Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to acknowledge the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, which began on 25 June 1950 when North Korean forces invaded South Korea. Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Navy personnel fought to defend South Korea as part of the United Nations multinational force. The war ended on 27 July 1953, three years and one month, almost to the day, after it began, with some Australian defence personnel staying on as part of the peacekeeping force until 1957.

The Australian War Memorial has an extensive range of documents and artefacts relating to the Korean War. During my research I found that the United Nations Commission on Korea was established in 1948 to monitor the withdrawal of World War II occupation forces from Korea. However, in May 1950, as war loomed on the Korean peninsula, two Australian military observers, Major Peach and Squadron Leader Rankin, were on the ground monitoring activity. They were Australia's smallest peacekeeping contingent but were vitally important, as they were the only UNCOK observers in place when North Korea invaded South Korea. It was their report that proved North Korea had initiated hostilities that was the evidence that the UN needed to intervene.

Senator Dean Smith and I moved a Senate motion to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War last month. We moved that the Senate note that 25 June 2020 would mark the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War and that 24 April 2021 would mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Kapyong. The Battle of Kapyong is considered a decisive conflict that resulted in significant Australian sacrifice: 32 soldiers killed, 59 wounded and three imprisoned. The successful motion also noted the number of Western Australians who perished in the Korean War, those who have died since and the surviving veterans. However, the motion was also an acknowledgement of the more than 700 Tasmanians who fought in this war.

While many listening here today might know of the Korean War through historical studies or the popular US television series M*A*S*H, I have a personal connection to this conflict through my family that I would like to share with you today. My uncle Douglas, better known as Doug Bushby, worked as a UN accredited war correspondent during the Korean War, and my father, Max Bushby, OBE, joined his brother towards the end of the war as a correspondent too. In his role as a war correspondent, Doug Bushby covered the war itself, but he is better known for his films and photographs depicting the scenes that went on behind the conflict, which were caused by the war itself. Some of this work can be viewed at the Australian War Memorial, not far from here, with this exhibition accompanied by relics that my uncle brought home to Launceston with him when he returned. He subsequently donated many of these items to the War Memorial.

One of these items is a full-length feature film that Doug Bushby made about the Korean War, which was edited in Hollywood. But one of the most significant pieces is a photograph of my uncle holding a red, silk Communist peace flag and a certificate. The flag was taken from the Chinese lines at the Hook, which has also been documented as 'the bloody Hook' after being the scene of one of the final battles in this war. The Chinese flew four peace flags from their positions on a ridge line opposite the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 2RAR, just after the ceasefire came into force. The red flag my uncle held included signatures from two Australian lieutenants, a Chinese major and the Korean army's chief of staff, all of whom signed on the day peace was declared.

2RAR were stationed in Puckapunyal in Victoria prior to leaving for Korea on 5 March 1953 on board the MV New Australia. They arrived in Korea on 17 March and patrolled the no-man's-land to the north of UN lines, including sections of the Jamestown Line and the hill I referred to called earlier, called the Hook. On 24 July 1953, Chinese forces attacked 2RAR and a US marine regiment at the Hook, and this battle continued on 25 July. 2RAR held firm against these attacks, and the Chinese forces abandoned the Hook on the morning of 26 July. The armistice came into effect at 10 pm the following night.

My uncle was visiting the Australian troops just after the ceasefire in August 1953 and asked the Australian soldiers if they could make contact with the Chinese. This was arranged, and Doug Bushby gifted his wallet to English-speaking Chinese officer Hshwang Shon Kwang, asking if he could have one of the four flags in exchange. Two flags were retrieved from the ridge line, and the Chinese officer presented a red flag and a green flag to the Australians, inscribing both flags with Doug's pen. The red peace flag, which my uncle kept, says:

Presented by the Chinese People's Volunteers. We Chinese want peace and the British want peace too. We will unite to bring peace to the whole world.

The certificate my uncle holds in his left hand was a citation for service to the Chaplain Corps. It was presented to him by the Chief of Naval Operations of the Republic of Korea, Vice Admiral Park Ok-kyu, on 6 August 1953. My uncle published a translation of the citation in his book, Adventures in Revival. The inscription reads:

TO: DOUGLAS BUSHBY, United Nations War Correspondent. You have largely contributed to newly organised the Republic of Korea Navy as a member of War Correspondents to the United Nations from the period of April 1953 to August 1953. You have distributed a large quantity of religious tracts and pamphlets regardless the unfavourable conditions, in order to inspire the morale and encourage the religious faith among the officers and men of our Navy and Marine Corps. Especially you served in the fierce battle line under the shower of enemy shells by taking pictures of real battle scenes and spreading them throughout the United Nations. Therefore, I sincerely confer you this letter of appreciation. Mr Bushby, an Australian UN accredited War Correspondent and devout Christian, committed much of his time to relief and missionary work amongst Korean refugees, orphans and North Korean and Chinese prisoners of war.

As mentioned, while in Korea during the war my uncle spent a lot of time providing relief and conducting missionary work for the Korean refugees, orphans and North Korean and Chinese prisoners of war. There is another photo showing him being presented with a bunch of flowers by a North Korean prisoner of war and a prisoner-of-war chaplain, when he accompanied US Army chaplain Harold Voelkel on a visit to the Phnom Penh prisoner-of-war camp. During this visit, he preached to the prisoner-of-war congregation.

An opinion piece by Amanda Price, published in The Korea Times in May 2019, said:

Douglas (Doug) Bushby … is well known for his compelling images of the Korean War.

However, she writes further:

He is less well known for the hundreds of hours he dedicated to helping orphans, the wounded and POWs.

His standing within these communities in Korea was obviously significant, based on not only the accounts I've been told but also the inscription on the certificate from Rear Admiral Park Ok-gyu.

Doug Bushby's book Adventures in Revival includes several chapters depicting what he experienced during the Korean War and his mission work in the country with prisoners of war. The book also includes several of the photos he took as a war correspondent, including of the United Nations Honor Guard when the truce was signed and of the churches he found and the people he met. Interestingly, a copy of this book has been listed for sale on the British eBay site for US$100.

As Amanda Price wrote in her opinion piece that I mentioned earlier:

… no one was prepared for the sheer scope and force of the evil that would engulf the Korean Peninsula. No one anticipated that cities and villages on both sides would be razed, or that millions would lose everything they had, including their lives.

  …   …   …

To find even a faint silhouette of goodness during the Korean War was, understandably, beyond the grasp of many. Yet, amid the sulfurous clouds and charcoal smoke, such moments did exist.

The horror of the Korean War, of any war, is hard to fathom for those of us who have not served. However, it is through war correspondence, like my uncle and father shared, that we can gain some understanding.

Doug Bushby put himself on the line to help others, and it is that compassion to which I wish to pay tribute. I'm proud of the involvement of both my uncle and father in reporting stories of the Korean War, especially around the time of the armistice being signed. Through their storytelling, both men played an important role in sharing stories from this war 70 years ago. I note that I myself was fortunate to visit South Korea in 2005 as part of an APEC trip, and I actually stood in the DMZ where the armistice was signed. Standing in that room where both my uncle and my father had been for that historic moment was quite an emotional moment for me, as you can imagine.

It was an honour to co-sponsor the motion with Senator Dean Smith last month. Australian soldiers fought valiantly during the Korean War, and their sacrifice deserves to be recognised on such a significant anniversary.