What a brute of a place to work on and around, 355, the pits for both UNand Chinese forces. A long razor-back type mountain with no redeemingfeatures whatever. To climb it was back breaking, to dig into its rockyslopes the same. Living on it was akin to living on a lunar landscape,pitted by craters from end to end and top to bottom.

The conditions during the winter were abysmal, the freezing winds howlingaround the slopes with nothing to break their force. Icy trenches at sucha steep angle walking was a nightmare lest you broke a limb.

Typhoon season was pure hell, torrents of water pouring down the hillside andthrough the trenches like raging mountain rivers. Bunkers flooded andoften collapsing from the sheer amount of water in the soil. Fighting pitshalf full, bunkers in even the best places would be knee deep or more.Clothing was saturated most of the time.

The trenches were glue pots, impossible to traverse without their helping ropes.

Summer saw the heat of an arid zone beating down 18 hours a day. Youpanted like a dog much of the time, and working on the defense systemsucked the last drop of moisture from your thirsty body. Water was aproblem again, there was seldom enough of it to drink and have a basicwash. Never enough to wash your clothes, nor have a good scrub-up.

Spring was a young man's delight, the weather perfect and alas the Chinesevery active in the valleys below. Down in those dangerous places, youngmen from both sides played a deadly game every night. This was the timefor raiding parties, recce patrols, ambushes and generally annoying thedevil out of each other. Autumn was just about the same, minus a fewzillion mosquitoes and flies. The ever alert frogs were always thereduring those balmy seasons, either alerting an enemy to your presence orthe other way about. The material of dreams.

With regards to use of the Owen in Korea, for long range work it left much to bedesired. However following the start of the 'static war phase' most of thecombat was during the night, and included patrols, raids and defendingagainst attacks. The type of fighting involved was therefore up close andpersonal, and in those conditions the Owen was excellent. I am not awareof any ammunition problems during those two years, certainly none where abullet failed to enter a body from close quarters. The Bren was a superiorweapon but had two disadvantages in this type of work, it was very heavyand needed two men to man it properly and it was cumbersome in close orderoperations. ie. In trenches or fighting pits.

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