War memories endure for Geelong veteran

FOR Laurie Price, service was part of family life, but it is his own time in Korea that has stayed with him.

The West Geelong local served for 15 months in the Korean war as an armourer with the RAAF’s No. 77 Squadron.

He enlisted in the Air Force in search of “a completely different life”, hoping to escape an apprenticeship that had him starting work at midnight.

With little understanding of his father’s own wartime experience at Gallipoli, Price was confronted by the reality of conflict.

He still recalls a difficult period over Christmas during his deployment.

While on duty, he farewelled two men heading out on a mission from the airfield. They never returned. Price believes he may have been the last person to see them.

The next day brought another close call.

 

 

“Intelligence said there was going to be an enemy paratrooper drop on the airfield, and me and another bloke had to go out in the foxhole,” he said.

After two hours in temperatures consistently below -20C, they were told the drop had been called off.

“If the drop had gone ahead, I don’t think I would have come home,” Price said.

Long, sleepless nights were common, with small aircraft dropping bombs nearby to keep soldiers unsettled ahead of the next day of fighting.

Experiences like those, Price said, often left servicemen questioning their role.

“Sometimes you think, ‘Are we doing the right thing or not?’,” he said.

Service, however, ran deep in the Price family.

Five of six children followed their father into uniform. Price served in Korea, one brother went from New Guinea to Japan, and another served in the Air Force during the Malayan Emergency.

One of his sisters also joined the Air Force, while another worked in transmission in Wagga Wagga.

Their father, meanwhile, served six months at Gallipoli and was among the last to leave, before joining the Light Horse Brigade in Palestine where he was seriously wounded at the Battle of Romani. He later worked as an engine driver transporting troops during the second world war.

For most of his life, Price knew little of that history.

“He survived the war and never spoke about it. I didn’t find out until he after he died, and I got his records,” he said.

Price has remained closely involved with the veteran community, becoming president of the Norlane RSL at just 25 and later a life member of the TPI Association.

Remembrance remains a family tradition.

For years, Price accompanied his father to watch the Malop Street march before heading to the Geelong RSL. It is a ritual he continues today.