The Programme

“My MBE is for those in the cemetery”

The 1947 National Service Act (implemented in 1949) meant that men aged 18 to 26 were required to serve in the Armed Forces. More than two million served in the UK and around the world. They included Ken Keld, who served in the Army in the Korean War:

“We went to Japan on HMT Asturias, then straight to Korea. The first thing we saw when we docked in Pusan was a train with large red crosses on the carriages. In May 1953, we took part in the Third Battle of The Hook. We had no idea what to expect and our first thoughts were that we were being sent to death row. I had never experienced anything like it and very much hope I never will again. I’ll never forget the collapsed fighting pits and bunkers due to the heavy bombardment. Most of all, the stench of decaying flesh from buried limbs and bodies has stayed with me.

I remained in Korea until after the ceasefire. Then, in November 1953, I left for Gibraltar, where I completed my National Service.

I was at the National Service 60th anniversary event at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire on 16th May. It brought home to lots of people what National Service in Korea was about. I’ll be 90 in March and I’m one of the fortunate ones – I can still have a normal life.

Since 1979, I’ve helped to support other British Korean War veterans, and I’m being awarded an MBE for my services next month. It’s an honour for me and my family and for the regiment, but most of all, it’s for those left in Korea – the ones in the cemetery. What I’ve done and what I still do is to make sure they aren’t forgotten.”

“It was a bit of an adventure”

The Royal British Legion’s National Service 60 event recognised and paid tribute to the service and sacrifice of the National Service generation. In total, 395 National Servicemen were killed during active service, many losing their lives in the Korean War. Names of the National Servicemen who were killed are among the 16,000 inscribed on the Armed Forces Memorial at the Arboretum.

One of the veterans attending the event was Richard Vaughan, and the 16th May date is relevant to his story. By the late 1950s, Britain’s military needs had changed and the requirement for conscription was reassessed. Numbers of servicemen conscripted were drastically reduced until 1960. Richard was among the last intake of National Servicemen, joining the Royal Army Pay Corps and serving in Germany. When his service came to an end, he requested to be demobbed in England and travelled back to Gatwick Airport in his uniform.

Richard was officially demobbed on 16th May, 1963 and was the very last National Serviceman. Looking back, Richard says: “It was a bit of an adventure.”

“It makes me feel that I’m part of something still”

Mike Hyde’s National Service was in the RAF: “I started my basic training at Hednesford, Staffordshire, in November 1955. It was cold, damp and miserable, but we all got on very well.

Dealing with a rifle while wearing woolly gloves is not easy, and when we were rehearsing for the passing-out parade eight weeks later, I committed the sin of dropping mine. I was taken to one side and told I was going to be the right marker for the parade – this meant that if I didn’t do it right, everyone else got their actions wrong. But I managed it.

Next, I trained as a radar operator and was posted to RAF Stanmore, where we plotted all the aircraft coming and going. In the summer of 1956, the Suez campaign started and we were needed in Nicosia, Cyprus, to plot aircraft in and out of Egypt.

After that, I was posted to RAF Bawdsey in Suffolk, where I spent my final months of service. We lived in chalets, so it was a bit like a holiday camp – but it wasn’t without incident. The Air Officer Commanding (AOC) does an annual inspection and I was selected to take part in his Guard of Honour. At the rehearsal, it was cold, and my hands were in woolly gloves again. You can imagine what happened: I dropped my rifle for the second time in my career. I had to report to the Guard room, put all my kit on and be smart and polished. I passed, so no charge was made.

Now, I help to run the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire branch of the National Service (RAF) Association. It makes me feel that I’m part of something still.”

“My only regret was missing my son’s birth”

“I received my call-up papers for the Royal Navy in June 1955,” says Mike Bell. “I started my training at HMS Raleigh in Cornwall, but I didn’t complete it – I got drafted to join a Motor Torpedo Boat squadron in Malta because they were short of mechanics. I had already met my wife Marion – we got married on 3rd March, and three weeks later, on 24th March, I got on an aeroplane and I was away for more than a year.

When I arrived, I had to go down to the engine room straight away. There were three big Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, as well as torpedoes and guns. I was experienced in mechanical things as I’d been to technical college and I’d worked as an engineer on a farm, then for a drilling company, but it was just me down there in control.

While I was in Malta, the Suez Crisis began and we helped the Royal Marines with beach landings and recovery. It all had to be done very fast to rescue them.

My only regret from my time in National Service was missing my son’s birth – when I was demobbed and I returned to England, he was five months old. It was very odd to meet him for the first time.

When I was in my late 20s, I joined the Merchant Navy and stayed for eight years. Today I’m Secretary of my local Royal Naval Association in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. I’m very proud to have been in the Navy. I liked the camaraderie and that still exists today.

Remembering National Service on its 60th anniversary is an excellent idea. It’s very important to have these kinds of events to mark what we did and for comradeship and friendship.”

“To get a medal is some form of recognition”

Nuclear-test veteran Roger Grace was deployed to the Montebello Islands, Western Australia in 1956, during his National Service. Last November, the Prime Minister announced that military, civilian and overseas staff and personnel like Roger who participated in Britain’s nuclear-testing programme in the 1950s and 1960s would have their unique contribution officially recognised with the award of a Nuclear Test Medal. The medals are being presented to service personnel over the coming months. Roger remembers his experience:

“The tests were carried out on two 100-feet-high towers, so there was a lot of construction work to be done. The Royal Engineers had to build equipment to set off the tests by remote control and record the explosions. The first test seemed insignificant, but for the second, we were told we were going to be 12 miles away.

“We all mustered on the ship’s upper deck in shorts and shirt – no protective clothing. We had our backs to the detonation and hands over our eyes. Then there was a countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, boom! The flash was so bright you could see the bones in your hands and the heat was as if an electric fire was being held to the back of your neck. The blast took your clothes out as if you were in a gale. After eight seconds, we were allowed to turn around and look at the mushroom cloud.

“I would never like to see an atomic bomb used, but I feel proud that I was involved in a very small way in producing our UK deterrent. I also feel very lucky – a lot of people involved in the tests died in their early 50s and 60s.

“To get a medal is some form of recognition. I’d like to thank the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association and LABRATS International, which worked on our behalf to get this approved.”