Lenny Henry’s tear-jerker

Every so often a programme comes along that completely alters the way you think about something you thought you understood. It’s 60 years since the end of the Korean war on 27 July 1953 and last Friday the World Service marked the occasion by rebroadcasting an interview from the Witness series. These short programmes, often just ten minutes, give us little-known stories from history told by those who experienced them. Their brevity focuses the mind, enhances the impact.

David Hawkins was just 17 when he was sent out to Korea from the USA to fight against the communists of the North. Injured almost immediately, he found himself in a PoW camp called ‘Death Valley’ because it was so cold, minus 42 degrees. He lost a toe from frostbite and found himself sharing a room with the stiffened cadavers of those who could not survive the freezing conditions. He and his fellow inmates propped up the bodies pretending they were still alive so that they could claim the extra food rations from the prison guards.