Joe Collett (colour sketch)

Joe Collett was wounded at The Battle of Imjin River, Korea, in 1951, while serving with The Gloucestershire Regiment.  Fortunately for Joe, he was evacuated out of the battle before his regiment were overrun by the Communist Chinese Army, where a large proportion of his regiment were killed or taken prisoner.  To this day he still feels guilty at being one of the lucky ones. He was also one of the last 8 surviving veterans from The Gloucestershire Regiment who were present at the Final Roll Call reunion at The Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum in October 2023.   His story, along with other veterans from the battle, has been published in the book “Final Roll Call”

LINK: https://soldiersofglos.com/product/final-roll-call-by-jack-russell-mbe-and-matthew-a-holden/

The original portrait was exhibited at the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum and is now in the artist’s private collection.