When it comes to Remembrance Day, most of us tend to reflect upon the service of Canadian troops in the First and Second World Wars. It seems only natural, considering the amount of troops involved and the sweeping, global scale, but one local veteran of the Korean War says that more should be done to commemorate the sacrifices of Canadian peacekeepers, which often fly under the public’s radar.
Despite suffering a stroke just a month before sitting down for an interview with The Equity, Shawville resident Allan “Bud’ Hill is still sharp as a tack, something he credits to the training he did as a young lad in the 1950s before he shipped out to Korea.

“If I hadn’t gone through army training I probably would have said ‘Oh I can’t do this,’” he said. “I’d probably be lying in bed yet … The therapist doesn’t have to push me, I can push myself.”
Sitting in the apartment that he shares with his wife Jeanette, who’s been by his side for nearly 63 years, Hill reflected on his service with a great deal of clarity.
He grew up in B.C’s Okanagan Valley and was adopted into a family of eight when he was around six years old. He said he was inspired to enlist by his older brother, Donald Mitchell, who fought with the Canadian Scottish Regiment and was tragically killed in Caen, France on July 7, 1944.
“I joined up because my brother joined up in the Second World War, so I guess I followed in his footsteps,” he said.
He explained that at the time, as a young man of 19, he really didn’t understand the reason why he joined prior to shipping out. He pointed to a picture of the Korean War Monument in downtown Ottawa, which depicts a Canadian soldier standing with two Korean children.
“That’s why we joined up, it’s because of the children,” he said. “We lived not too bad but they lived like hell … When I came back, I understood.”
The Korean War is a conflict that many people are unfamiliar with, even though 26,000 Canadian troops participated and 516 died there, 312 of those from combat.
Following the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Korean peninsula was occupied by Soviet forces in the north and US troops in the south, divided along the 38th parallel. After diplomatic attempts to unite the territory broke down, North Korean soldiers invaded the South in June 1950, sparking a civil war.
The United Nations sent forces from a variety of countries, including Canada, South Africa and Australia, among others, to repel the North Koreans and the war lasted from 1950 to 1953, with troops remaining for three years after as military observers.
Hill was a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR), based in Petawawa Ont., trained as a paratrooper and was assigned to an anti-tank support unit.
“It was a good outfit,” he said. “They were a stickler for the polishing and cleaning. Everything had to be spit and polished.”
“After parade they’d make you run and you’d run till your tongue was hanging out and then they’d run you some more,” he continued. “You get used to it. You follow the guy in front of you and you don’t let him down.”
Hill landed in Inchon, Korea in April of 1952. He said that for the most part, his experience was rather tedious.
“They didn’t come at us all that much, most of the time it was boring as hell,” he said. “You just sat around and cleaned your machines, stood watch at night.”
“I was an administration Sergeant,” he explained. “I didn’t have the rank. I was a Corporal but I took over from the Sergeant, he hurt himself, so I was pretty busy. They had to have their rations, their ammunition, clean clothes and that.”
Hill said that one event that stood out was a large attack that the RCR weathered on Hill 355, known to soldiers as “Little Gibraltar”.
“We got hit one night about 6 o’ clock,” he began. “It was raining steel about a mile and a half away.”
“The North Koreans dug bunkers out in front. How they did it, I don’t know,” he continued. “They filled them up with about 1,000 men and then they hit us all at once but they didn’t break through. Once they overran us, we started shelling it ourselves and we kept shelling till about 3 o’ clock in the morning.”
“Once you’re trained for it you never really think much of it,” he added.
Upon returning to Canada, Hill retired from the military, started a family and worked a wide variety of jobs. They operated a beef and dairy farm on the northern end of Calumet Island for 48 years and only just sold it in May of this year. He also operated Hill’s Service Station and Garage in Bryson for many years.
Hill is a long-time member of the Campbell’s Bay Legion Branch 162, serving as president for around a decade. At their recent awards night on Oct. 21, he was recognized with a 30-year pin, though he was unable to attend the ceremony in person due to his health.
He hopes that this Remembrance Day, young people get involved with the ceremonies and appreciate the sacrifices that Canada’s vets made, no matter the conflict they participated in.
“People remember World War I, II and Korea, but don’t forget the peacekeepers,” he said. “They’re not getting the recognition they should.”
“They’re the ones who catch hell,” he continued, pointing to UN operations in Kosovo and Rwanda. “They should be looked after a lot better than they are.”