'He wanted to serve his country, but it ultimately cost him his life'

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, please be advised the following article contains names and images of deceased people.

A young man’s face smiles out from a slightly faded photograph.

The photograph was found by a widow clearing out an old briefcase that belonged to her late husband, along with a two-page letter written in blue ballpoint pen.

The picture was of the brother-in-law she had never met, her husband’s older brother, Edward “Toby” Hazel, of the Waka Waka Nation, who was killed in Korea before she was married.

One of more than 60 Indigenous Australians who served during the Korean War, Toby had written to his parents to let them know he was “over in Korea at last”. His wife, Gloria, and six-month old son, Edward, would be visiting his parents soon, but he didn’t know when.

Toby’s unit, the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), had been “out of the lines for a while”, but was now “only about three miles behind the lines” and would be going “up to the front on Sunday night”.

It was a prospect the 28-year-old found unnerving. He confessed to feeling “a bit windy about the thought [of] going into action”, but tried to reassure his parents, “I suppose it will be okay after I get used to it.”

Thirteen days later, on 25 June 1953, Toby Hazel was dead. He was killed in action on the third anniversary of the start of the conflict in Korea, and just over a month before an armistice that brought the fighting to an end.

Today, that letter is part of the National Collection at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

For historian Michael Kelly, Hazel’s story is particularly poignant.

“It must have been absolutely awful for his family,” Kelly said.

“His son was still a baby and he would have had very little contact with him, which is very sad, like so many of these stories are.”

Toby Hazel was born in Gayndah, Queensland, on 13 March 1925, the eldest son of Sydney and Hetty Hazel. He grew up in Gayndah and attended the local state school, leaving to find work when he was 13 years old.

“At the time it was only a very small school with one teacher, and he was a pretty good student,” Kelly said.

“He was also an excellent rugby league player and was a well-known sports person in the local area. He just loved anything outdoors.”

After the family moved to nearby Biggenden, Hazel held a variety of jobs, working as a stockman and drover, a farm hand, and a road worker.

In early 1951, he travelled to Brisbane, where he enlisted in the Australian Regular Army on 25 January.

“The Korean War had been raging for six months,” Kelly said. “But there is no way of knowing whether his decision to become a soldier was in response to the conflict or whether it was prompted by a more general national recruiting campaign being conducted at the time. Whatever the motive, the opportunities and relative security of service life would have been understandably attractive.”

Toby’s younger brother, Claud, also served, joining the Royal Australian Air Force in August 1952. When Toby wrote to his parents from Korea, he responded to the news that his brother Ronald, who was about to turn 18, was also about to join up. “Well Mum you just about have all your sons in the services soon,” he wrote. “Better get David [their youngest brother] to join the boy scouts, then he will be in [uniform] too.” 

A month after Toby enlisted, he was posted to 11 National Service Training Battalion at Wacol, Brisbane.

“He was still with the unit when he married his sweetheart Gloria at Urangan on 19 April 1952,” Kelly said. “Their son, Edward, was born in early 1953 and the only blemish on his record was when he went AWOL – absent without leave – to go home for a night on the 28th of June 1952, probably to see his new wife.”

After completing his initial training, Hazel was posted to the 4th Training Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, for training as an infantryman.

 “It was the training battalion for the army at that stage,” Kelly said. “And was primarily engaged in training reinforcements for Korea.”

Hazel was posted to Japan in February 1953, and spent several months at the Reinforcement Holding Unit, training for front line service in Korea.

He arrived in Korea on 2 June and joined the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, the following day. He wrote what would be the final letter to his parents just days before 3RAR returned to the front line.

“At this time 3RAR was actually outside the line, waiting to go up, and that’s when he wrote the letter back home,” Kelly said. “He’s only up in the line for just over a week, and he’s on a position known as Hill 159, when it gets mortared by the Chinese, and he’s hit in the head by a piece of shrapnel, dying from a compound skull fracture soon after.”

Hazel’s remains were taken to Pusan, where he was laid to rest with full military honours in the United Nations Cemetery.

Today, his name is listed on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial, among the names of 340 soldiers, sailors and airmen who died during the Korean War.

For Kelly, it’s important to tell their stories.

“The stories of these men are all unique,” Kelly said.

“They are all on the Roll of Honour in equality, regardless of rank, but each one is a different person, a different story ...

“Being able to honour a man, who from what I can see, was trying to do the right thing by his family and provide for them in the way he thought best is really important ...

“His is a uniquely Australian story because of his Indigenous heritage …

“It didn’t matter who you were — race, colour, creed — they were serving their country and their own sense of nation as well.

“His letter home gives us an insight into what his service was like in Korea and what he was thinking ...

“He shares his trepidations and admits to being a bit nervous about going up to the front …

“Some guys say they’re looking forward to it in their letters, and maybe that’s just bravado covering their nerves, but Hazel was actually pretty honest.

“He’s writing to his mum and dad, talking about his wife and child coming to stay with them, just basic life stuff, but the fact he was honest enough to say he was scared, says something for him as well.

“He wanted to serve his country, but it ultimately cost him his life.

“The Korean War has often been called the Forgotten War, but in recent years, a lot more has been done to recognise Korea and to highlight our veterans and their stories ...

“It’s been well overdue, but they are certainly not forgotten anymore.”

Edward "Toby" Hazel is one of more than 60 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander soldiers known to have served during the Korean War. The Memorial’s Indigenous Liaison Officer Michael Bell has been working to identify and research the extent of the contribution and service of people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who have served, who are currently serving, or who have any military experience and/or have contributed to the war effort. A proud Ngunnawal/Gomeroi man, he is interested in further details of the military history of all those people and their families. He can be contacted via Michael.Bell@awm.gov.au

For more information about Indigenous service, visit here.