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 20^th 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.

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.

Davies joined the Territorial Army as a teenager just before the Second World War and became a regular soon after, obtaining an officer’s commission in 1941 and joining the Commandos, following his older brother. Davies took part in the allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942 and landed by beach behind German lines in Tunisia to assist in a planned allied attack of the town of Bizerte. The Commandos came under intense fire, suffering casualties, including his own troop commander who was fatally shot. Davies eventually lead his own section back to allied lines where they joined the successful allied push against the Germans. Soon after Davies returned to England for training before being sent to the Far East. In January 1945, Davies, now with 5 Commando landed on the Myebon Peninsula in Burma and took part in the taking of Hill 170 at Kangaw, a desperate battle that lasted 36 hours and which led to the withdrawal of the Japanese Army from the Arakan. Whilst planning for the invasion of Malaya, the war ended and Davies then went to Hong Kong and Shanghai, where he assisted in repatriating British men and women interned by the Japanese. Davies was demobbed in May 1946.