"For all participants, Korea was a frustrating war. The country and its people attracted little affection from its alien defenders. … The interminable ceasefire negotiations, punctuated by outbursts of fighting, served some inscrutable Communist purpose no one else could discern. A war waged far away by regular soldiers aroused little emotional response at home. If taxes rose and consumer spending was curbed, very few Canadians gave any evidence of suffering." A Military History of Canada, From Champlain to Kosovo, Desmond Morton, McClelland and Stewart Inc., p.235/236.
Those words, "a frustrating war", sum up well the frustration Canadians had while defending the Charter of the United Nations against Communist forces in Korea 1950-53. Some have said that for the army, the Korean War more resembled World War One with its trenches and semi-stationary lines of defence. Others have claimed that Korea had no precedence; not the Boer War or World War One or Two prepared the Canadians for the type of warfare demanded by the terrain and weather of the Korean Peninsula. Those who think of Korea as depicted in the American comedy, MASH 4077, know nothing of [a] war, or [b] Korea. In a real sense, the long-running comedy was a sop to the American guilt over its failure in Vietnam.
In late May 1951, the 2nd Royal Canadian Regiment [RCR] planned an attack on Kakhul-bong, a feature that dominated the RCR's line of advance, and Chail-li, a village that lay just beyond Kakhul-bong. The plan was for 'A' Company to take and hold Chail-li to the north of Hill 467 [Kakhul-bong]. Meanwhile 'B' Company was to secure the left flank by taking up position on Hill 162 to the west. 'C' Company was to attack and capture Hill 269 between Chail-li and Kakhul-bong. The main assault on Kakhul-bong fell to 'D' Company. The 2nd Regiment of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery supported the RCRs.
The operation began in a driving rainstorm. 'A', 'B' and 'C' Companies reached their objectives with little enemy opposition. 'D' Company, however, was strongly opposed and met stiff resistance; the Company suffered casualties from Communist machine-gun fire.
Early in the afternoon of May 30th, the Communists firmly positioned on Hill 467 [Kakhul-bong], counter-attacked 'A' Company and the village of Chail-li. The Communists circled to the rear and surrounded and cut off the Canadians. While this action was happening, 'C' Company, on Hill 269 between the two points, was unable to carry out effective aid to either 'D' or 'C' Companies. The rainstorm made it difficult to identify troops in the valley and the distance was too great for Company gunfire to reach the Communists.
As with many of the 'battles' that were fought in Korea by the Canadians, the spot being fought over blended in and looked much like any other terrain. Each site, however, was important to the Communists supply lines and their system of communication, in this instance across the Chorwon Plain. As a consequence, the Chinese Communists strongly resisted 'D' Company's advance.
As determined as the RCRs were and despite repeated attacks, the Canadians were unable to dislodge the Communists from their hilltop. The enemy took advantage of an extensive trench system to move about and well positioned machine-guns placed on the hill's pinnacle to thwart the Canadians' advance. As well, the brigade was in a precarious position; the advance had created a deep salient in the Communist lines that left the brigade flanks without protection. The RCRs were withdrawn when it became clear that they could not continue to hold Chail-li or capture Kakhul-bong. They withdrew in order to form a defensive position. The RCRs did this all the while fighting off an advancing Communist force determined to wipe the Canadians off the face of Korea. Despite the enemy's determination, the RCRs were able to fight their way back to their new position.
The battle at Chail-li had been a sharp engagement and the Royal Canadian Regiment acquitted itself well. Causalities were six killed and 54 wounded.
In mid-October 1951, Canadian units of the UN Force were ordered to carry out raids on certain known enemy positions. One of those units was a company of the 2nd Royal 22e. The Van Doos were assigned Hill 156. They were aided by a company from each the 2PPCLI and the 2RCR. Of the three Canadian companies, the 2nd Royal 22e suffered the strongest resistance; the company was stopped short of its objective when the Communists put down withering machine-gun fire. The operation cost the Canadians five killed and 21 wounded whereas the Communists suffered 37 known dead and as many or more believed killed or wounded.
Fighting in the Korean hills during the extreme cold of winter on the peninsula was not fun. An example was the Chosen Reservoir where a determined Chinese enemy halted the Americans. The retreating Americans, poorly clad in clothing not suited to the intense cold, fell by the wayside and froze. The number of frozen dead was greater than the number killed by enemy action. Many army and navy personnel report that the weather in Korea was worse than anything they experienced in Canada, even during the coldest prairie winters. As one who was there, and who lived in Saskatchewan, I can attest to that.
The reference to hill numbers is the height of the hill in metres. The greater the number the higher the hill.
Five hundred thirty-five thousand UN Force personnel served in Korea. Of that number, 272,000 were South Koreans. It is estimated that Communist forces consisted of 1,115,000 personnel. It is further estimated that 10,000 non-battlefield Soviet troops served in a variety of roles.
Was it worth it? Was the United Nations justified in assembling a combatant force of 16 member countries to stem the spread of communism in the Far East? Was the loss of 516 Canadian servicemen, nine of them sailors, too high a price to pay? Did the 33,628 Americans and 935 British troops who died, die in vain? And what of the Koreans themselves? The Korean War saw the ROK Army suffer 147,000 combat causalities. An additional 245,000 non-military citizens were killed, while 230,000 suffered battle-related injuries. Three hundred thirty thousand are listed as missing. One hundred thirty thousand were killed in Communist atrocities and 85,000 were forcibly taken to North Korea. The ROK police saw 16,000 of its number die. On the communist side, 520,000 North Koreans and 900,000 Chinese Communists were listed as combat causalities. Was it worth it?" Indelible Memories - the Royal Canadian Navy in Korea, 1950-55.
In terms of military and civilian casualties, the Korean War was costly.
There are those who claim that the War in Korea was a mere police action; they are ignorant of the facts.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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