When Peter Waddington turned 18, his National Service call-up papers arrived and soon after he found himself training with the 1st King’s Liverpool Regiment. Like many young men sent to Korea, he admits he knew almost nothing about the country or the conflict before he landed there. His memories capture both the strangeness and the stark reality of service: from being greeted on arrival by a band playing the Saint Louis Blues March to the harsh daily grind of trench warfare along the 38th Parallel.

In his interview, Peter recalls moments of humour, the ever-present rats and lice, and the rare relief of rest and recuperation in Japan. But he also speaks candidly about loss — the friends killed in action, the fear of attack, and the brutal fighting at the Battle of the Hook. Out of all his close comrades, Peter was the only one to return home unscathed.

Back in post-war Britain, he reflects on the challenges of returning to austerity and his determination that Korea should never be the “Forgotten War.”

In 1942, Fred undertook 16 weeks of infantry training in Reading, joining the fifth battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment. He was first sent to Marlborough in Suffolk to undertake beach defence, but after the Germans did not land there, he was reassigned to Scotland to train in a beach group for the Normandy landings alongside a Canadian division. He trained in small assault craft out to sea and undertook extensive training in handling different cargo and rope tying, becoming an experienced stevedore, a loader and unloader of ships. Fred was next stationed near Waterlooville for further training, before going to Southampton Number 1 dock to sail for Normandy with many other ships. He describes being caught in a storm and sheltering in Calshot before being allowed to leave the harbour. Fred describes the chaos and noise of the gun battles and shell fire of the Normandy landings. Whilst there he manned a Bren gun that he was proud to have never left during Operation Overlord. Fred unloaded thousands upon thousands of cargo, including barbed wire, rations and other essential supplies, sometimes standing in four foot of water. At the same time, he was also helped to move prisoners, casualties and many bodies from the beach after joining the Forth Wiltshire Regiments platoon. Fred describes being wounded and the nightmares he suffered with but also reflects on the importance of his regiment mates for team moral during and after the war.