General Sir Francis George Hassett AC KBE CB DSO LVO (Rtd) as the lieutenant colonel Commanding Officer 3rd Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR), Korea 1951-1952, interviewed by Colonel David Chinn MBE (Rtd) Accession Number: S02653

Description

Hassett speaks of his service background and experience, as well as training; appointment to command 3 RAR in Korea; the coordination involved in taking over from another battalion in the line; his leadership style and its impact on the battalion; the experience and performance of the servicemen under his command; the operational environment in Korea - climatic conditions, food, clothing, equipment, hygiene; his view of the United States Army's tactics, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese infantry; intelligence available for the planning of operations; patrolling in maintaining control of 'no man's land' beyond the defensive positions; the United Nations' use of minefields in protecting defensive positions; preparations for and conduct of Operation Commando, the assault on Hill 317 (Maryang San), including the reactions of the defending Chinese infantry; his view of the British Commonwealth and United States Army policies regarding patrolling, especially the policy of taking Chinese prisoners to update allied intelligence as imposed on the 28th British Commonwealth Brigade; the casualty evacuation system; the combat-effectiveness of the flanking Commonwealth and United Nations Command (UNC) forces at the time; relationships with the commanders of 28th British Commonwealth Brigade; administrative problems caused by individual leave breaks and brigade and battalion rest periods; the effect of higher command administrative policies on morale; the most testing and trying times as the Commanding Officer of 3 RAR with his view of higher commanders including the divisional commander and the corps commander.

Details

Accession Number
S02653
Recordist
Lenny Preston
Interviewer
Colonel David Alexander Chinn OBE
Recording studio
Classification
Sound
Object Type
Oral history
Physical Description
Brand: BASF DM 124
Carrier: digital audio tape (DAT)
Resolution: 16 bit
Sampling rate: 44.1kHz
Track: two track mono
Measurement
1 hr 25 min
Date Made
10 August 2001
Place Made
Whole/Part
Intellectual record
Item Count
1
Credit Line
AWM Oral History Program
Access
Open
Copying Provisions
Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Copyright
AWM copyright

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Last modified: 3 November 2026 - 6.12 am