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] The "Rotation" of Canadian Troops

The units of the 25th Canadian Brigade Group, while most of the original personnel were governed by CASF terms of service, had from their very beginning belonged to the Active (or Regular) Force; in other words, the distinction between Special Force and Active Force applied on an individual rather than on a unit level. But by January 1951 even this distinction had begun to disappear. During the next 18 months over 2700 members of the CASF were converted to the status of regular soldiers. The remaining Special Force personnel were returned to Canada, and to civil life, as close as possible to the end of their term of service.

In July 1951 the Canadian authorities arrived at a "rotation" plan, whereby units and individuals would be repatriated after approximately one year in the Far East. The first Canadians to be "rotated" as a unit were the 2nd Princess Patricias, the relieving battalion being the 1st Patricias. Two rifle companies of the 1st PPCLI arrived in the theatre on 5 October 1951. Battalion Headquarters, Headquarters Company and a third ride company followed three weeks later, and Support Company and the fourth rifle company early in November. The C.O., Lieut.-Colonel N. G. Wilson-Smith, flew to Korea in time to meet his first two companies on their arrival in the divisional area. The incoming companies were accommodated at a reception centre set up by the 2nd Patricias south of the Imjin-Hantan junction, where the troops began a short course in weapon and tactical training.

On 14 October these companies relieved two of Lieut.-Colonel Stone's companies on the latters' "Commando" objectives. Only two nights previously the 2nd Patricias had repulsed a counter-attack by an estimated battalion of the enemy, killing 17 - almost double its own losses of two killed and seven wounded. Facing the Commonwealth Division were the Chinese 64th Army's 190th and 191st Divisions. In order to inflict damage and casualties on the enemy and at the same time to obtain information regarding his lay-out, General Cassels ordered the 25th and 28th Brigades to carry out raids on certain known enemy positions. For these operations, which took place on 23 October, the Canadian Brigade provided one company of each battalion. Brigadier Rockingham named Hill 166 as the objective of the Royal 22e company, and allotted Hill 156 and another feature north of 166 to the Patricias and the RCR, respectively. The PPCLI company selected was "A" Company of the first battalion, which had taken over from "D" of the second.

The three Canadian companies moved off independently between 5:30 and 6:30 in the morning. The Royal 22e company was stopped short of its goal by heavy machine-gun fire. The supporting tanks and artillery, however, destroyed two enemy bunkers on 166; and British anti aircraft guns firing in a ground role, the Canadian Brigade diarist was to record, "placed their shots with amazing accuracy directly in the crawl trenches". In the meantime, the RCR and PPCLI companies had reached their objectives in the face of relatively light opposition. Pioneers attached to the RCR company mined and booby-trapped Chinese bunkers and trenches. The Patricias, having cleared Hill 156, directed artillery fire on other enemy-held features. All three companies were ordered to withdraw early in the afternoon, the move back being covered by a heavy smoke-screen. The operation had cost the Canadians five killed and 21 wounded, the enemy 37 known dead and as many more believed killed or wounded. On the morning of 4 November "D" Company of the 1st Patricias relieved "B" of the 2nd, and Colonel Stone's headquarters handed over to Colonel Wilson-Smith's. Support Company and the remaining rifle company of the 2nd PPCLI were to carry on under command of the first battalion until relieved by their "opposite numbers" on the 10th. On the day following the withdrawal of the main body, the 2nd Patricias paraded before the Eighth Army Commander, General Van Fleet, who congratulated the unit on its achievements in Korea and presented it with the Presidential Citation which it had won at Kapyong. Reinforcements who had joined the outgoing battalion too late to qualify for rotation were held in No. 25 Canadian Reinforcement Group, in Japan, until they could be absorbed by the 1st Patricias. In cases of later rotations by unit, the relieving battalions arrived in the theatre below their full strength, and the "ineligibles" of the departing units were absorbed immediately. Thus it was not uncommon for a soldier during his one-year tour of duty in the Far East to have served in two battalions.

Following its return home the 2nd PPCLI gradually reassembled at Currie Barracks, Calgary, to assume the former role of the first battalion in the defence of Canada. By this time the 1st RCR and 1st Royal 22e were preparing to relieve their second battalions in Korea.