Memories of Service 5 - Peter Couling

Going with his father to see the battleship HMS Ramilles set Peter Couling on a course that led to the New Zealand Navy. Joining at 18, he soon found himself bound for Korea where his ship escorted convoys from Japan to Pusan. He was also on hand to see the battleship USS Missouri fire its guns in anger for the first time since World War II. That was in the early stages of the Incheon Landings. In this interview he also talks about going on parade in London for King George VI’s funeral. Back home he headed south with Sir Edmund Hillary and the Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

We were in battle conditions, which meant all the doors, watertight doors, portholes, had to be closed. So you were living in a ship with just electric light, stuffy and smelly.

– Peter Couling

Key Cast & Crew

David Blyth

Director, Interviewer, Producer

Patricia Stroud

Producer, Research

Stephen Latty

Camera, Sound

Jed Town

Composer

Edward Larsen

Editor