Battle of Pakchon

The Battle of Pakchon was a vicious military encounter of the Korean War. It was fought between the UN forces and the Chinese and North Korean armies, on November 5, 1950, in Pakchon, North Korea. Some sources also call it Battle of Bochuan. Opposing units: Chinese 117th Division; British 27th Commonwealth Brigade.

On June 25, 1950, the Communist government of North Korea had begun the invasion of South Korea, crossing the 38th parallel. This offensive was stopped by the Allies on the Pusan Perimeter. On September 10, 1950, to liberate South Korea, the US troops landed at Inchon, on the northwest coast, thus initiating the UN counteroffensive.

The American troops, under Douglas MacArthur, pushed back the Communist forces northwards as they crossed the 38th parallel into North Korean territory. However, the Chinese would intervene on October 25, launching a massive counterattack against the UN positions. The British 27th Commonwealth Brigade was in charge of the defense at the Pakchon-Sinanjou road.

Despite being heavily outnumbered, not only did the men of British 27th Commonwealth Brigade manage to hold off the enemy’s attack, but the Australian troops of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, counter-attacked, capturing an strategic ridge.

Below, photos of soldiers of the Royal Australian Regiment two days before the Battle of Pakchon began. You can see an American M4A3 Sherman tank in the background.

 

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Battle of Kapyong

The Battle of Kapyong was a military engagement of the Korean War. It was fought between the British 27th Brigade and the Chinese 118th Infantry Division, from April 22 to April 25, 1951. It took place in the Kapyong Valley, in northern South Korea, only a couple of miles from the 38th parallel.

Led by the United States Eighth Army, UN forces had launched a powerful offensive in February 1951, liberating Seoul by March 15, which had fallen to the North Korean army the year before. As they pushed their enemy northward, they approached the 38th parallel, which was the established border between North Korea, under a Communist regime, and South Korea, under a UN-recognized democratic government.

Summary

The Battle of Kapyong began with a massive Communist counter-offensive launched on April 22. The aim of this fierce onslaught was to destroy the US I and IX Corps and recover the lost ground. The Chinese 118th Infantry Division attacked the 27th Brigade positions on the morning of April 22. The Communist assault was ferocious, punching holes in the UN forces lines as they overran South Korean defenses.

On April 23, the Australian 3rd Battalion (3RAR) and the Canadian 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry bore the brunt of the offensive. However, after two days of fierce fighting, the Australians and Canadians had managed to hold off the Chinese attack, even though they were heavily outnumbered, permanently keeping their positions. Thus, the fall of Seoul to the Chinese had been prevented by the Australian and Canadian troops, who had fought fiercely and with determination.

Below, Chinese infantry unit attacking at night during the Battle of Kapyong. Infiltration in the dark was their main tactic.

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Battle of Pork Chop Hill

The Battle of Pork Chop Hill was a long and vicious military engagement fought between the UN forces, under James van Fleet, and Chinese communist troops during the Korean War. It took place from March to July, 1953, in Cheorwon, in the northeast corner of South Korea. It was a long battle of attrition, which cost both sides the lives of thousands of men, with waves of attacks and counteroffensives. However, it was a Chinese victory.

Pork Chop Hill was a 990ft-high ridge, which had been recaptured for the United Nations by the US Army 180th Infantry Regiment in May 1952. The hill was defended by elements of the US 7th Infantry Division, when the Chinese 423rd Regiment launched an attack on the American positions on the morning of March 23, 1953, overrunning and taking a UN outpost. The next day, after savage fighting, most of the ridge summit fell to the Chinese. However, US infantry units counter-attacked and regained the lost positions.

As the Battle of Pork Chop Hill raged on, with particularly intense fighting taking place in April, the hill changed hands several times. Nevertheless, on July 6, Chinese infantry units charged up the hill again during a night attack, overwhelming and permanently capturing the UN positions on top on July 10, after four days of vicious attacks and counter-attacks.

Below, US Army 105-mm howitzers providing fire support to the UN infantry units fighting for Pork Chop Hill.

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Korean War

The Korean War was an armed conflict fought between North Korea, supported by China, and South Korea, which was backed up by the United Nations. The UN forces were in turn led by the United States of America. It took place on the Korean Peninsula from June 25, 1950, when the North Korean Army crossed the 38th Parallel as they pushed south, to July 27, 1953, when the armistice agreement was signed.

US Marines on a hill on the Pusan Perimeter on the Naktong River in August 1950

Cause

The main cause of the Korean War was the stark ideological differences between North Korea and South Korea; the former ruled by a communist government, while the latter under a conservative capitalist regime. However, the armed struggle historical background was the Japanese invasion of Korea and its annexation in 1905, after the Russo-Japanese War. Japan needed its natural resources, such as coal and iron ore.

As a result, Japan established a protectorate there.During the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union and the United States had agreed that the Red Army would invade the northern half of the peninsula of Korea, attacking the Japanese strongholds, thus relieving the American war effort in the Pacific, while the US Army would invade the southern half of the peninsula, which would take place in September 1945. The 38th parallel had been set as the boundary line between the two halves, which would simply be referred to as North Korea, whose capital would be Pyongyang, and South Korea, politically revolving around Seoul.

Supported by the Soviet Union, the communist party of North Korea had set up a socialist government led by Kim Il-Sung in 1948. In South Korea, on the other hand, Syngman Rhee had been elected president of the Republic of Korea (ROK) by a national assembly, influenced by Washington, also in 1948. The following year, both the Soviet Union and the United States withdrew their troops from the peninsula.

Summary

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when the North Korean Army crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded South Korea, with the main units advancing down along the Uijongbu corridor. They moved towards Seoul, the southern capital, in an attempt to reunite Korea. Although the South Korean Army fought back and tried to hold their ground, they were overwhelmed and forced to retreat by superior communist forces.

As the North Koreans advanced relentlessly southwards, all the roads would soon get choked by crowds of refugees and disoriented South Korean troops. On June 27, the communist forces captured Seoul after heavy fighting. On July 5, they defeated a small unit of US Army that had been left behind. On July 20, they beat more determined South Korean forces at Taejon. Meanwhile, the United Nation Security Council had condemned the invasion and appointed General Douglas MacArthur commander of UN multinational forces.

US Army and British and commonwealth forces began to pour in the Pusan Perimeter, in which the routed South Korean Army had been cornered at the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. The Battle of Pusan Perimeter began on July 31. By September 16, all communist attacks on the UN armies positions on the perimeter had been repelled. Thus, the Pusan Perimeter had been the farthest advance of the North Korean Army. From then on, the American, British, and South Korean troops would launch counteroffensives to regain enemy-held territory.

On September 15, 1950, a US amphibious force, under MacArthur, stormed ashore on the west coast of the Korean peninsula at Inchon. After ferocious fighting, the Americans managed to recapture Seoul, the capital, on September 26. Meanwhile, UN mechanized divisions moved northwestwards from the south and linked up with American troops at Seoul, encircling large numbers of North Korean troops in a cauldron.

On November 24, 1950, MacArthur launched a powerful offensive against North Korea, crossing the 38th parallel. However, the following day, his central front was breached by a massive communist onslaught carried out by Chinese forces that advanced southwards. The UN troops fell back across the 38th parallel into South Korean. By mid-December, American, British, and Australian divisions were able to organize a defensive line roughly on the 38th parallel, holding off the Chinese onslaught.

By the end of 1950, the initial mobile warfare, which had characterized the first phase of the armed struggle, had become a static war of attrition, which was centered around the 38th parallel.

At dawn, on January 1, 1951, the communists attacked all along the front, pushing UN troops back. Seoul was abandoned once more. However, by January 15, the front had gotten stabilized 40 miles south of the capital under appalling winter weather conditions, with snowstorms and freezing temperatures. On January 25, the UN armies began to push slowly yet relentlessly northwards until April 21, with exhausted Chinese and North Korean troops retreating before them. On March 15, Seoul was retaken once again as American and British troops moved into North Korea. MacArthur had been replaced by Mathew Ridgway in April that year.

By July 1952, both armies had built such strong defensive lines that neither side could undertake major offensives without incurring into unacceptable losses. Supported by artillery, the communists would send infantry units and tanks against tactically important hills along the UN defensive line. When a hill fell into enemy hands, the American and British forces would launch counteroffensives to take it back. These attacks and counterattacks were called the Battles of the Outposts, such as the Battle of White Horse, Battle of Hill Eerie, and the Battle of Pork Chop Hill.

Finally, after costly and vicious fighting, with neither side winning, UN, North Korean and Chinese representatives signed the Armistice at Panmunjom on July 27, 1950, putting an end to the Korean War. Casualties had been high, with 90,000 UN and South Koreans, and 135,000 North Korean and Chinese soldiers killed in action, plus two million civilians.

Below, US Marines watch the F4U Corsairs attack enemy positions with napalm.

General MacArthur, far right, and General Mathew Ridgway, center, with sunglasses, observing the front line in January 1951.

Below, Chinese troops advancing at night to take an American-held hill.

Map of Korean peninsula, which shows the communist forces farthest advance in early September 1950 and the Pusan Perimeter at the beginning of the war. You can also see the site of US Marines landing At Inchon.

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Battle of Bowling Alley

The Battle of Bowling Alley was a Korean War battle fought between the North Korean Army and the UN forces from August 12 to August 25, 1950, in Chilgok, in the southern tip of South Korea. This military engagement came about in a barren ravine, which was confined by steep mountain sides. Hence the nickname, "Bowling Alley".

On August 12, the North Korean Army launched a vicious attack on the South Korean positions on the Pusan Perimeter. However, the South Korean 1st Infantry Division, reinforced by the US Army's 27th and 23rd Infantry Regiments, successfully halted a North Korean onslaught in the Bowling Alley. This Communist offensive in this sector was part of the Communist invasion of South Korea, which had begun on June 25, 1950.

Commanders

UN forces: Paik Sun Yuk and John H Michaelis.

Weapons

The UN forces used M46 Pershing heavy tanks; 105mm, 155mm, and 203mm (8in) howitzers; 81mm mortars; rocket launchers; M2 Browning .50-cal machine gun; M1 Garand rifle, Browning Automatic Rifle, M1 carbine; hand grenades. The North Koreans employed Soviet-made T-34 tanks, 152mm and 120mm howitzers guns.

Below, Aerial view of the narrow, steep-sided ravine, called Bowling Alley, where the battle took place.

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Battle of Bloody Ridge

The Battle of Bloody Ridge was a military engagement fought between the United Nation forces and the communist army of North Korea, from August 18 to September 5, 1951, in Gangwon province, about 10 miles north of the 38th parallel, during the Korean War. The UN forces were composed of the US 2nd Infantry Division (8th Army), under the command of General Ruffner, and South Korean troops. 

Summary 

On the morning of August 18, 1951, the 36th Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division launched an assault on one of the peaks of Bloody Ridge to destroy enemy observation posts, from which the enemy had been directed artillery fire on UN positions.

On August 23, after several frontal attack, the US regiment managed to take the ridge, which would later be called “bloody ridge”. However, they could not secure it as they had to fall back after a vicious North Korean counter-attack.

On August 28, the 9th Regiment (2nd Division) launched another attack on Bloody Ridge; thus, the ferocious fighting between the US infantry and the communists continued for another week.

On September 5, the US 2nd Division troops finally captured the three hills that made up “Bloody Ridge”. The North Korean troops had fled, leaving behind their weapons, and wounded and dead soldiers.

Below, an M-26 Pershing tank provides fire support to US troops fighting against the communist troops on top of on one of the peaks of Bloody Ridge

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Battle of Pusan Perimeter

The Battle of Pusan Perimeter was a long and extensive military engagement between the United Nations forces and the communist army of North Korea. It was fought from July 31 to September 16, 1950, at Pusan and its surrounding area, South Korea, during the Korean War. This battle marked the end of Operation Pokpoong, which was the code-name for the North Korean invasion of South Korea, which had begun on June 25, 1950. The Pusan Perimeter was the furthest reach of this communist invasion and from which the tide of the war would be reverted by the Allies.

The UN forces that stopped the communist offensive and held the Pusan Perimeter consisted of the 1st Cavalry Division, 24th Infantry Division, and the 25th Infantry Division, these three units belonging to the US Eighth Army, under General Walton Walker. Fighting alongside the US forces against the communists were 56,000 South Korean troops. By September 10, these forces had been reinforced by other US and British units, such as the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade and the 27th Commonwealth Brigade, which included Australians.

Waves after waves of communist attacks would be launched against the defensive line around Pusan, which was then the last enclave of Western influence in the Korean Peninsula. However, the North Korean Army ferocious assaults on the UN positions would be repelled several times. By September 15, after the Great Naktung Offensive, the last communist assault launched on September 1, the American and South Korean forces, with the vital support of US Navy F4U Corsair fighters, threw the North Korean troops back, launching a counter-offensive that routed the enemy.

Below, soldiers of the 24th Inf. Div., US 8th Army, firing 81-mm mortar shells against enemy positions as they held the line at Pusan Perimeter

Map of Korean Peninsula, showing the advance of the North Korean Army and the city-port of Pusan in the south.

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