Pair: Private K. Snowdon, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, wounded in action at the Battle of the Hook, 13 June 1953

Korea 1950-53, 1st issue (22369092. Pte. K. Snowdon. D.W.R.) last digit of number double-struck; U.N. Korea 1950-54, unnamed as issued, traces of acid cleaning to first, the suspension partly broken and partly re-soldered on second, therefore good fine (2) £80-120

K. Snowdon served with the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in Korea, and was wounded in action at the Battle of the Hook on 13 June 1953.

‘The Battle of the Hook was probably the last full-scale infantry battle, fought on traditional lines, that the world will ever see. It was also a classic set-piece example of a battalion in defence and was, in terms of steel, the biggest battle of the Korean War, and the most concentrated confrontation of artillery support and engineering effort since the First World War. In it the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, supported by the Black Watch, defeated and completely routed a fanatical Chinese army who attacked them over a period of some fifteen days with incredible ferocity. The Chinese losses were so great that they never attempted such assaults again. It was a turning point of the Korean War and a triumph of British Arms.’ (Fortune Favours the Brave, by A. J. Barker refers).