Veterans return to Korea 65 years on | Department of Veterans' Affairs
Veterans return to Korea 65 years on
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In October, eight veterans of the Korean War returned to the battlefields for the 65th anniversaries of the battles of Kapyong and Maryang San.
The veterans were accompanied by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Dan Tehan, and Shadow Minister for Defence Personnel, Gai Brodtmann.
Four of the veterans, who are aged between 85 and 91, were returning to Korea for the first time since the war.
The veterans attended a series of commemorative services and visits to memorials in honour of the service and sacrifice of the men and women who served in Korea.
The veterans laid poppies on Australian graves at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery, presented memorabilia at the United Nations Peace Memorial Hall and attended the United Nations Day Memorial Service.
Mr Tehan laid wreaths on behalf of the Australian Government at the Commonwealth Missing In Action Memorial and the Australian Memorial at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan. The Minister also unveiled at the United Nations Forces Monument Memorabilia Hall the History of the Korean War Honour Roll Quilt, which was commissioned in 2003 by Mrs Olwyn Green OAM, widow of Lt Col Charles Hercules Green, who commanded the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR). The quilt was hand-stitched by a group of elderly women from Coleraine, Victoria.
The veterans attended a commemorative service at the Australian Sending State Memorial at the Korean War Memorial and then placed poppies at the Roll of Honour. Mr Tehan and the veterans also attended commemorative services at the Australian Memorial at Kapyong and at Observation Post Tai Poong (Maryang San).
‘This was an important mission for Australia and our Korean War veterans because it marked the final Government overseas commemorative mission of veteran groups,’ Mr Tehan said.
More than 17,000 Australians served during the Korean War and in the post-armistice period. The names of 356 Australians killed in Korea are listed on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour. More than 1,200 were wounded.
On 22 April 1951, Chinese forces launched their spring offensive, routing the South Korean 6th Division and driving them back down the Kapyong Valley. At the Battle of Kapyong, the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade, including 3RAR, was instrumental in stalling the Chinese advance on Seoul.
On 3 October 1951, 3RAR, as part of the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade, took part in Operation Commando, which included the capture of Hill 355 – Maryang San.
The veterans taking part in the visit were: Gordon Hughes DSM, Graham Connor, Les Hall, Jack Lang, John Murphy, Les Powell, Peter Scott and Ray Seaver.
The veterans with Minister Tehan (centre), DVA Secretary Simon Lewis PSM (second from left), Major General Simon Stuart (extreme left), and Australia’s acting ambassador to South Korea, Ravi Kewalram (to the minister’s left), in the Demilitarized Zone, with the North Korean border behind them.
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Dan Tehan, delivers a speech at the commemorative service at the Australian Memorial, Kapyong.
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