Belmont Korean War veteran Arthur ‘Cocky’ Roach’s remarkable story

A Korean War veteran has shared his remarkable story ahead of a national commemoration 75 years on from the conflict.

Korean War veteran, Arthur 'Cocky' Roach, from Belmont is part of a group of veterans bound for Canberra this week to commemorate 75 years since the Korean War. Picture: Brad Fleet

When Belmont man Arthur ‘Cocky’ Roach headed to war in late 1951, he wasn’t even sure where he was going.

“I didn’t even know where Korea was,” Mr Roach said.

“The ship went, so I had to go.”

Originally from Shepparton, Mr Roach served as a member of the Royal Australian Navy for six years, working as a refueller aboard the storeyed HMAS Sydney an aircraft carrier that provided vital air support to the United Nations ground forces on the peninsula.

The crew of the HMAS Sydney were subject to brutally cold conditions, Mr Roach remembers the temperature getting as low as -30C over the Christmas period.

A young Arthur Roach. Picture: supplied

But the worst weather Mr Roach saw was Typhoon Ruth, which wreaked havoc on the ship docked in the Japanese port of Sasebo in October 1951, with winds up to 150 km/hour and waves estimated to be up to 13.5m.

“It did more damage in 24 hours, I think, than the rest of the war,” Mr Roach said.

“We lost planes over the side, there was a lot of damage.”

HMAS Sydney during Typhoon Ruth

While Mr Roach never set foot on the Korean Peninsula, memories of the conflict remain with him until this day.

“The thing that stuck in my mind over these years was the burials at sea,” He said.

“You tend to know the pilots, and a bit of their history like whether they had families or where they came from.

“That was a bit of a kick in the bum.”

HMAS Sydney. Picture: Supplied

Arthur Roach (seated, middle) preparing to leave the Korean War. Picture: Supplied

The HMAS Sydney departed the war in January 1952, before heading to the Montebello Islands for the testing of the United Kingdom’s first atomic bomb.

Then in March of 1953, Mr Roach and his ship headed on a different adventure.

“We ended up in England for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth,” he said.

“We were a street lining party, we were looking straight ahead, we actually didn’t see much.

“We had to depend on the people right behind us to wipe the rain off us.”

Upon returning to Australia, Mr Roach and his wife Mary settled in Belmont, where they’ve been ever since.

Mr Roach worked for 30 years as a technician for the Postmaster General’s office, which became Telstra.

A former president of the Geelong branch of the Korean Veterans Association of Australia, Mr Roach visited South Korea and the demilitarised zone last year.

“We were welcomed as heroes,” he said.

“It was embarrassing.

“I did a lot in six years.”

On Wednesday Mr Roach, alongside a number of his fellow veterans, will attend a national commemoration of the war in Canberra on Wednesday, marking 75 years since the conflict came to a close.

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Originally published as Belmont Korean War veteran Arthur ‘Cocky’ Roach’s remarkable story