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The Korean War

Heroes Remember

The Korean War

Transcript
I was sent to, well I spent the summers with the officers training gang and then I was commissioned and sent to the RCR as a subaltern and then I went to Korea with them, with the 1st Battalion of the RCR. Oh dear, terrible. It was no fun at all. It was like World War I must have been. Just awful! Well I was, we were just sitting in trenches all day long. Nothing, the only activity were patrols where you could get your ass shot off if you weren't careful. It was just terrible. I was scared all the time I was there but my wheels only fell off once in all that time, I was quite... I only really fell apart with the strains, it's twenty-four hours a day and you're just sitting there. My company commander was away someplace and I went into his bunker, I was to hold down the phones in his bunker and he had a map and there was a sort of a peninsula across from us and there was an arrow leaning up in behind this peninsula. I had been over on that hill at night and it had "Kelly" written on this arrow. I just fell apart. I think he may have been just doodling but. So I went down, I took myself down to see my commanding officer and he told me to go over and see Sergeant Baxter and take a bottle of rum back up on the hill, which I did. By this time I had gotten my faculties together but I just went into jelly, this is about half way through the thing. Then I had some good jobs there too. I was liaison to the Marines. They usually sent a Canadian from the Commonwealth Division. I had job at Brigade headquarters. It was a good war in some ways.
Description

Mr. Kelly describes his participation in the Korean War for the Commonwealth Division and the similarities between Korea and World War I.

Jeff Kelly

Mr. Kelly was born in Lindsay, Ontario, December 16, 1923. His father was a medical officer with a field ambulance in the First World War and received a Distinguished Service Order. Mr Kelly wanted to be an infantry man as his father had a great admiration for them. He joined the army on the 22nd of May in 1942. He served overseas with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion which was part of the British 6th Airborne Division.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
02:03
Person Interviewed:
Jeff Kelly
War, Conflict or Mission:
Korean War
Location/Theatre:
Korea
Occupation:
Intelligence officer

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