Interview with Owen Frank Smith

British private served with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt in Austria, 1948-1949; served with 1st Bn Wiltshire Regt (Duke of Edinburgh's) in Hong Kong, 1949-1950; served with 1st Bn Gloucestershire Regt, 29th British Infantry Bde in South Korea, 3/1951-11/1951

REEL 1 Background in North Warnborough, GB, 1930-1939: family; education; German Air Force attacks on Odiham area; hunting rabbits; contact with evacuees and Italian prisoners of war. Aspects of period of training as private with Royal Hampshire Regiment in GB, 1947-1948: enlistment, 1947; basic training at Winchester; deliberately courting Confined to Barracks (CB) to get extra food in cookhouse; volunteering for service with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt to obtain overseas posting. Aspects of period as private with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt in Austria, 1948-1949: joining unit near Klagenfurt, 1948; patrols duties on border with Yugoslavia; relations with Austrian civilians; volunteering for service with 1st Bn Wiltshire Regt (Duke of Edinburgh's) to obtaining posting to Federation of Malaya, 1949. Aspects of period as private with 1st Bn Wiltshire Regt (Duke of Edinburgh's) in Hong Kong, 1949-1950: how unit was diverted from Singapore, Federation of Malaya to Hong Kong; patrol duties in New Territories, 1949; nature of service; contrast of service between Austria and Hong Kong; volunteering for service with 1st Bn Gloucestershire Regt in South Korea, 1950. Recollections of operations as private with 12 Platoon, D Coy, 1st Bn Gloucestershire Regt , 29th British Infantry Bde in South Korea, 3/1951-4/1951: arrival in Pusan on draft, 3/1951; joining battalion in front line; night-time listening patrol, 3/1951. REEL 2 Continues: patrolling along River Imjin, 3/1951; role as Bren Gun operator; nature of Battle of the River Imjin, 4/1951, including start of battle, Chinese People's Volunteer Army use of bugles during mass attack, his movements during battle; confusion spread among Chinese People's Volunteer Army by playing of battalion bugle calls and his escape from encirclement. REEL 3 Continues: escape from encirclement, 4/1951; role identifying graves on battlefield, 4/1951; activities during remainder of period in South Korea, 4/1951-11/1951; voyage aboard HMT Empire Fowey from South Korea to GB, 11/1951-12/1951; attitude to having served in Korean War and with British Army.