|
|
Following an article with photographs on Reverend Pointon in a local newspaper , a veteran of the Korean War, who was a medical orderly ( stretcher bearer ) told the newspaper , amongst other memories, the following.
|
|
"There was a lot of fighting and a lot of men got killed.
|
|
That is when I came across the Rev.Pointon. Brigade headquarters were set up a little way back from the front line and the padre used to hold church services in a big army marquee in a field.
|
|
I never spoke to him but I went to one of his services. It was a great comfort to have someone like him there. He was very easy going, very reassuring.We were just young men fighting a war we did not know much about. He would talk about home and tell us we weren't on our own. We weren't forgotten. He made you feel as though you were doing something worthwhile.
|
|
He used to come up to the front line too and speak to the lads and I know he went to the hospital to talk to patients, although I never saw him there. He would visit the Korean wounded as well as our lads and some of them used to come and listen to his services.
|
|
We had two or three padres and they all did a great job. They gave comfort and reassurance to a lot of people. It was a funny kind of war. There wasn't action all the time so you had more time to think and some of the lads got very agitated . The padres were somebody to turn to. It was not a thankful job . Where we were bullets were flying about and they were not armed. They could get killed the same as everyone else . They weren't forced to be there and a lot of soldiers looked up to them. They were brave men.
|
|
