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“The poor lads in the infantry got the worst of it. In a sense, I was lucky”

Arthur Bisson, Royal Military Police, was demobbed in 1947, then called up again to go to Korea in 1950. He served there for eight months in total.

“We got there in November 1950, spent Christmas in Seoul and then the Imjin Battle in April 1951. My main job was keeping the traffic moving, signing routes, keeping the roads clear, general traffic control.

We only saw the outskirts of the Imjin battle, the infantry saw the worst of it. I have memories of dirt roads, driving for hours on end when it was dry, making big clouds of dust. It was a very backward country. When you see pictures of Seoul now, good God!

It was nice to get home, the poor lads in the infantry got the worst of it, in a sense I was lucky.

After Korea I was sent to Tokyo. For me, it was more dangerous in Tokyo than Korea; imagine all the troops getting together in the beer halls. Cor blimey!”