Korea remembered

For most local people, their knowledge of this ‘forgotten war’ is limited to the U.S. dark comedy, ‘MASH’ which, while ostensibly set in Korea, was actually a biting commentary on America’s role in Vietnam.

But on Ballymena’s War Memorial the names of two local men who were killed in action while fighting with the Royal Ulster Rifles in Korea are recorded.

They are Cpl. W. Lorimer 7015373 and Rfn. J. Shannon 7014292.

The 1st Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles were engaged in several bitter actions during their time in Korea but they are most closely connected with the Battle of the River Imjin when, along with two other famous regiments, they fought a vital delaying action against hordes of advancing Chinese troops, but at a heavy cost.

When the area was recaptured, a memorial was erected to the 208 men killed or missing after the battle.

It stood over-looking the battlefield till 1962 when Seoul’s growth threatened to consume it, and it was carried by HMS Belfast back to Ireland where it was the focus of the Regiment’s St Patrick’s Barracks in Ballymena.

When the barracks closed in 2008,the Imjin River Memorial was again moved, this time to the grounds of the Belfast City Hall.