On this day 70 years ago in 1950 Kim il Sung launched an armoured invasion south of the 38th parallel using armour supplied by Stalin with Soviet advisors the North Koreans had captured Seoul by the 28th June 1950. Amid frantic US-led diplomacy-aided by the absence of the Soviet Delegation, boycotting the organisation in protest at the UN's refusal to grant a seat to Mao's China - the UN Security Council passed resolutions on the 25 and 27 June recommending UN members act to 'restore international peace and security in the area.On the 7th July the UN Security Council recommended that UN forces be placed under US command and General McArthur was put in charge of United Nations Command.
The first clash between the North Koreans and US forces was on the 5th July when a Regimental Combat Team - RCT Smith was overrun by North Korean armour near the the town of OSAN about 40K south of Seoul (near the present day USAF Osan and Camp Humpries). Further troops were sent from Japan from the 24ID and 25 ID but as they had been occupation troops in Japan they were unprepared for the conditions in Korea. The US and ROK forces were pushed back to a perimeter outside the southern city of Pusan.
The first British troops arrived in Korea on the 29th August in the Pusan perimeter and were quickly put in the line as they were desperatly needed. They consisted of the Infantry from 27th British Infantry Brigade in Hong Kong and consisted of 1 Middlsex and 1 Argyles. There were no supporting arms and they were nicknamed the 'Woolworth' Brigade. On September 30th they were joined by 3RAR, and in November by 29th British Brigade in November. 41 Commando RM arrived in October and would go on to distinguish themselves with the USMC in the Battle of the Chosin Resevoir as Task Force Drydale with the frozen Chosin in the most northerly Korean province next to Siberia in conditions similar to the Russian front.
In 1951 the two original British Brigades together with a newly arrived Canadian Brigade formed the 1st Commonwealth Division and fought in the defensive battles in the area of the Hook on the 38th Parallel until the Armistice in July 1953. Britain supplied 5 Infantry battalions and an Armoured Regiment to the Division plus supporting arms. The RN was involved virtually from day 1 and two RN cruisers and four USN supplied Naval Gunfire support to the Inchon landings in September 1950 and provided a carrier battle group with air strikes and Naval bombardment for the rest of the war. HMS Belfast was involved in some of the earliest fighting, supporting troops with gunfire in company of USS Juneau on the 19 July 1950. In July 1952 she would be hit by a 75mm shell from a NK shore battery killing two sailors.
Although an armistice was signed in July 1953, there has never been a peace treaty and over 7,000 ROK military, police and civillians have been killed since 1953 by border clashes and NK raids on the South. The last british battalion left Korea in 1957. Over 1,000 British military personnel were KIA in the war with most being buried in the UN cemetery in Pusan/Busan although a few are still MIA from the fighting in 1950/51 mostly in the North. The South Koreans to this day hold the British miltary with awe and hold us in high regard for the exploits of the soldiers/sailors/marines and airmen of 1950- 53, many of them 18 or 19 year old National Servicemen. It might be the 'forgotten war' in the west but it certainly isn't in South Korea, who acknowledge that the fact that they are a successful modern democracy and with a world class economy and standard of living is down to the sacrifices of the UNC troops including 36,000 from the USA.
The first clash between the North Koreans and US forces was on the 5th July when a Regimental Combat Team - RCT Smith was overrun by North Korean armour near the the town of OSAN about 40K south of Seoul (near the present day USAF Osan and Camp Humpries). Further troops were sent from Japan from the 24ID and 25 ID but as they had been occupation troops in Japan they were unprepared for the conditions in Korea. The US and ROK forces were pushed back to a perimeter outside the southern city of Pusan.
The first British troops arrived in Korea on the 29th August in the Pusan perimeter and were quickly put in the line as they were desperatly needed. They consisted of the Infantry from 27th British Infantry Brigade in Hong Kong and consisted of 1 Middlsex and 1 Argyles. There were no supporting arms and they were nicknamed the 'Woolworth' Brigade. On September 30th they were joined by 3RAR, and in November by 29th British Brigade in November. 41 Commando RM arrived in October and would go on to distinguish themselves with the USMC in the Battle of the Chosin Resevoir as Task Force Drydale with the frozen Chosin in the most northerly Korean province next to Siberia in conditions similar to the Russian front.
In 1951 the two original British Brigades together with a newly arrived Canadian Brigade formed the 1st Commonwealth Division and fought in the defensive battles in the area of the Hook on the 38th Parallel until the Armistice in July 1953. Britain supplied 5 Infantry battalions and an Armoured Regiment to the Division plus supporting arms. The RN was involved virtually from day 1 and two RN cruisers and four USN supplied Naval Gunfire support to the Inchon landings in September 1950 and provided a carrier battle group with air strikes and Naval bombardment for the rest of the war. HMS Belfast was involved in some of the earliest fighting, supporting troops with gunfire in company of USS Juneau on the 19 July 1950. In July 1952 she would be hit by a 75mm shell from a NK shore battery killing two sailors.
Although an armistice was signed in July 1953, there has never been a peace treaty and over 7,000 ROK military, police and civillians have been killed since 1953 by border clashes and NK raids on the South. The last british battalion left Korea in 1957. Over 1,000 British military personnel were KIA in the war with most being buried in the UN cemetery in Pusan/Busan although a few are still MIA from the fighting in 1950/51 mostly in the North. The South Koreans to this day hold the British miltary with awe and hold us in high regard for the exploits of the soldiers/sailors/marines and airmen of 1950- 53, many of them 18 or 19 year old National Servicemen. It might be the 'forgotten war' in the west but it certainly isn't in South Korea, who acknowledge that the fact that they are a successful modern democracy and with a world class economy and standard of living is down to the sacrifices of the UNC troops including 36,000 from the USA.
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