Harold was doing his National Service in England when he was eighteen. He was supposed to go to Hong Kong. However, because the first English soldier killed in Korea was only eighteen, there was a protest in England, particularly from the mothers. As a result, the military decided that young men would not be deployed to foreign service until they'd passed their nineteenth birthday. So, Harold stayed training in England for another year. When he turned nineteen, he got his orders for Korea.
He served in the "police action" there for eighteen months. Back home in England, after he finished his National Service, he found the country in turmoil because of a miners strike. He and Hazel decided to emigrate and Canada offered a hopeful future.
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| Examining the Bible Harold received while in Japan, before deploying to Korea |
Although Harold was in Korea as part of the British military, Canadians served in that conflict as well. Korea is often referred to as Canada's forgotten war.
When Canada agreed to join a US led military action in Korea, the country was weary of war. The Second World War had ended only five years previously. Even though most citizens agreed with the need to stop communist aggression, they did not feel an emotional or personal connection to Korea, even though 500 Canadians were killed in the conflict.
British casualties were 1,078 killed in action, 2,674 wounded and 1,060 missing or taken prisoner.
South Korea, however, did not forget the service and sacrifice of people like Harold. The Republic of Korea holds Canada, and other allied countries in high regard for fighting to save them from falling victim to one of the world's most merciless regimes.
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| Korean War Monument to Canadian Fallen (Ottawa) |
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