Jim Wood, of Roselands Avenue, was stationed in Korea in 1953 during the American withdrawal.
The 89-year-old was tank commander for the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars and operated a Centurion Mark III Tank.
A tank of this type, which was used in the Korean war, is situated outside Eastbourne's Redoubt Fortress — and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Jim is living next door to the tank he once operated.
The picture below was snapped in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, by a war correspondent in 1953 and Jim remembers the moment well.
Jim's tank in action. (cb07021j)
He said, "There were four of us inside and in the picture I am halfway out of the tank.
"I looked down and I suddenly saw this war correspondent jump onto a jeep that was travelling in front of us and he just popped up and took the photograph."
The soldiers were given a copy of the picture shortly after it was taken by the photographer.
Jim was born on October 22, 1919 and grew up in Hackney, London. He started to train as a civil engineer before serving in the Second World War.
Upon leaving the army Jim worked across the world — Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Middle East and North Yemen are just some of the locations on his list.
But he was called back to serve in the Korean war.
"We did the covering of the American retreat," he said.
"They had lots of men out there and they wanted to get them out first so we covered the position."
Jim came to live in Eastbourne in 1984 and before retiring worked for Llewellyns in South Street.
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