Relaxing on the Imjin River
|
Here we are on the bank of the Imjin river, some time in '52. Note how modest we were for the camera, yet nearly all swam 'starkers'. The coy ones in our midst wore their underpants.-- Would you believe it!! Just a few years past I gave a snap of a mate in the 'altogether' hiding his manhood behind a tin of talcum powder - to his wife. She tore the bloody thing up on the spot. Anyway have a look at the ground we are negotiating in bare feet, I can barely walk barefooted on a lawn these days. You can see two water bottles in the shade to the left in the photo. Drinking river water was a no no, it was still fouled by decomposing bodies to this time. Good enough to swim and clean-up in, just don't drink or clean your teeth. The rare occasions that line troops got to visit the river were a joy beyond belief. Those times saw few if any mobile shower units within reach, and it was the norm to go for weeks without having more than a token wash. Water was a precious commodity in the line, and sometimes hard to deliver to the forward companies. |