"But the worst part of it was that we arrived up there inadequately equipped. Bear in mind that the Australian winter such as the Air Force sees it gave us a greatcoat, two woollen vests, two pairs of long woollen underpants and that was it which doesn't go over terribly well in a Korean winter. When the first lot went over there the Americans discovered that our blokes were always standing around a 44 gallon drum with a fire going in it because they were cold so in typical American fashion they came back with all manner of American winter gear, gave us these things for free and they were very generous in every way. So we were able to live through the winter quite comfortably. We lived in tents which had wooden floors. They were wooden framed tents. Six men to a tent. There was an oil stove, when I say oil stove a jet fuel stove. It kept us warm."

CORPORAL PAT MELICAN