Commodore Allen Nelson Dollard DSC RAN (Rtd) as Commanding Officer HMAS Murchison, Korea 1951-1952, interviewed by Lieutenant Commander Tony Hughes RANR

Accession Number S02803
Collection type Sound
Measurement 2 hr 21 min
Object type Oral history
Physical description 1/4 inch sound tape reel; BASF SM 468; 15 ips/38 cm.s; stereo; 10 inch NAB
Maker Dollard, Allen Nelson
Hughes, Anthony John
Australian War Memorial
Brassell, Bill
Date made 22 November 2002
Access Open
Conflict Korea, 1950-1953
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
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.
Source credit to AWM Oral History Program - Korea 1950-1953
Description

Dollard speaks of his entering the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay in 1932; following graduation, his training in various ships as a midshipman; his sea-going experience as a junior officer up to the outbreak of war in 1939; operational experiences in the Mediterranean Sea, later the Pacific Ocean, during the Second World War; instructional duties immediately post-war, then the pressures on the navy to produce ships and crews for the Korean War, while still demobilising from the Second World War; taking command of HMAS Murchison a frigate and his first command, for Korean service; frigate substitution for destroyers; limited refitting and training for the Korean deployment; reaction to the extreme cold of Korean waters and an initial problem with the fuel pumps on the first patrol; operations by HMAS Murchison on the Han River, western Korea; experiencing Typhoon Marge whilst anchored in Kure; replenishing HMAS Murchison with fuel, rations and ammunition; enemy shore batteries being the main threat to frigate operations close to the shore line and up rivers; working with ships of other navies, on United Nations duty, off Korea; the working of the honours and awards system; his ABC presentation in 1952 on the duties of UN naval forces and an overview of HMAS Murchison's service in Korean waters.