MEMORIES of the Korean War from 1950-53 have been rekindled for a former Wellington man after recently receiving a medal awarded by South Korea.

Lloyd Tarr, 88, who lived at Crosslands, Tonedale, has received the Ambassador for Peace medal for the part he played in the defence of the country in East Asia.

Mr Tarr, who was with the Black Watch in the Korean conflict for 18 months, said: “We dug out the side of the hill and lived under camouflage, two in each pothole.

“We had no electricity, water, fridges or freezers – or any other comforts. In winter it was 30 degrees below zero and snow was up to your waist.”

Mr Tarr, who was in the Army Catering Corps for 23 years, reaching the rank of Corporal, remembers cooking on a long plate with burners at each end shooting out flames. The part-cooked food was put in insulated containers to finish cooking and taken away to feed the troops.

Mr Tarr was the son of H. Tarr painter and decorator but he did not want to follow his father into the family business. Instead he went to work for Price Brothers in South Street, Wellington, and was there a year before being called up for National Service in 1949.

He was based at Royal Army Service Number 3 Depot Burns Hill Camp at Norton Fitzwarren and when his two years’ service was finished decided to join the Army.

He remembers hitch-hiking from the Army base in Catterick in North Yorkshire and arriving in Taunton in the early hours one morning. A policeman spotted him on The Parade and after having a chat stopped a post van whose driver dropped him off at the top of North Street in Wellington.

Mr Tarr said: “I was conscientious and I liked the job – I enjoyed life in the Army.”

He found out about the Peace medal at remembrance commemorations in Wellington last year after a fellow veteran saw Mr Tarr’s UN Korea medal. Mr Tarr wrote to the South Korean embassy in London and the Peace medal was received later.

Mr Tarr is married to Sheila and has been living in North Curry for 24 years. He is partially-sighted and is a member of Blind Veterans UK.