Peter Smith
1933- Present
Peter Smith, a humble man, enlisted into the navy at 17 years old. Smith had
an army background, as his family served in conflicts of war so it was only
natural that Smith served in the Korean War. Smith boarded the HMAS Culgoa, one of
the nine Australian ships that went to war, we had the Canadians, American and British
navy by our side. Smith and his crew departed from Sydney via Darwin, to Hong Kong,
then landed on the east coast of South Korea. There, Smith and crews supplied
South Korean boats with food and essentials such as water, tea and sugar and fought in
the war from the sea.
On Thursday, Larissa, Erica and myself, interviewed Peter Smith in a board room within the school grounds. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming. Mr Smith was very enthusiastic about sharing his experiences and memories of war. Throughout the interview, it was noted that Mr Smith would recognise himself as not a hero, but just a regular man going into war. This demonstrates himself to me as a very humble man. Mr Smith was happy to provide us with secondary resources of the boat he boarded and information regarding the Korean War. We shared both solemn and humorous moments. I believe we all learnt significant information and received a further understanding of the mindset and individual experiences in the conflict of Korea .
Reflection of interview with Peter Smith by Kauri Hedley
