1983 2013 The Patron of the BC/Yukon Branch: The Honourable Judith Guichon, OBC, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Winter 2013 Vol. 8 No. 1 Issue 15 60th Anniversary of Korean War BC Veteran Honoured With Grant of Arms by Carl A. Larsen The Korean War ended 60 years ago and has been dubbed The Canadian government “The Forgotten War”. Sandwiched between the Second World declared 2013 as the Year of War and the Vietnam War, it never really captured the public the Korean War Veteran. imagination. Over time, wars are usually defined by one specific 26,791 Canadians served in battle and for Canadians, it’s Vimy Ridge for the First World War Korean War in the Canadian and probably the Dieppe Raid for the Second. For Korea it has to Army, RCN and RCAF. be the Battle of Kapyong, Considered the perfect defensive battle, Only an estimated 9,900 are in that it delivered a resounding defeat to the attacking Chinese left, most in their eighties or and inflicted heavy casualties on them, for relatively few nineties. casualties among the Patricias (700 Patricias held Hill 677 against at least 5,000 Chinese, with 10 dead and 23 wounded for at least future. Stalin agreed to support an invasion of South Korea and 2000 casualties for the enemy). sent Soviet officers to plan the attack after he had obtained the There is also an interesting heraldic addendum. Fifty-one assurance of the Chinese that they would intervene, if necessary. years after the end of the Korean War, an officer who had served in the newly created 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian North Korea Attacks – South Korean Army Retreats to Pusan Light Infantry (2 PPCLI) received a gift of arms, flag and badge On 25 June 1950 an army of 150,000 North Korean troops for his officially unrecognized actions, leadership and bravery surged across the 38th parallel, supported by artillery, tanks and during the Battle of Kapyong. His name was Michael George aircraft and decisively routed the South Korean Army, occupying Levy, Lieutenant, 10 Platoon, D Company and we’ll meet him Seoul, the South Korean capital, within a few days. A UN later in the story. resolution branded North Korea an aggressor and called upon member states to aid South Korea. Twenty-one countries But First Some History responded and the UN Command was born. Korea became a colony of Imperial Japan in 1910. As the war By August, the remnants of the South Korean army, with a in Europe drew to an end in 1945, the Soviet Union declared war small contingent of US troops, was forced into the Pusan on Japan, invaded Korea, defeated the Japanese stationed there perimeter, 400 km to the southeast (see map on page 3). Pusan is and occupied the northern half of the country to the 38th parallel, only 200 km across the Korea Strait from Japan, where the US leaving the southern half to the Americans as agreed. The plan army of occupation was based, and it was from there that men and was to hold elections and reunite the country, but neither event equipment poured in to strengthen the defenders. Following the ever happened. The Russians withdrew in 1948, having ensured US amphibious landing on September 15 at Inchon, Seoul’s that the People’s Republic of North Korea (PRNK) was a full harbour, the UN forces at Pusan broke out the perimeter and the fledged Stalinist state with a large, well armed, well equipped two forces joined together, shattering North Korean forces and army of 223,000 men. The US facilitated a democratic driving them back across the 38th parallel. Seoul was liberated government in South Korea and withdrew in 1949, leaving a and UN forces moved northwards capturing the North Korean poorly equipped, poorly trained army of 95,000 men to fend for capital Pyongyang, continuing their advance to the Yalu River, themselves. Both North and South Korea wanted a united country the border between North Korea and China. It looked like the war but under very different regimes. was over and Korea would be united with a democratic By early 1950, China was firmly under Communist control government. But then the Chinese began crossing the Yalu River and the Soviets were testing atomic bombs, confident of their under cover of darkness and everything changed. 2 V.8 - N.1 - I.15 The BC/Yukon Blazon Con’t from Page 1 – 60th Anniversary THE BATTLE OF KAPYONG April 23-26, 1951 Cap Badge of Cap Badge of PPCLI Royal Australian Regiment Battlemap showing positions of 2 PPCLI and 3 RAR by Carl A. Larsen Prelude to Battle – flares and for the next 16 hours the Australians battled wave after Chinese Cross Yalu River into North Korea wave of Chinese, often in close combat, while all the Patricias During October and November 1950, 180,000 Chinese could do was watch and wait. Finally, with ammunition running Communist soldiers secretly crossed the Yalu River at night and low and in danger of being surrounded, they were ordered to positioned themselves in front of advancing UN forces. Their withdraw and the Chinese turned their attention to the Canadians. massive attack caught UN troops by surprise, turned their The first attack fell on B Company and was driven off with advance into a fighting retreat which did not end until they mortar fire and bayonets. A force of about 500 Chinese was crossed the 38th parallel and set up a new front 70 km south of spotted by Lieut. Hub Gray, advancing behind company positions Seoul, which fell to the Chinese in January 1951. to attack Battalion HQ and they were driven off with 50 calibre machine gun fire, leaving over 100 casualties behind. Had they Patricias Fight Major Battle at Kapyong been able to make it to the top unseen, the Battalion would likely The 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light have been wiped out. Infantry (2PPCLI) arrived in Korea in December 1950. It was D Company’s commander, Captain J. Mills, established his formed for service in the Korean War, consisted of volunteers and HQ over 100 metres away from his men and just over a rise, where was commanded by Lieut. Col. J. (“Big Jim) Stone, a decorated, he was not exposed to enemy fire but could not see his soldiers or Second World War combat officer. The Patricias were ordered anything of the battle. He left his platoon officers to make their into the line in February 1951 as part of the 27th Commonwealth own decisions and played no active part in the battle. However, at Infantry Brigade, which included two British battalions, along one point in the battle he called Battalion HQ on his radio and with the 3rd Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), supported by asked for approval to withdraw his company from the action, and the 16th Field Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillary after was bluntly refused by Lieut.-Col. Stone. Lieut. Michael Levy, which the exhausted Chinese suddenly withdrew north of the commander of 10 Platoon, was everywhere, directing fire, always 38th second time. on the move over exposed ground between each sector, to On April 22, Chinese and North Korean forces launched their encourage the men and control the battle. D Company came under Spring Offensive, the main thrust directed at the Kapyong Valley, relentless attack as successive waves of the enemy charged his the most direct route to retake Seoul. Under heavy attack the US position, knowing that if they could take that high ground they forces were ordered to withdraw, leaving a 10,000 man Division could destroy the Battalion. Finally Levy made a daring decision of South Korean infantry to block the enemy advance. On the to radio for an artillery strike on his own position and Capt. Mills 23rd, as the front line collapsed, the Patricias and 3RAR were readily agreed when asked. Levy moved his men into their ordered to take up defensive positions at Kapyong to hold the trenches and personally directed a continuous barrage of 2300 escape route of the retreating UN forces. The Australians dug in shells in less than an hour, from the New Zealand Field Artillery, on Hill 504, to the east of the Kapyong River, with the Patricias exploding within metres of his position. It decimated the Chinese doing the same on Hill 677 to the west of the river. From their ranks and forced them to withdrew. In Levy’s own words: “The position the Patricias could Chinese are so aggressive they are taking heavy casualties. I do see the thousands of fleeing not have time to think, I am reacting to their attacking formations. S o u t h K o r e a n t r o o p s I am proud of my men, although greatly out numbered and out streaming southwards and gunned they are holding the enemy. The artillery support is knew the Chinese were not awesome; without it we could not sustain ourselves.” far behind. The next morning, as dawn broke, USAF transport planes L i e u t . - C o l . S t o n e dropped food, water and ammunition to the exhausted defenders positioned his four rifle who were expecting more attacks during the day. But the Chinese companies in preparation for had had enough and did not return. Their forces were cleared from the battle to come. Just after the roads below and the Patricias withdrew to new defensive Cap Badge of midnight the sky lit up with positions to the south.