Don Allen (Korean War Veteran)
My name is Don Allen. I served with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment in Korea. I started my career in July of 1951. I joined the Army at Halifax. I was sent to Wainwright, from Wainwright to Petawawa, where I joined the 1st Battalion, Airborne, and shipped to Korea in August of 1952.
During my time in Korea, I was with “B” Company of the 1st Battalion. We were on Hill 355. We also were on Hill 227, and that was referred to as ‘The Hook’. That particular position… the Marines actually had the position before we took it over, and they had lost four of their men on a little bridge that was far down into the valley, and they wanted to recover the bodies. On that particular night, myself and a fellow from Newfoundland were sent out to get as close to the bridge as possible to make sure there was no enemy there, and the Americans wanted to recover those bodies. However, that did not happen, as there was also a sniper who was active in the area. We got down as far as we could and we came under fire, and had to retreat back.
Following Korea with the 1st Battalion, I was returned a month before the 1st Battalion came home. During that time, when I was on leave, I was sent to 2nd Battalion, RCR, which was also airborne, and at that time in the fall I was sent with the 2nd Battalion to Germany with the NATO forces for two years. Following that, I was sent to Egypt with the United Nations Emergency Force, which was very interesting, and at times one could consider it somewhat dangerous as well. I spent a total of twelve years in the military.
