Here we are on the bank of the Imjin river, some time in '52.

Note how modest we were for the camera, yet nearly all swam 'starkers'.The coy ones in our midst wore their underpants.-- Would you believeit!! Just a few years past I gave a snap of a mate in the 'altogether'hiding his manhood behind a tin of talcum powder - to his wife. She torethe bloody thing up on the spot. Anyway have a look at the ground we arenegotiating in bare feet, I can barely walk barefooted on a lawn thesedays. You can see two water bottles in the shade to the left in the photo. Drinkingriver water was a no no, it was still fouled by decomposing bodies to thistime. Good enough to swim and clean-up in, just don't drink or clean yourteeth.

The rare occasions that line troops got to visit the river were ajoy beyond belief. Those times saw few if any mobile shower units withinreach, and it was the norm to go for weeks without having more than atoken wash. Water was a precious commodity in the line, and sometimes hardto deliver to the forward companies.