Bren Gun in Two Pieces

Heroes Remember

Bren Gun in Two Pieces

Transcript

I don’t mind telling you I still have dreams or flashes at night time when I’m in bed. I don’t want to get in, but it is sort of a war story. It was the first time that I was on a patrol, fighting patrol that we encountered the enemy. And so we were going up this hill, Hill 156. I remember that and I guess we got about two thirds of the way up, half or two thirds. I’m not sure. It’s hard to say at night time. But it was a beautiful night. They could hear us coming across the valley probably half a mile away everything was so dry. Crack underneath your feet. You know the reeds and rice paddies and that. So anyway we’re going up then all heck broke loose. And of course after throwing grenades and that there was none of our fellows opened up with a weapon even though I was carrying a Bren gun with its sling and that. So everybody started throwing grenades in the area where this air fire was coming from and then Mr. Martin, Scotty Martin he was a lieutenant. He gave the order to pull back. So anyway same time, and this is a true story, dirt started flicking up around. I don’t know if it was... I know there was a patrol that was moving down the valley too and there was a hill behind us. So I don’t know if that’s where the rounds are. Anyway I hit the ground with the big Bren gun and I rolled and anyway when I came up this guy was right in front of me and it was such a beautiful night. He says, “That you Chuck?” just like that. I said, this is my friend Gus Pender. He was a platoon signaller. He was a corporal. And so anyway I went to pick up my gun, the Bren gun and here it was in two pieces hanging down the side. I hit the barrel locking nut when I rolled. If there had have been somebody in front of me that would have been it. I had no, my weapon was obsolete. So I was able to get everything together and then all of a sudden him and I had to dive under a ledge and the rest of the patrol pulled back and here we are up on the hill. And they were on top of this ledge and they were firing down and they were, you know, in Korean and everything. And so anyway we waited and waited and we heard the voices going around. We peaked. We got around and peaked around the ledge. There was nothing there, but we didn’t want to just take off because it was too bright. And, cause he got in touch with the company commander and he in turn switched us over on another channel, said switch to another channel which was the armoured corps. And the commander of the armoured corps he knew approximately where we were when we told him and he said, “As soon as the rounds start hitting,” he said, “run like hell and get the heck down out of it.” So anyway we got down. Now as I say we had three wounded and one killed that night. When I have, I wake up, but I can never get away from the enemy. Like you know no matter how much you try that’s when you wake up. You finally, you know, you come out of it. Sometimes I make a big jump like or I might yell. My wife says, “Are you having that again?” type thing. I say, “Yeah.”

Description

Mr. Rees describes the fact that he still dreams about a frightening confrontation with the enemy.

Charlie Rees

Charles Rees was born in Lance Cove, Newfoundland on July 14, 1930. He first experienced the consequences of war at the age of 12, when he and the rest of his community were involved in rescuing the crew from two ships torpedoed nearby. While working in Toronto, Mr. Rees made the decision to enlist for service in the Korean War. He was sent overseas with the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, where he served a one year tour of duty on the 38th Parallel. When he returned to Canada, he trained as a paratrooper. After leaving the service, he was a pressman in the printing trade. Mr. Rees joined both the Atlantic and Canadian Korean Veterans Associations.

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