Korean War

Page 9 – The Bob Jagger photographs

Gunner Bob Jagger served with Kayforce in Korea from 1951 to 1954. During this time he took photographs on his box Brownie camera. A selection of these previously unpublished images are presented here, along with commentary provided by Bob.

Bob Jagger was brought up in rural Wairarapa, where his father was a cheesemaker at Rongokako. He started his working life on a farm at 15 before moving on to a job with the Featherston Co-operative Dairy Company. He worked as a cheesemaker, also helping with buttermaking as it was a dual plant.

During the Second World War he served in the Home Guard in the Featherston area. In 1945, now old enough to enlist, he was about to go into camp when peace was declared.

Bob signed up for Korea in his mid-20s and served there for several years, enjoying the camaraderie and the sense of purpose. When he went to war, he packed a box Brownie in his kitbag. The resulting photos reflect the nature of a soldier’s daily life and work in a war zone. Bob’s recollections of the Korean War emerged as he chatted about the photos and shared his anecdotes in order to create the captions.

These and other images from the Bob Jagger collection were collected by Sue Corkill for prublication in Korea: a Kiwi gunner's story (Fern Publishing, 2014).

Images from the Bob Jagger photograph collection

Click on a thumbnail below to see the full image and commentary:

 
How to cite this page

'The Bob Jagger photographs', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/korean-war/bob-jagger-photographs, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 19-Oct-2022