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 Fighting in 1950

During July the ROK Army had been reconstituted and the American commitment substantially increased. The field formations of both countries were now under operational control of Lieut.-General Walton H. Walker's Eighth U.S. Army, whose headquarters had moved to Korea from Japan and was responsible to the U.N. Command in Tokyo. The United Nations air forces, which already included an Australian squadron, dominated the skies. Meanwhile American and British naval units blockaded the Korean coast and, without enemy interference, continued to land reinforcements and supplies for the ground forces.

Thus strengthened and effectively supported from air and sea, General Walker's troops were able to offer increasing resistance and even, on occasion, to strike back at the North Koreans. Nevertheless they continued to withdraw until, in the first week of August, they held only the south-east corner of the peninsula. This position, which embraced Taegu (the temporary ROK capital) and the port of Pusan, was known as the "Pusan Perimeter". Here the Eighth Army stood firm, beating off all further enemy attacks, recapturing some lost ground, and all the while building up for offensive operations.

On 15 September, by which time the NKPA was itself on the defensive, the l0th U.S. Corps made an amphibious landing near Inchon, 20 miles west of Seoul. The whole area of the former capital was recaptured before the month's end. Meanwhile the Eighth Army had broken out of the Pusan Perimeter to link up with the lOth Corps. At the beginning of October General MacArthur called on the North Koreans to surrender, but they did not do so. Less than a week later the enemy's last organized defences south of the 38th Parallel had crumbled, and elements of the ROK Army had advanced some 60 miles into North Korea.

The Political Committee of the U.N. General Assembly now met to consider what action should follow. The Soviet bloc contended that hostilities in Korea should cease and all foreign forces quit the country. Most of the nations which had supported the intervention favoured a British resolution that "all appropriate steps be taken to ensure conditions of stability throughout Korea". By this resolution (which the General Assembly accepted on 7 October) the U.N. Commander was, in effect, authorized to carry on operations north of the 38th Parallel.

On 9 October American troops crossed this line in an advance on Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Two days later a ROK division captured the eastern port of Wonsan before the 10th Corps could deliver there a repetition of its Inchon landing which had been planned. On the third day Pyongyang fell to the Americans. While the Eighth Army swept up the west coast, the 10th Corps advanced inland from Wonsan. The advance in the western sector was the more spectacular; on 26 October, South Korean elements under General Walker's command reached the Yalu River, the north boundary of Korea. Elsewhere across the front resistance now increased and, before the end of the month, the enemy counter-attacked. This resulted in a general withdrawal to the Chongchon River, about 60 miles south of the Yalu. From a tactical point of view alone, it was not surprising that the U.N. advance should suffer some setbacks; for, being largely roadbound, it had not been maintained on a continuous front. But a more formidable and significant factor was that Communist China, which had said earlier that it would not remain inactive if the United Nations entered North Korea, had intervened with substantial forces.

During November the U.N. forces again made advances and regained much ground. On the 24th General MacArthur started a general offensive intended "to end the war". On the 26th, however, the Chinese launched a massive attack in the west, followed two days later by one in the east. The battered 10th U.S. Corps established a defensive perimeter about the port of Hungnam, through which evacuation by sea was completed the day before Christmas. The Eighth Army also was forced to withdraw, and by the middle of December held positions along the Imjin River, 200 miles south of the Yalu.

No Canadian ground forces had taken part in these operations; though some were now in the theatre, and others were soon to arrive.