Reg Butler, Mackay men enlist for National Service ready for Korean War

Just eight of a 45-strong platoon forced into national service at 18 years old remain to tell the story of how they were made to prepare for the Korean War 70 years ago.

They were barely men when the government mandated they enlist for national service.

At 18 years old, they could not say no.

Seventy years later, six of the 15 remaining men of the 48-strong 11th National Service Training Battalion reunited at a Mackay pub as they reflected back to the day they stepped onto the Wacol camp in Brisbane.

“The government put it together to train us to be ready,” Mackay veteran Reg Butler said.

“The Korean War was on at the time.

“We could have been called up (to serve) at any time.”

Mackay’s Reg Butler volunteered to fight in the Korean War. When he turned 18, he was mandated to join the 11th National Service Training Battalion to be ready to serve overseas at any time.

Mr Butler said his platoon trained for three months at Wacol before returning home for two years of service as active reserves.

“Then after that we were three years’ reserve,” he said.

Reg Butler, John Paterson, Ray Thorning, Harold Smith, Gary Woodman and Rod Laird are six of the eight men left of a 48-strong platoon that were enlisted for national service during the Korean War. They reunited for the 70th anniversary at Langford's Hotel on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Picture: Heidi Petith

Mr Butler said it was a great adventure including spending one night a week training at the former Drill Hall, where the Mackay council building is now.

“And we had weekend shoots at the rifle range at North Mackay,” fellow veteran Harold Smith said.

Mr Smith said the platoon would also have to travel for camps at Sellheim near Charters Towers and regularly took part in “bivouac” or weekend camps.

“There was no getting out of it, you nearly had to have one arm and a leg (left) to get out,” Mr Smith said with a laugh.

“The army kept a pretty good tab on us.”

Mr Smith, who lost his uncle in New Guinea during World War II, said the platoon knew they were being kept prepared for war.

“On the second day we were (in Wacol), (the captain) said we need you in Korea,” Mr Smith said.

“But thank god they started signing bits of paper (to end the conflict).

“They didn’t want us then.”

Many of those who had enrolled in national service would later lose their lives in the Vietnam War.

Mr Butler’s wife Helen said her husband later visited the Korean War Memorial in Canberra where he took in the sight of 339 steel poles, each representing a veteran’s death.

“He said, ‘If I’d gone, I would have been another pole’.”

Looking back on their experiences, both Mr Butler and Mr Smith said national service would likely benefit today's generation.

“But a lot of the young ones wouldn’t like having their efforts restricted,” Mr Smith said.