Jack Russell: Former cricketer paints Korean War vets

Some of the last surviving veterans of the Korean War have been immortalised in a series of portraits.

Former England cricketer turned artist Jack Russell will exhibit them next year, to mark 70 years since the veterans returned home.

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Gloucestershire Regiment were hailed as heroes, following the decisive Battle of the Imjin River in 1951.

"It's just an honour really, I'm loving every minute," Mr Russell said.

"I grew up with the stories of the regiment because my driving instructor, Sergeant Henry Pegler, was at the Battle of Imjin River.

"So a lot of my lessons weren't much about driving really," he said.

Mr Russell has been painting the portraits in the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum.

His current sitter is Tommy Clough, 91, from Staverton, Gloucestershire.

"I'm very much at home here. It's quite a privilege to be painted by somebody as famous as Jack, and I'm greatly honoured," he said.

"I've been told I'm immortal."

Mr Clough was a gunner with 170 Mortar Battery, part of a United Nations force dispatched to Korea in 1950 when the communist North Koreans invaded South Korea without warning.

The "Glorious Glosters" suffered heavy casualties and more than 500 of its troops were captured in the Battle of Imjin.

Along with the remnants of the famous regiment, 18-year-old Mr Clough was captured by the Chinese and spent two-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war.

A series of the portraits will be exhibited next autumn, to remember 70 years on from when the soldiers finally came home.

Brigadier Martin Vine, from The Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, said the last six survivors of the battle represented the bravery of the whole battalion.

"It makes me proud, very proud, not just of being a Gloster, but of being British, and I hope people will appreciate that," he said.

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