John Hatchard

A Squaddy's Tale: on the Hook & Hill 355 Korea 1951-1952 John Hatchard

. . is the story of a young English lad, still in his teens who, between 1950 and 1952, underwent that rite of passage into adulthood called national service - but with a difference. Half of it was spent with the Welch Regiment, part of the Commonwealth Division of the United Nations forces in Korea. Luckily, it was during the quieter middle phase of that war, the Forgotten War and the last to be fought from trenches. He experienced moments of unexpected pleasure, ennui, abject terror, boredom, utter weariness and despair, sadness, joy, laughter and profound revelation all of which are part of this tale. There is some blood and guts but, through great good fortune, none of his personal experiencing. This is a story of how it was for one reasonably well educated boy sent halfway across the world on His/Her Majesties business to an uncertain fate. He returned a man - in one sense at least!