John came from a Naval family, his father served as a seaman for 28 years and his brother also served as a seaman. He joined the Merchant Navy in 1949, serving on several different supply ships. His experiences took him to many countries in the world, including America, New Zealand and Japan. For most of his career John worked as cabin crew on supply ships supporting the war effort in Korea. He didn't feel he understood what was going on in Korea when he was first sent there. He didn't experience any direct involvement in armed conflict, but became aware of the impact of the war during those times the ship was in port in Pusan and other areas in South Korea. He describes life on board as boring and lived for the times when they arrived in port, where he and his crew mates would have many adventures. He has many stories to tell of these times. John reflects positively on the camaraderie that existed on board, among crew mates of many different backgrounds and nationalities. Sadly, John was unable to continue his naval career due to contracting TB and missed the camaraderie of naval life after being medically discharged.

Frank Bewley, born in London in 1931, joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in 1948 and was initially posted to RNAS Culdrose, where he recalls early trials of jets landing without undercarriage. He volunteered for Korea and joined 821 Squadron, which trained at RAF Makrihanish before heading to Korea in 1952. He served on HMS Glory, which flew old World War II Firefly 5s for ground support. He was responsible for maintaining his assigned aircraft and had a close relationship with his pilot, Lieutenant Barrett. Initially unfamiliar with Korea, he learned about its history through old World War II books. He found HMS Glory more friendly than other ships, but prone to rolling. He describes the challenges of working on the flight deck, where a lot of maintenance and arming work was completed, in inclement weather and the camaraderie among the crew. They still operated on messdecks containing up to 14 men, sleeping in hammocks and collecting food form the galley, rather than having a central canteen.