The Australian Veterans' Accounts
Korean War veterans' interviews
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Grace Halstead...
...was a nurse who took care of the sick and wounded on RAAF flights from Korea to a hospital in Japan.
“...And the sister, in this case me and this other sister, would receive them into the plane in their litters...”
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Stanley Connolly...
...served with 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment at the Battle of Kapyong.
“...We charged and we began to get shot down. I remember my good friend Gene Tunny on my right falling in the advance...”
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Richard Arundel...
...was a midshipman in the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney.
“...One day, just after we went on patrol I happened to be sitting at breakfast with a young man with a slightly burnt face from bailing out of a Spitfire...”
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Kerry Smith...
...recalls visiting the grave of his friend in Korea when the war ended and again 40 years later.
“...I looked at his grave, it had a cross, that they had there, it was just a sort of a wooden cross with his name on it and that sort of thing, serial number...”
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Bill Simmond...
...a fighter pilot, describes shooting down an enemy aircraft.
“...I was flying one of 16 aircraft from 77 Squadron and we were operating in the general area of Pyongyang which is the North Korean capital...”
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Maxwell Veale...
...served in HMAS Murchison during the Han River operation.
“...We used to bombard all night and sleep all day, just to keep them awake and upset them....”
Teaching and learning activities for the classroom
The Australian Veterans' Accounts
Listen to these four Australian veterans’ stories and answer the questions below.
Bill Simmond
Bill Simmond talks about shooting down a Chinese jet fighter. The enemy pilot bailed out of his aircraft over his own territory and survived. Tell (or write) the story from the Chinese pilot’s viewpoint. Like Simmond, set the scene first then explain in detail exactly what happened.
Stanley Connolly
Can you learn anything about the character of Stanley Connolly from the way he tells the story? During the story his mood changes. When does that happen, and why do you think there is a change?
Kerry Smith
What does Kerry Smith mean when he says, ‘I didn’t have the guts to talk to him then’? What do you think he said to his friend when they ‘had a bit of a talk’? What did his friend mean when he said ‘Don’t worry about it mate’?
Maxwell Veale
What does he mean by saying ‘just to keep them awake and upset them’? What is the point of doing that? Explain why dropping anchor to turn around was necessary in this case. Veale says they were at ‘action stations’. What does he mean by that? What does the picture behind Veale add to his story? Does the picture contradict his story?
