Korean War veteran from Awbridge enjoys trip to Buckingham Palace

Robert Bone and his wife Audrey, who live in Awbridge, were invited on Tuesday, March 19 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice.

Princess Anne and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, welcomed more than 100 veterans to the palace for tea and food. After this, the group had a remembrance service at the Korean War Memorial. 

Mr Bone, 89, of Cowleas Close, said: “Princess Anne made a speech that the King was going to give. They call those who went to Korea The Forgotten Army because you never hear anything about it. It was just after the Second World War.

“The Korean people paid for the Korean War Memorial in London because the British government wouldn't acknowledge it because they said it wasn't a British war. 

“There were more than 1,000 British troops killed out there. The Gloucestershire regiment got wiped out. 

“Sophie was there. She shook my hand and had a little chat. She said thank you and congratulations for what I'd done in Korea, she shook my hand and then moved to the next person. It was an amazing experience to go inside.”

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Mr Bone, a former farm worker, joined the army at 18 in 1952. He was in the tank regiment and served in Korea for 10 months. 

He said: “When I joined the army, I volunteered for three years. I never regretted it because all I did in England was my basic training, the rest was abroad. 

“I first went to Germany, and while I was out there, they said we were going to Korea. A lot of us said 'where the flipping heck is that place?'. 

“It wasn't too bad I suppose, it was a bit cold, a bit hot and a bit wet. I drove my tank over the River Imjin when it was frozen solid.”

Mr Bone added that the nearest he came to getting killed was during a stand-off with some American troops on the border with North Korea.

He said: “We had strict instructions that no Korean people were to come through a checkpoint. The Americans pulled up with a load of Koreans and stopped at the checkpoint and we asked them where they were going. They wanted to come through, but we said 'no, you're not'. 

“We stood there and argued with them and in the end a bloke pulled his revolver out. Then the bloke who was on guard duty with me got a sten gun out. In the end we just held them there and called the military police. They took them off, where they took them I don't know.”