Canada's Army in Korea

Canada's Army in Korea Preface The First Canadians in Korea Background of the Conflict Formation of the CASF The Fighting in 1950 Canadian Troops in Action Political Aspects The Patricias at Kapyong Training at Fort Lewis The 25th Brigade Goes In Early RCN Operations The 25th Brigade in Action, 1951 The 2nd RCR at Chail-li Political Developments During June 1951 Canadian Operations During June and July Formation of the 1st Commonwealth Division Across the Imjin The "Rotation" of Canadian Troops Enemy Attacks During November The Political Front, July-December 1951 Holding the Line, 1951-1953 The First General Rotation Patrols Against the Boot and Hill 113 Canadian Troops on Koje Island The RCR on Hill 355 The Patricias' Second Rotation Winter on the Hook Korean Personnel with the Canadian Forces The Second General Rotation The End of the Fighting The Attack on the 3rd RCR Political Developments, 1952-53 Administration Behind the Canadian Brigade, Juny 1951-July 1953 Supporting Arms Air Support and Supply The RCN in Korean Waters, May 1951-July 1953 The Toll of the War Conclusion Main Provisions of the Armistice Agreement The Canadians After the Armistice Canadian Troops Withdraw Korea in Retrospect Books and Articles for Further Reading Abbreviations

[edit] Main Provisions of the Armistice Agreement

For the last two weeks of Korean operations the 25th Canadian Brigade held Hill 159 and Hill 355 in the 1st Commonwealth Division's right sector; the 28th Commonwealth Brigade had taken over the left and the 29th British the centre. Between the cease-fire and the end of July 1953, the Division withdrew to the Imjin River, occupying much the same area as it had on its inception two years before. This was in compliance with the Armistice Agreement, which began:

A Military Demarcation Line shall be fixed and both sides shall withdraw two (2) kilometres from this line so as to establish a Demilitarized Zone...a buffer zone to prevent the occurrence of incidents which might lead to a resumption of hostilities.

The Demarcation Line, which followed the final line of contact, dipped close to twenty miles south of the 38th Parallel in the west and rose sharply to about forty miles north of it on the east coast.

Within sixty days after the signing of the Armistice Agreement, all prisoners of war were to be turned over to joint committees under the supervision of a Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission. Five nations were represented in this body - Czechoslovakia, India, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland - the chairman being India's Lieut.-General K. S. Thimayya. By 6 September the Communists had returned about 12,750 captives (including the remaining 30 members of the Canadian Army), and the United Nations 75,000.

Prisoners who did not want to go home were to remain the responsibility of the Repatriation Commission for the next four months; the Commission entrusted their care to a special custodian force, the 190th Indian Infantry Brigade.

Representatives of both sides were permitted to interview captives of their own nationality to explain to them their rights and to "inform them of any matters relating to their return to their homelands, particularly of their full freedom to return home to lead a peaceful life". This resulted in the exchange of some 620 more Chinese and North Koreans (out of 22,600) for nine out of 360 U.N. and South Korean prisoners. By January 1954 the political conference which was supposed to decide on a final disposition of the remaining captives still had not been held; nor did it appear that such a meeting would take place before the Repatriation Commission disbanded. Towards the end of the month, therefore, General Thimayya returned the "non-repatriables" to their captors, who granted them civilian status and released them. The majority of the Chinese were admitted to Formosa; most of the North Koreans stayed in the Republic of Korea. In July 1955 three of 21 Americans who had chosen to live under Communism were returned to the United States at their own request. The Repatriation Commission and the Indian custodian force duly left Korea in February 1954. But the release of war prisoners was still not quite complete. One Canadian remained a prisoner of the Communists until sixteen months after the cease-fire - Squadron-Leader A. R. MacKenzie of the RCAF. Fifteen American airmen were held until the summer of 1955. Whether other U.N. prisoners remain in Communist hands is not known.

Both sides had reached their peak strengths just before the end of hostilities. At that time the Communist Chinese forces in Korea included an estimated 57 divisions, and the North Korean People's Army 18 divisions and seven independent brigades. The final total enemy troop strength is believed to have been about 1,160,000-880,000 Chinese and 280,000 North Korean - plus a number of Russian technical troops. The United Nations ground forces in Korea included 25 divisions (sixteen South Korean, eight American or predominantly American, and the 1st Commonwealth Division), and numbered 550,000. These were made up as follows:

• Republic of Korea......276,000
• United States..........237,000
• Commonwealth........... 20,000
• Other.................. 17,000

Under the terms of the Armistice, neither side was to increase the number of non-Korean forces in the country after the fighting. This had certain effects on the rate and on the mechanics of rotation, but did not radically alter the policy. Troops entering or leaving the theatre were to do so only through certain authorized ports, five in South Korea and five in the North. Ports and other areas outside the Demilitarized Zone were the responsibility of a Neutral Nations Supervisory Council and Neutral Inspection Teams. To supervise and maintain the Demilitarized Zone itself a Military Armistice Commission was set up, composed of five senior officers from each side; these were assisted by ten Joint Observer Teams.