George enlisted in the navy at fifteen and war broke out three months later. When news came of British ships being sunk with fellow recruits on board he realised that he was just a cog in the wheel and there was a long struggle ahead. Aged sixteen he was serving on HMS Devonshire, patrolling the Indian Ocean. Shortly after leaving Freetown news came of the German battleship Bismarck and escorts breaking out into the Atlantic and they were ordered to head north. A British convoy was under threat and Devonshire was part of a large force assembled to hunt the enemy. During the battle George and his comrades could hear the German 15-inch shells flying overhead. After hours of pounding from the Royal Navy the Bismarck’s big guns were silent and the Devonshire closed in and finished the German ship with torpedoes. Some survivors were rescued but they had to leave the area due to reported U-boats, although they left behind all their life rafts for the survivors. A few months later after weeks at sea they were escorting convoys in the Far East. After leaving Colombo with their sister ship HMS Cornwall they were attacked by Japanese dive-bombers from one of the enemy carrier groups. Within ten minutes they had been hit and began to sink, followed shortly by the Cornwall. In the sea they were machine-gunned by Japanese aircraft. After thirty hours, with little food and water under the hot sun, the survivors were rescued by British warships.

Walter Irish was just 18 when a chance encounter with a Royal Marine in uniform inspired him to enlist. Having grown up on a farm near Newton Abbot, he took easily to the physical demands of commando training and proudly earned his green beret. Posted to 41 Independent Commando, he soon found himself in Japan, re-equipped with American weapons and training alongside the US Marines.

In his interview, Walter recalls daring raids on North Korean supply lines, gruelling night landings, and the bitter cold of the Chosin Reservoir campaign where temperatures plummeted to -34°C. He describes the chaos of ambush, the loss of friends, and the sheer will to survive. Wounded by shrapnel, he was evacuated to Japan but carried with him the enduring bond of comradeship.

Walter went on to serve in Borneo, Malta, Singapore, and Aden, but Korea remained a defining experience. His testimony sheds light not only on the hardships of war but also on the resilience of a young Royal Marine who never forgot the men he served alongside.