Korean War (16)

US 2nd Div. M-4 Sherman tanks cover the 187th RCT; assault of Pambol-ni, 7 Feb. 1951

Operation Wolfhound, (In honor of Mike Michaelis’ 27th Infantry Wolfhounds.), was the opening reconnaissance that sent troop from Osan toward Suwon. The chiefs that were observing, Collins and Vandenberg, reported to Truman that Ridgeway would hold more than a beachhead. In support, Washington sent nearly 2,000 Marines to add to the rosters.

Operation Thunderbolt

In the west, 25 January 1951 started Operation Thunderbolt. The 25th Division and 2 ROK regiments (all from I Corps) met little resistance, but the Turkish Brigade, east of Osan, dealt with heavy combat. As a group, they took an important hill near Suwon, killed 4,000 of the enemy and pushed them out of Inchon and Kimpo. They all advanced slowly, but kept going. X Corps and the ROK III Corps were ordered to do the same, calling it Operation Roundup. By 3-4 February, thousands of the enemy would have hit the 1st Battalion/187th RCT, but they held their positions. The 2 ROK divisions were met heavily by the North Koreans and by 8 February, large groups were hitting the right flank of X Corps.

CCF XIII Army attack on Hoengsong – ROK 8th Div. destroyed

In central Korea, the situation was different, with the Chinese ambushing after dark. The South Korean 8th Division broke up and this exposed the American artillery battery, losing Hoengsong, causing hundreds of casualties and jeopardizing Wonju. On 28 January, Mao told General Peng that he would hold off the United Nations’ requests for negotiations until the general completed a 4th Offensive. With the Soviets now supplying arms, their success would give them more of an advantage at the talks.

Lt. Col. Ralph Monclar, Korea

5 February, Operation Roundup was almost halted as quickly as it had begun when the CCF penetrated ROK lines. Ridgeway was forced to redeploy reserve units. American troops with a Greek and French Battalion, plus air support from the Corsairs held Chipyong-ni and Wonju. Colonel Freeman had to order the French colonel, Ralph Monclar to extinguish the bonfires his men had started at night; they were giving away the Allied positions. After a heated argument-by-radio, the fires went out.

Hoengsong Map

The Fourth Phase from the Chinese had started in the midst of the Allied attacks. The Canadian correspondent, Bill Ross, reported seeing 68 American bodies when the enemy left Kudun. Many were naked, killed while exiting their sleeping bags. A finding, after this story, run by Graves Registration was 212 killed or missing, mainly from L Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry (3rd Division). The “Globe and Mail” dispatch was so embarrassing to MacArthur that he ordered Ridgeway to launch a full investigation.

Aerial recon photos showed no viable Communist forces, giving MacArthur a false sense of victory. Ridgeway knew it would take ground action to expose the enemy. Shocking Washington, as well as Tokyo, Ridgeway began to relieve commanders. McClure was already dropped from the 2nd Division and now, those of the 7th, 24th, 25th, and 1st Cavalry Divisions were gone. Press accounts from Korea were stating that MacArthur was no longer the high authority and that Ridgeway had profited from MacArthur’s mistakes to turn a defeat into a victory.

resting after Nightmare Alley

11-12 February, elements of the U.S. 2nd Division were surrounded. A small task force moved about 15 miles north of Wonju and found a French company and a Dutch Battalion; wounded and dead of the 2nd Div. lined the road. The 187th Rakkasans of G Company were firing at close targets until they met up with the 38th Infantry. They all continued to push on and freed the trapped regiment and ROK forces. Then, acting as rear guards, they held the escape route open to Wonju until all the UN forces cleared the valley. As G Company and the Dutch protected the rear, without tanks, they took on an added barrage. G Co. still covered for a 12 mile stretch. The men called this the “Nightmare Alley Operation” and the newspapers referred to it as “Hell’s Canyon” and “Massacre Valley.”

According to Bevin Alexander, author of Korea, The First War We Lost, “The key to the defense of the central front was the decision by Ridgeway to hold Wonju…because it was the junction of 15 main roads as well as a railway from Seoul to Pusan.

13-15 February, the US Army’s 23rd Regiment and a French battalion fought a bloody battle against the CCF for control of an area near Chipyong-ni, known as the “twin tunnels”; 2 railroad tunnels through a nearby mountain; 18,000 of the enemy besieged the U.N. troops with many of the men in hand-to-hand combat. Going into the night, flares lit the battle scene. The 5th Cavalry broke through the lines to assist and 5,000 Chinese were killed.

While on patrol below the Han River, 5th Cavalry, PVT James Cardinal, passed hundreds of enemy soldiers on 16 February. The Chinese troops were barely armed with grenades. Their supply routes had been greatly hindered by UN air strikes and the freezing weather.

Click on images to enlarge.

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Flight Lt. J. Omer Levesque

A note of interest that was unintentionally missed for December 1950 concerned Flight Lt. J. Omer Levesque. As the first Canadian pilot in the war, he was also the first Canadian to take down a MiG-15 in Korea and became the first Canadian airman decorated by the United States. He was given the US Air Medal for flying 4 missions a day between 17-21 December. Levesque belonged to the 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron.

An interesting account of this career can be located at – http://www.constable.ca/caah/levesque.htm

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes –

Masato Kobayashi – Amache, CO & Arizona; born in a Japanese Relocation Center, US Air Force, Vietnam

Fred Gordon – Chicago, IL; WWII war correspondent

Joseph Janusek – Chicagi, IL; USMC, Korea

Edward Kane – Chicago area; US Army, WWII PTO, Staff Sgt. 7th Cavalry

John Hayes – Alexandria, VA; US Navy, WWII

WWII and Korean War US flag

John Duncan Urquhart – Spokane, WA; US Navy SeaBee, WWII PTO

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Resources: “Rakkasans” and “The Angels” by Gen. EM Flanagan; Korean War on line.com; “Korean War” by Stephen Badsy; “The Korean War” by Maurice Isserman; “The Warfare of the 20th Century” by Christopher Chant