Farmer, Gerald Charles (Oral history)

British schoolchild in Bethnal Green, London, GB, 1939-1945 including evacuation to Whitley Bay, GB, 1943; private served with 1st Bn Royal Fusiliers, 28th Commonwealth Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in Korea, 1952-1953

REEL 1 Background in Bethnal Green, London, GB, 1933-1939: family; education. Recollections as schoolboy in Bethnal Green, London, GB, 1939-1945: V1 incident in 1944; memories of Hughes Mansions incident, 1945 and first V1 on London, 1944; lack of civilian hostility towards German aircrews; casualities when Lee Brothers department store was hit, 1940; short period family spent in Basingstoke to get away from Blitz; use of shelters; smell of air raid shelters; respect for people's property in Second World War; enjoyment of shelter life; mother's reaction to Hackney churchyard bombing; apprehension of V2 rockets; noise of V1 passing overhead; reaction of teacher to children drawing pictures of war; lack of arrangements for enumerating schoolchildren in bombing; short period of evacuation to Whitley Bay, 1943 and mother's unease about him mixing with local Northumberland children; VE Day celebrations in Bethnal Green. Aspects of call up for National Service and training with Royal Fusiliers in GB, 1951-1952: call up autumn 1951. REEL 2 Continues: reaction to being called up; reasons why he went into infantry rather than Royal Artillery; how a sword swallower fainted from injection; accommodation and treatment during basic training at Tower of London; story of learning meaning of word 'parasite' from NCO he offended; lack of resentment towards those in charge of basic training; techniques employed for surviving army training; question of effectiveness of basic training; problems faced in basic training; abortive first posting to 1st Bn Royal Fusiliers in Germany and ceremony at Tower of London on death of George the Sixth. Aspects of period with 1st Bn Royal Fusiliers in Germany and GB, 2/1952-8/1952: arrival in Iserlohn, 2/1952; trench warfare training in Harz Mountains; forest training, Thetford, 1952; reaction to announcement of posting to Korea. Voyage from GB to Korea aboard Empire Orwell, 8/1952-9/1952. Recollections of operations with 1st Bn Royal Fusiliers, 28th Commonwealth Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in Korea, 9/1952-6/1953: initial impressions of Korea. REEL 3 Continues: reception in Pusan; acclimatisation near Pusan; move to front-line at Hill 159, 9/1952; terrain; riding shotgun on train up to front-line; impressions of Tokchong; role as driver with Headquarters Coy; driving signals jeep; story of accidentally crossing no-man's land in jeep and seeing Chinese troops around fires; nature of Royal Fusiliers front-line; story of jeep accident on Samichon River caused by mortar attack, 3/1953. REEL 4 Continues: reprimand for abandoning Jeep which was a write off; role as commanding officer's driver, 5/1953; dangers of his driving role on Hill 355 and The Bowling Alley; amusing encounter between commanding officer of 1st Bn Royal Fusiliers and US Military Police at The Bowling Alley; care of commanding officer for conscripts; attitude of cook sergeants to giving away their food; reputation of The Hook; 1st Bn Royal Fusiliers taking over from 1st Bn Duke of Wellington's Regt on The Hook, 5/1953; premonition of death on The Hook, 12/6/1953; wounding in mortar attack. Aspects of hospitalisation for wounds, 1953-1954: treatment in Norwegian Mobile Army Surgical Hospital; comfort drawn from seeing similarity of Seoul parliament building to St Paul's Cathedral, 6/1953; reaction to wounding; medical treatment received in Tokyo and Kure, Japan; recuperation in Myajima; mental effects of wounding. REEL 5 Continues: advice given to him at Millbank Hospital; return to civilian life after Korean War; treatment by War Disability authorities. Aspects of service in Korea, 1952-1953: role moving Chinese soldiers' bodies; failure of army to slot round pegs in to round holes; story of having to identify body of comrade who wasn't in fact killed; treatment of conscripts in army. Attitude to having taken part in Korean War.