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] Winter on the Hook

At the end of November General West began to redeploy his forces so that, instead of two brigades being forward and one in reserve, all three brigades were in the line and each had one battalion in reserve. The new arrangement afforded each brigade commander the advantages of a narrower front to control and of defence in depth; it also provided him with a ready counterattack force. The 28th Brigade continued to hold the Division's right sector, the British Brigade side-stepped to take over the centre of the front, and the Canadians moved up on the left. Brigadier Bogert assigned the Royal 22e to the Yongdong feature and the Patricias to the Hook, and placed the RCR (less one company under Lieut.-Colonel Wood's command) in reserve behind the PPCLI position.

The next two months proved to be a relatively quiet period, the chief activity being improvement of the defensive works, particularly on the Hook. This was a continuation of a project which the British had started early in November; and its importance had been demonstrated in the attack of the 18th-l9th, prior to which the Chinese artillery had flattened the open defences. The defenders, having tunnels in which to take shelter, had called down artillery fire on their own position and thus prevented its being overrun by the assaulting infantry. Immediately on the 25th Brigade's return to the front, a troop of the 23rd Field Squadron carried on with the tunnelling programme; and later the entire squadron, assisted by Korean labour, joined in. Although working in solid rock and frozen ground, in January 1953 alone they constructed over 70,000 cubic feet of tunnel. During the whole period in the line, the infantry - with RCE and Korean assistance - deepened and extended its trenches, reinforced command posts, observation posts and bunkers, and installed additional earthworks of all types.

Patrolling, while by no means neglected, was not as strongly emphasized as it had been in the early summer; nor, at least as far as the Canadians were concerned, did any more company raids take place. The enemy's artillery was considerably less active now than it had been in previous months, and his infantry refrained from attacks on any such scale as those against the RCR and the Black Watch in October and November. As a result of these conditions, Canadian casualties in December 1952 and January 1953 were 57 - 12 killed and 45 wounded - compared with 131 in May and June 1952 and 232 in September and October. Towards the end of December the RCR relieved the Patricias, the latter becoming brigade reserve. As before, the reserve battalion contributed one company to the battalion defending the Hook. The Royal 22e remained on the Yongdong feature until 30 January.

Next day, for the first time in the 18 months since its inception, the Commonwealth Division was withdrawn into reserve; its new location was about seven miles south-west of the Imjin-Hantan junction. Only the divisional artillery remained forward, its role being to support the relieving force, the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division. (As it included a number of non-American units, this formation was sometimes referred to, unofficially, as the 2nd U.N. Division.) The Commonwealth Division remained in reserve until early April, during which time it carried out training exercises on battalion, brigade and divisional levels. In the largest of these exercises, one directed by Corps Headquarters and code-named "Eveready", Divisional Headquarters together with all its brigade and battalion headquarters and the whole of the 29th Brigade counter-attacked a hypothetical enemy penetration in the Chorwon sector.