page, J. A Veteran Interview with John Page [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; n.d. [cited 2025 May 25]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/john-page/
An interview with

John Sharp

John joined the army and volunteered for SOE. He parachuted into occupied France three days after D-Day and later parachuted into Japanese occupied Burma.

John volunteered for the RAF just before the start of WW2, but failed the vision test and instead joined the Army. He was assigned to the armoured corps and soon after he volunteered for Special Operations Executive. At the time parachuting was not mentioned and John thinks that if it had been he would not have volunteered! During training he specialised in Signals and learned unarmed combat and parachuting, which he was not too keen on. He was scheduled to parachute into France before D-Day but the mission was aborted at the last minute. Instead they dropped after D-Day, from a Short Stirling bomber. Due to a storm the pilot could not find the drop zone but they parachuted anyway. Three days later they met their French resistance contacts near Dijon. Here they received knowledge of a German troop train passing through. John contacted HQ and the information was passed to the RAF who bombed it. During this time he could see German radio detector vans trying to find their precise location. Later he and the Resistance attacked troops guarding Marshall Petain, the Vichy collaborator, as he tried to get to Switzerland. During this time the British stayed in uniform to avoid execution if captured by the enemy. On his return to Britain he was sent to jungle training school and then parachuted into Burma and during this period he was shelled by ‘friendly fire’. His unit fought the Japanese and they eventually met up with the British 14th Army.
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An interview with

Leslie Fernandez

Captain Leslie Fernandez trained SOE operatives before undertaking sabotage missions himself in the mountains between France and Italy in 1944.

For the first few years of the war, Leslie Fernandez was an Army Physical Training Corps instructor who trained SOE candidates in Hertfordshire and Manchester (parachuting). He was then invited by Colonel Munn to become an operative, deploying to SE France in July 1944; when the American landed there in August 1944, his group moved to Italy to help the partisans prevent the Germans in Italy from interfering with American operations. He provides a hugely detailed and modestly understated account of SOE operations (he does not mention his Military Medal or Croix de Guerre), starting with selection for different roles and his insertion by parachute, weighed down by weapons and equipment. He focuses heavily on little-known operations in the mountains between France and Italy, gathering explosives from his cache in a bakery, blowing up roads and negotiating the surrender of 80 Germans to 5 SOE. He also talks about the challenges of communication and receiving resupplies in harsh conditions where they were often isolated, as well as the psychological pressure of warfare and seeing people executed. He has fond memories and recalls the bravery of those involved, especially as he married a woman from the region, who was a courier.
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An interview with

Edward Redmond

Coming from a military family, Paddy describes his service as a Commando in the Far East, Middle East and Korea.

Having served in the Irish Army in 1943 to 44, ‘Paddy’ was discharged along with many of his compatriots, so he enlisted in the British Army. Even though he was Irish, on the advice of his father, he joined the Manchester regiment in Liverpool. From there, Paddy volunteered to join the Commandos and transferred to Achnacarry in Scotland in 1944. Although the training was gruelling, he succeeded and was proud to achieve his beret. Transferring to Wrexham in 1945, he was selected for special training and then posted to the Far East, training for Operation Nipper. Surrender following the second atom bomb resulted in redirection to the Malacca Straits and from there to the Middle East. Paddy describes serving in Egypt and then Israel and then in 1948, being posted to London, where he was on guard during the night of King Charles’s birth. Subsequently posted again to the Far East, it was in 1949 that he was sent to Korea. He tells of many battles and experiences including Operation Rowley, the taking and loss of Pyongyang and Kunu-ri. Paddy is critical of the behaviour of the American Military in Korea. Ultimately, Paddy expresses the view that war is futile.
Photo Gallery icon 2 Photos
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