PRISONERS OF WAR
IN NORTH KOREA
Description
The Korean War was the first major international conflict that followed the end of the Second World War. It was the initial test for the newly formed United Nations, which had been created in an attempt to prevent a future world war from happening, through the use of negotiations, dialogue, and, if necessary, the use of force as supplied by the Armed Forces of the member nations.
Camp Conditions Coming From A POW Ted Beckerley
Although the weather got better the food remained much the same. Now and again we had a real luxury of rice and once we had a small hard loaf of brerad per man. The loaves were absolutely laced throughoutwith weevils, like caraway seeds, but they were dead and we were so hungry that we ate those loaves. Because our diet was so monotonous and lacking in vitamins some of our chaps suffered from 'burning feet' a terrible burning sensation that made it almost impossible to put the feet on the ground. I believe it was a form of beri beri (lack of Vitamin B1). WHich was the liquid swelling of limbs and body that some suffered
Edward Ted Beckerley Experience
His first experience of war was in 1940 with the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium and after his adventures, he escaped from the beaches near Dunkirk. After the 1944 Normandy landings, he returned to France and saw further action as a tank driver churchhill Crocodile Flame-thrower-tanks. Demobbed in 1946 he was only to have a short period of civilian life before he was recalled as a Reservist in 1950 for the Korean War. He was taken as a prisoner by the Koreans during January 1951. His captivity was to last for over 2 years until 1953 when he returned to the UK by air on compassionate grounds.