Hutley, Arthur Albert (Oral history)

British civilian in Mottingham, GB, 1939-1945; private served with 1st Bn Royal Fusiliers in Canal Zone, Egypt and Sudan, 1947-1949; NCO served with 1st Bn Middlesex Regt, 27th Commonwealth Infantry Bde in Korea, 9/1950-5/1951

REEL 1 Background in Walworth, London, GB, 1929-1939: family; education. Recollections of period living in Mottingham, 1939-1945: individual bombs and land mines which fell on estate; story of father mistaking V1s for shot down aircraft; V2 strike on Chislehurst; state of public morale; belief in British victory; attitude towards German Air Force aircrews; level of crime; lack of vandalism by children; effect of Second World War on his education; victory celebrations, 1945; US Air Force presence in area. Period with Merchant Navy, 1945-1946: voyages undertaken; reasons why he left Merchant Navy, 1946. Period of army training in GB, 1947: conscription. 2/1947; basic training with Devon Regt at Topsham Barracks, 1947; placing in regiment by PSO; posting to Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt at Shorncliffe Barracks; refusal to do anti-squatters guard; attempt to bribe NCO to get on draft to Germany. Period with 2nd Bn Royal Fusiliers and as Ex-Regimentally Employed Headquarters Staff in Egypt and Sudan, 1947-1949: move to Canal Zone, 10/1947; transfer to 2nd Bn Royal Fusiliers; position as ERE. REEL 2 Continues: joining mixed unit as quartermaster storeman; leaving army to go on Z Reserve, 5/1949; difference between conscript and National Serviceman and his position as conscript. Period of civilian employment in GB. 1949-1950. Aspects of volunteering for army, 8/1950: enlistment into Royal Fusiliers; volunteering for Korean Service. Journey from GB to Korea, 9/1950: marching out of Shorncliffe Barracks in field service marching order; flight from GB to Japan. Recollections of operations with 1st Bn Middlesex Regt, 27th Commonwealth Infantry Bde in Korea, 9/1950-5/1951: arrival in Pusan and move to Taegu, 9/1950; search for stragglers from North Korean Army; push into North Korea, autumn 1950; initial reaction to being under-fire; opinion of platoon sergeant, John Humphries; US paratroopers attempt to rescue POWs being taken north; Australian 'Battle of the Orchards' and 1st Bn Middlesex Regt's role in taking North Korean POWs; crossing River Tokchong in US assault boats; attempt of North Korean T 34s to shell 1st Bn Middlesex Regt with armour piercing shells; loss of company commander of C Coy; orders to Middlesex Regt for bayonet charge uphill; contrast in feelings from 1950 to 1998 about shooting a North Korean soldier on Queen's hill; push towards River Yalu. REEL 3 Continues: Chinese intervention, late 1950; 27 Bde's withdrawal to Pakchong; attempt of Chinese to envelop 27 Bde; ease with which Pakchong re-taken from Chinese; withdrawal towards Kunu-ri and encounter with Turkish soldiers; dropping out of Australian with unsuitable overboots; use of lorries to help 27 Bde out of Kunu-ri; equipment carried on march; orders for unit to help extricate US troops from Kunu-ri; view of US 2nd Division set back, Kunu-ri Pass; under Chinese machine gun fire in re-entrant in hills; first encounter with 29 Bde and why 27 Bde called them 'The Phantoms', near Pyongyang; arrival at 'Shanty Town', Uijongbu, Christmas 1950; comforts supplied by Bennie Lifts of Vauxhall; retreat south through Seoul to Yoju; arrival of Ridgway to replace MacArthur and changes he instigated; advance of United Nations' troops during Operation Killer, 2/1951; capture of hill at Chipyong, 2/1951; Chinese offensive tactics; Chinese mass attack on unit at Shumni, 2/1951. REEL 4 Continues: praise of New Zealand Artillery support received during Chipyong action; how Colonel Man took over from Brigadier Coad; action where US combat team cut to pieces, Chipyong, 2/1951; push from Kapyong to 'Fish Hills area, north of Seoul; news of relief by King's Shropshire Light Infantry, 4/1951; breaking of 6th ROK Div in face of Chinese spring offensive, 4/1951; reaction to C Coy having to replace fleeing ROKs; reaction of New Zealand 16th Field Regt to appearance of Middlesex Regt, 4/1951; role of Australian troops in halting Chinese spring offensive at Kapyong, 4/1951; laying barbed wire on hills before King's Shropshire Light Infantry arrived, 5/1951; leaving Korea, 5/1951; foraging for food during advance north, autumn 1950; nature of standard US rations; lack of bread; availability of alcohol; leave in Tokyo, winter 1950-1951. REEL 5 Continues: organisation of leave in Japan staying in Ibashu leave hotel; family feeling amongst soldiers; Chinese propaganda leaflets and their effect; plight of Korean civilians; inadequate equipment of 27 Bde during Korean winter, 1950-1951; survival priorities during winter and problems of heating up food; question of why he felt sorry for MacArthur; nature of digging in; lice which affected troops; problems securing water supply; de-worming of troops.