Two elderly friends from Bethesda, Gwynedd, who fought in the Korean War as part of the United Nations force in the Fifties, have returned to the Far East over half a century later.
John Davies of Rachub and Owen Williams from Bethesda were only 19 when they were called up for National Service and sent to Korea. John was an apprentice butcher at the time. Owen was a student at an agricultural college near Pwllheli, hoping to train as a vet.
John was sent to the front line, while Owen worked in an office in Japan during the war as a valuation officer.
On their return to Korea, the pair, now aged 74, visit the front line and also one of the biggest military museums in the world.
John was stunned at the changes he saw in South Korea. “We were living in holes in the ground, with the big guns firing above us. It was especially dangerous at night, with the enemy everywhere like ants. Today, it’s like heaven here on the old front line, it’s peaceful.”
But John was also disappointed that there isn’t any mention of the contribution made by the Welsh and by the United Nations force to the war, a war which technically has never ended. There was a ceasefire in 1953 but South and North Korea remain enemies.
© 2008 S4C
O Gymru / Made in Wales