The Republic of Korea has donated 40,000 face masks to UK veterans of the Korean War to help protect them from the Covid-19 pandemic. The masks were sent to veterans and bereaved families across the UK. The project was proposed by the 70th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee. The Committee has sent a total of one million protective masks to the 22 nations that sent troops to defend the Republic of Korea during the war. The face masks are sent with the logo of the Stay Strong Campaign.
Ambassador Enna Park said "I hope the face masks from the Republic Of Korea will be helpful for our veterans for getting through this difficult time of Covid-19. Providing the masks is a meaningful way to express our gratitude and our respect to the veterans of the Korean War especially during the 70th Anniversary of the Korean War. Their sacrifice and noble contribution have never been forgotten by the people of Korea.”
As a Korean War Veteran, Andrew Clark received a Face Mask, and has provided this profile which was prepared for a reunion in 2015 at his place of education, Bromsgrove School. The resumé covers his education, conscription into the Army and subsequent deployment in Korea, and, following the military service, of his career in engineering.
Bromsgrove School’s headmaster, Peter Clague wrote in Connected that he had enjoyed much pleasure from speaking with many alumni, since taking up his appointment in September 2014.
The range of ages in the alumni is clearly wide. I thought it might be helpful, as a guest, at the forthcoming Donors’ luncheon in February to declare my hand. I am currently an early octogenarian, married for 50 years to Wendy and parent to two married daughters, whose secondary education was at the King’s School Peterborough. The Dean of Peterborough, as ex officio, Chairman of the Governors persuaded them to accept Cambridgeshire Education Committee’s invitation to become a mixed comprehensive school rather than continue as a Boys’ Grammar School with its 1551 foundation. Many features of the grammar school curriculum were retained, including classics. Our elder daughter, aged 11 in 1976, was one of the first girls to attend to be followed by her sister.
My parents were both medically qualified and our home was in Coventry, an industrial city to which my father came to do his hospital training in 1926. No doubt, perhaps, even by the convention of the time, I was due in September 1939 to join my brother, as a day boy, at the Coventry Prep. School. In the event, we were on holiday in my father’s home county of Cumberland, when war was declared, eventually taking up a place, as a boarder, in May 1940 at the school, evacuated by this time to Wales. The Headmaster sent many boys to Bromsgrove, which accounts for my place there from September 1947. Most boys joined Elmshurst.
On leaving school in 1952, the last group to obtain the much vaunted school certificate in July 1950, I was conscripted to do my National Service. In my case, I was called up to join the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, already earmarked by the MoD to serve in Korea. I do not recall national service looming over us whilst at school, it being more a matter of natural progression. I served with the battalion after training, as an officer, in both Korea and Egypt. On release, I had to make some career decisions and, to some extent I did a market assessment. I wanted to use my foreign travel experience with a view to conducting export sales.
My choice was to serve a five year indentured machine tool apprenticeship. It covered the period from 1955 to 1960. At the time premium apprenticeships were often taken up by sons of successful small manufacturing families to ensure they were well endowed in the future, so my choice was not that unusual. The practical skills acquired, when coupled with a Higher National Certificate in Production Engineering, were respected by customers and helped them in problem solving, resulting in sales.
My firm sent me to work alongside the German agent; in the process, I acquired some colloquial knowledge of spoken German, helped by an understanding of Latin grammar. I continue to hone this skill through our local U3A, meeting on Mondays for German conversation under a former Portsmouth University German language lecturer, supplemented by satellite television and German programmes. We have thus made German friends in the UK.
I wish now to recall a more recent event regarding Bromsgrove. In the chapel, a memorial service was held for Peter Fielden, one of the school’s science masters for many years, and a former pupil and contemporary with my brother. I decided to attend on behalf of my late brother. With my wife, we travelled some distance to take part and arrived early. Sitting quietly in a pew, it dawned on me, if I had made any contribution in our own local community; then the roots certainly, were nurtured in Chapel which we attended daily. In my time, I have fulfilled a number of voluntary appointments, accepting responsibility for the office of churchwarden and treasurer, hall manager and treasurer for 20 years and school governor for one of our town’s state primary schools. There are other associations, such as co-opted bookkeeper for our Mothers’ Union branch, Probus, a monthly luncheon club, examiner for Wessex British Korean Veterans Association branch accounts.
I take more pride in the above achievements rather than in any during my industrial career, in which, I would like to suggest, I was regarded as a safe pair of hands rather than potential managing director material. Machine tools are made to fine tolerances of accuracy requiring close attention to detail, a feature that applies equally to handling successfully export orders. There is a further spin off from this, namely, it gives one, additionally, the necessary perseverance to create computer programmes, to improve clerical productivity, a further asset from training as a production engineer.
I wish now to recall a more recent event regarding Bromsgrove. In the chapel, a memorial service was held for Peter Fielden, one of the school’s science masters for many years, and a former pupil and contemporary with my brother. I decided to attend on behalf of my late brother. With my wife, we travelled some distance to take part and arrived early. Sitting quietly in a pew, it dawned on me, if I had made any contribution in our own local community; then the roots certainly, were nurtured in Chapel which we attended daily. In my time, I have fulfilled a number of voluntary appointments, accepting responsibility for the office of churchwarden and treasurer, hall manager and treasurer for 20 years and school governor for one of our town’s state primary schools. There are other associations, such as co-opted bookkeeper for our Mothers’ Union branch, Probus, a monthly luncheon club, examiner for Wessex British Korean Veterans Association branch accounts.
I take more pride in the above achievements rather than in any during my industrial career, in which, I would like to suggest, I was regarded as a safe pair of hands rather than potential managing director material. Machine tools are made to fine tolerances of accuracy requiring close attention to detail, a feature that applies equally to handling successfully export orders. There is a further spin off from this, namely, it gives one, additionally, the necessary perseverance to create computer programmes, to improve clerical productivity, a further asset from training as a production engineer.
Andrew Clark
