Queensland’s Korean War Veterans reflect after 75 years

With Sunday marking Korean War Veterans Day, Queensland’s remaining veterans reflect on what is commonly dubbed, “The Forgotten War.”

Korean War veteran Victor Jones at home in Inala. Picture: Liam Kidston

Queensland’s remaining Korean War veterans have reflected on “the forgotten war”, with 2025 marking 75 years since the conflict started.

Victor Jones, Ronald Lord and Bob Hay all recounted their experiences on the front lines, during a time where the world was still reeling from the recently-ended Second World War.

This Sunday marks the Korean War Veterans Day, where the brutal fighting formally ended in Korea in 1953.

Throughout this conflict, over 17,000 Australians served in the combined army, navy and air force.

Despite less than 1,000 Korean War Australian veterans still living - including up to 280 Queenslanders - at the average age of 94, the dramatic stories the veterans tell still resonate loud and true.

At the start of the war, the Australian Tribal-class destroyer HMAS Bataan was sent to Korea to patrol, blockade, escort aircraft carriers and bombard shore targets.

A 94-year-old man from Inala was on that boat.

Victor Jones inside of his Inala home. Picture: Liam Kidston

Victor Jones was 19 when he tried to join the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) but despite his mother’s approval, his father wanted him to prioritise his French polishing apprenticeship.

Since both parents were required to give permission for enlisters younger than 21, Mr Jones and his mother devised a solution.

The two told the doctor – coincidentally Lady Cilento’s husband – that his father was too ill to sign, allowing Mr Jones to enlist.

He was a radar operator on the Navy destroyer, often operating underneath the most heavily targeted section – the bridge.

Mr Jones said that despite being based off the coast of Korea, the sights he saw during the forgotten war stuck with him long afterwards.

“We were at the retaking of Incheon. The North Koreans had taken it, and it was quite a big battle,” Mr Jones said.

“All we did was ‘boom, boom, boom’ where they were.

“Days later, hundreds of bodies came floating out.”

Mr Jones said the experience left a deep mark on him, leaving him with great difficulty sleeping when he became a taxi driver after the war.

“I dream a lot. I don’t sleep a lot. I’ve got this post-traumatic stress disorder,” Mr Jones said.

“They only found out about it in the 80s, when the Vietnam blokes were coming up. Greenslopes were only treating me for bad nerves.”

Victor carried a camera with him during his time on the HMAS Bataan, capturing sights such as depth-charge explosions.

The 94-year-old had to operate work through freezing temperatures, with the HMAS Bataan occasionally hitting icebergs, waking him up from his sleep.

Despite the difficult conditions, Mr Jones said that if he was given the chance to talk to his younger self before he served in the war, he would tell him to, “join it.”

Mr Jones even came up close with royalty in 1954, being elected as one of two RAN representatives to personally escort Queen Elizabeth for her visit with Prince Philip to Australia.

“When I opened the door for Prince Phillip, he said to me, ‘do you find this exciting, sailor?’ I didn’t answer. When he asked again, I said, ‘It’s a little different sir.’ He replied, ‘It’s a heap of bullshit.’ That’s exactly what he said!”

Mr Jones - still sharp as a tack - now lives in Inala with some support from his neighbour, Robyn; feeding the wild lorikeets that sit in his backyard every day.

Korean War Veteran Ronald Lord, 88, at home in Regents Park. Picture: Liam Kidston

Ronald Lord worked in signals and operations in Korea during the post-armistice ceasefire monitoring, ensuring that formal conflict did not break out again.

Mr Lord, 88, completed nine months of training before being sent to the front lines on the dividing Imjin River for 51 days starting from February 3 1956, which he said felt much longer.

“It felt like an eternity to be honest,” Mr Lord said.

“It was warranted because we were being called to help what could have been the Third World War.”

“Because there’s nothing worse than war.

“You see on TV where they’re blowing towns up and innocent civilians are getting killed.

“We’re grown-up people. We should be able to sit down and come to an agreement of some sort, instead of shooting at each other.”

Korean War Veteran Ronald Lord, 88, at home in Regents Park. Picture: Liam Kidston

The 88-year-old did not regret signing up to the army, saying that he couldn’t have imagined his life without it.

“It opened me up to a lot of things. I’ve been able to cope with a lot of things which I probably wouldn’t have coped with before.”

“Just life as a whole. I was only 19.”

“I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t done national service.”

Mr Lord – who now lives in Regents Park - completed six years in the army before becoming a joiner carpenter until retirement.

Korean War veteran Robert "Bob" Hay with his wife Gladys Steadman.

Bob Hay now lives in Rockhampton

95-year-old Robert “Bob” Hay from Rockhampton – a “bren gunner” who counted the 371 days he was in Korea – understood why people would dub the conflict, “the forgotten war.”

“I don’t blame people for saying that because they already had six years of terrible bloody war,” Mr Hay said.

“So we just took what happened from then on. We were forgot about but that’s alright.

“You were only following your country’s orders.”

The Private and Acting Corporal was in Korea until November 1953 – four months after the armistice was signed.

He said if given the chance to do it all again, he’d want to change the conditions that he and his mates had to push through.

“It was like a rabbit, like a hole in the hill,” he said.

Mr Hay was given the job to look after the sections of the platoon, leaving a big imprint on his life.

“When you went out on a patrol out in the valley, you were one down and someone had to do two lots.”

“You’d have to put more pressure on them and yourself …”

Mr Hay is in good health and still looks after himself while living in Rockhampton.

Originally published as Queensland’s Korean War Veterans reflect after 75 years