NARHFLieutenant Laurence Beavis
Lieutenant Laurence Beavis served with the British Army in Korea from October 1950 to December 1951. He was a Platoon Commander with the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers which, incidentally is the British Regiment that was allied to the Elgin Regiment in 1929. Beavis, who was wounded twice in the War, is quoted as saying “One never forgets the good men we left behind,” making him one of the lucky ones. In other War stories Beavis recounts that being 6’4” he was the second tallest officer in the Battalion, the tallest being his Commanding Officer.
Beavis also tells the story of being chosen to lead a small night patrol to determine the water depth of the Imjim River that flowed through the land between the UN and Chinese sides. “With four good men, we set out just after dark and very cautiously approached the area of the river bank where they wanted the water depth measured to determine whether enemy infantry could wade across. Making sure that no one on the unfriendly side was doing the same thing, we decided that the two shortest men to man a light machine gun to give us cover. . . It was quite a cold night and rather than suffer a long hike back to our lines in soaking wet clothing and equipment, it was agreed that the correct attire for the job was boots only. It was summer time and we all had acquired deep tans above the waist. We must have been quite a sight as our white derrieres disappeared into the darkness.”
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