Seventy years ago this month, at the age of 21, I arrived in Pusan, Korea, to join my unit in the Commonwealth Division, fighting under the United Nations flag against the Chinese and North Koreans.

As each year passes there is less and less mention in the media of the losses we suffered in this bitter war, fought in extreme weather conditions, especially in the winter months when temperatures regularly dropped to fifty degrees Fahrenheit below freezing, ie. lower than that in most domestic freezers.

In the summer the heat and humidity during the monsoon made conditions almost as unbearable.

The British lost over 1,000 killed during the conflict, about triple the losses in the Falklands. Other Commonwealth Countries like Australia and Canada also suffered heavy losses. Those taken prisoner suffered extreme hardship and neglect.

The BBC and the papers always cover the 39/45 world war, especially D Day and the Falklands War, yet rarely mention Korea, it is quite inexplicable.

One bright light is that the South Korea has not forgotten the suffering of the Korean Veterans and always takes every opportunity to express their gratitude. When the Wessex Branch of the Korean Veterans Association holds a social event, usually the Military and Air Attaches attend with their wives and give very moving speeches of thanks.

All Korean veterans were kept supplied with top quality masks during the Covid pandemic for example. Any veteran visiting Korea is always treated extremely well and like a hero.

Korean veterans are in or nearly in their nineties now and each year more die, but their memories do not fade. 

It is rather sad that the media seem to have forgotten.

Keith Webb,

President of the Wessex Branch of the BKVA,

Quarry Road,

Winchester

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