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STATE LIBRARY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA J. D. SOMERVILLE ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION OH 644/6 Full transcript of an interview with GERRY HARRISON on 22 May 2002 By Rob Linn Recording available on CD Access for research: Unrestricted Right to photocopy: Copies may be made for research and study Right to quote or publish: Publication only with written permission from the State Library OH 644/6 GERRY HARRISON NOTES TO THE TRANSCRIPT This transcript was created by the J. D. Somerville Oral History Collection of the State Library. It conforms to the Somerville Collection's policies for transcription which are explained below. Readers of this oral history transcript should bear in mind that it is a record of the spoken word and reflects the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources. The State Library is not responsible for the factual accuracy of the interview, nor for the views expressed therein. As with any historical source, these are for the reader to judge. It is the Somerville Collection's policy to produce a transcript that is, so far as possible, a verbatim transcript that preserves the interviewee's manner of speaking and the conversational style of the interview. Certain conventions of transcription have been applied (ie. the omission of meaningless noises, false starts and a percentage of the interviewee's crutch words). Where the interviewee has had the opportunity to read the transcript, their suggested alterations have been incorporated in the text (see below). On the whole, the document can be regarded as a raw transcript. Abbreviations: The interviewee’s alterations may be identified by their initials in insertions in the transcript. Punctuation: Square bracket [ ] indicate material in the transcript that does not occur on the original tape recording. This is usually words, phrases or sentences which the interviewee has inserted to clarify or correct meaning. These are not necessarily differentiated from insertions the interviewer or by Somerville Collection staff which are either minor (a linking word for clarification) or clearly editorial. Relatively insignificant word substitutions or additions by the interviewee as well as minor deletions of words or phrases are often not indicated in the interest of readability. Extensive additional material supplied by the interviewee is usually placed in footnotes at the bottom of the relevant page rather than in square brackets within the text. A series of dots, .... .... .... .... indicates an untranscribable word or phrase. Sentences that were left unfinished in the normal manner of conversation are shown ending in three dashes, - - -. Spelling: Wherever possible the spelling of proper names and unusual terms has been verified. A parenthesised question mark (?) indicates a word that it has not been possible to verify to date. Typeface: The interviewer's questions are shown in bold print. Discrepancies between transcript and tape: This proofread transcript represents the authoritative version of this oral history interview. Researchers using the original tape recording of this interview are cautioned to check this transcript for corrections, additions or deletions which have been made by the interviewer or the interviewee but which will not occur on the tape. See the Punctuation section above.) Minor discrepancies of grammar and sentence structure made in the interest of readability can be ignored but significant changes such as deletion of information or correction of fact should be, respectively, duplicated or acknowledged when the tape recorded version of this interview is used for broadcast or any other form of audio publication. 2 J.D. SOMERVILLE ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA: INTERVIEW NO. OH 644/6 Interview with Mr Gerry Harrison recorded by Rob Linn at Henley Beach, South Australia, on the 22nd May 2002 for The State Library of South Australia South Australians at War Oral History Project 2002. TAPE 1 SIDE A [Tape ID comments] Gerry, what’s your full name, please? Gerald Francis Harrison. And where and when were you born? Born at Semaphore, 15th March 1933. Tell me a bit about your schooling, Gerry. Semaphore Catholic Primary School, LeFevre Secondary, Christian Brothers College, Wakefield Street, Rostrevor College out at Magill. On leaving school I went to Thomas Cook working as a travel agent, and I then became aware that I was likely to be called up for the National Service program which was beginning in 1951. They called for volunteers to go to a training company before they set up the National Service scheme to see if their training programs were adequate, so, in October 1950, I did the three months at Woodside and then came out and returned to my unit of the CMF – 3rd/9th South Australian Mounted Rifles out at Unley – but by this time the Korean War was going and I decided to volunteer. I duly joined the Army as a volunteer. We’ll come to the Army service in just a tick. Okay. Just tell me a bit about your parents – who were they? Well, both my parents are now deceased, but at the time my mother agreed if I wanted to do it that was my choice. My father was against it. What were their names, Gerry? I prefer not to say. 3 Okay. My father was against it, so I forged his signature on the application form to join the Army. This is when you were eighteen, was it? Seventeen. Seventeen. Yes. So (laughs) there was a big to-do in the house. Yes. My mother was supportive of it; she said, ‘It’s your life – you do what you want to do with it.’ She was disappointed, naturally, but I have no regrets whatever about joining the Army. Gerry, did any members of your family have previous experience in military service? No, no. No. My sister, she had nothing to do with the forces. I may have had a great-grandfather in the Navy – I wouldn’t be sure, though. No uncles? No. No. During the War, they were in essential services. They were boat-builders, so they were exempted from armed forces. Well, Gerry, one of the things you just started to tell me was about your Army career, so could you give me an outline of how that spanned out, please? Originally I was in the School Cadets at Rostrevor College, and from Rostrevor College when I left school I joined the 3rd/9th South Australian Mounted Rifles out at Unley. Later I became aware that I was likely to be called up to do National Service in 1951, so I volunteered for the volunteer company which they were using as a training company to see that the training syllabus for National Service in 1951 would be okay. So in October 1950 I did the three months at Woodside, and when we’d completed that three months we went back to our original units, and then by this time, of course, the Korean War was going on and they were calling for volunteers to go into the Special K Force, which was a two-year voluntary service. That’s K Force, is it? 4 Yes, Special K Force. So I resigned from the 3rd/9th South Australian Mounted Rifles and enlisted, and a fortnight after signing on I was up in Ingleburn in New South Wales, where we were doing forced marches, weapon training and all the other recruit training that we do. Were you a private at that time? Yes, at that time, yes, I was a private. From Ingleburn we went by ’plane to Japan, and I arrived in Japan in April 1951, and I was posted to the 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment in Korea. But prior to going to Korea I had to go through the Battle Training School at Haramura, which is situated just outside of Hiro in Southern Japan. Do you know how to spell Haramura? H-A-R-A-M-U-R-A, Haramura. I don’t know how the Japanese do it, but that’s the way we spelt it. And Hiro was H-I-R-O. We also had a big base at Kure, K-U-R-E. We were flown from Japan, after completing our Battle Training School, we were flown from Japan to Pusan in South Korea, and then we were trucked from Pusan up to the front lines – up to the battalion holding area, before we were allocated duties with the various companies and platoons. Okay, so seeing this is, at this point, just an overview, Gerry, of your experience, so you served there for how long at the front line? I volunteered again to sign on and I did two tours in the front line, 1951-52 and ’52- 53, and I left the front line or the battalion in June 1953. And what was your rank by that time? I was a lance-corporal by this time. And I went back to Japan and I was there until November 1953. I had been wounded twice whilst on active service – shot in the leg once and a shrapnel wound in the chest the second time – but I was young, mad, stupid, and my two-year service was coming up for discharge and I re-signed to the Australian Regular Army, which was for another seven years. So I re-signed in Japan because my time was virtually coming up for discharge, so I volunteered again for another lot. And tell me about that experience, Gerry: what were your ranks through there, and where did you serve? 5 When we returned from Japan in November ’53, came back to Adelaide, and I was allocated for duty at Torrens Parade Ground training CMF and National Servicemen.

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