Rice instead of mines.
A report from the Commonwealth Brigade in Northern Korea dated October 16th 1950 says that a British Staff Sergeant and an Australian Private saved the lives of a North Korean family who had sat down by the side of the road for two days praying for a miracle, after finding that their paddy field and sole source of food for the coming winter had been mined by retreating North Korean troops. The Staff Sergeant and the Private went into that field, risking their lives to defuse the mines and save Lee Che Con’s family, after several UN troops had driven past. Of course it helped that the Staff Sergeant was in bomb disposal and didn't like chocolate so he stopped to give his rations to the children. But for a miracle to happen it also requires the courage to do what these men did that day, knowing they could be toast at any time. I know this story because the Staff Sergeant was my father John Scofield of Dundee. The Private was Alywn McGrath.
Submitted 12 July 2024
by Marion Quinn
