“TOUGH AS HELL”

“IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF 12 MONTHS OF ALMOST RELENTLESS SERVICE ON THE FRONT LINE OF A WAR THAT HAD GROUND INTO A STALEMATE”

Over 90,000 members of the British Armed Forces served in the Korean War between 1950-53. It was the largest commitment of soldiers in a conflict since WWII and with casualties of 1,078 killed and 2,674 wounded it remains Britain’s deadliest post-war conflict. A huge number of these troops were conscripted National Servicemen who may not have volunteered but nevertheless fought in a bitter conflict that cost the lives of possibly five million people.

One of those conscripts was Neville Williams. A civilian engineer serving in the Welch Regiment, Williams fought in Korea between November 1951 and November 1952 with the majority of his time being spent on front line on various positions along the 38th Parallel. During this period he survived an extremely cold winter, endless enemy bombardments and fighting conditions that were reminiscent of WWI.

“Doing something different”

Born in 1930 Williams was able to defer his National Service until he completed an apprenticeship in engineering. Although he was eventually called up on his 21st birthday on 5 January 1951 he pragmatically viewed his conscription as an opportunity, “I grew up in an age that was a bit more matter-of-fact and you tended to accept things in life. National Service was no big problem for me and I just looked at it as a couple of years doing something different. In a way, I quite looked forward to it.”

A keen sportsman, Williams wanted to be a physical training instructor and initially joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, which had been his father’s regiment during WWI.

In the event he was transferred to the Welch Regiment to boost its strength, “We didn’t know then but they were making the numbers up for Korea in the Welsh Brigade. I realised something was happening because we went into battle training pretty quickly.”

Williams was swiftly promoted to lance-corporal, “National Servicemen came from all walks of life but I’d also studied at night school for a National Certificate. I was probably a borderline case to be an officer but in those days they only came from the higher classes. However if you work in high-class engineering you’ve got to use your brain and make big decisions. In that sense the army was very shrewd at psychologically sizing you up.”

Compared to other conscripts Williams found