Korean War (27)

1st Commnwealth Division representatives

 

23 March 1952, a Special Missions Group, one Army enlisted man, one civilian photographer and 41 South Korean troops left the USS Wantuck to take prisoners and destroy railroad tracks behind enemy lines near Chunminjin.  An enemy patrol was spotted, but no contact was made.  The interrogation of the POWs continued to hint at a CCF 6th Phase offensive that would begin in the spring.

24 March, the USS Brinkley Bass received a direct enemy hit from the shore batteries at Ho-do Pando (Wonsan); 5 men were wounded, but despite radio and electrical damage, the ship returned to duty after the seriously wounded sailor was sent to safety.  The 1st Marine Division relieved the 1st ROK Division and took control of their area.  On the island of Ho-do (west coast), the enemy made and amphibious landing and overwhelmed 2 KMC squads with the aid of mortar and artillery fire from shore; 23 Koreans were KIA.  Three days later, He-do was also taken over by the enemy.

1 April, was the largest air battle of the year to date with the Chinese, approximately 363 MiGs were involved.  In 7 separate clashes, 10 MiGs were downed, 3 probably destroyed and 12 damaged; only one F-86 was lost on the UN side.

10 April, in the Wonsan area, TF-77 carried out a coordinated strike using the guns of the USS St. Paul, Hanson and the Fast Carrier Task Force planes to hit the area.  The 7th Fleet was ordered to be prepared, on 4 hours notice, to use their paravanes in a general emergency against moored mines at the approaches to the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea.

paravane

12 April, reports came to naval intelligence that the communist forces were building to defend the coastal areas of Whanghee Province against US amphibious forces making an attack.  During this month, US Air Force Captain James A. Van Fleet, Jr. was shot down.

13 April, TF-77 conducted a one-day maximum effort against Chongjin in coordination with one cruiser and 3 destroyers.  The sorties launched from the USS Philippine Sea and Boxer.  They dropped 200 tons of aircraft ordnance on the target area.

14 April, intelligence from Hong Kong reported a build-up of CCF in strength and defense construction along the entire South China coast.  They believed it was a anti-invasion preparation, complete with artillery guns, trenches and dugouts.  The 1st Marine Division replaced the 1st Commonwealth Division, adding an additional 9,000 yards to their area of responsibility.

15 April, the HMAS  Bataan bombarded the enemy controlled island of Yukto. The USS Silverstein battled with  heavily camouflaged enemy batteries east of Hungnam.  At Wonsan, 3 North Korean soldiers surrendered; the steady flow of those who gave themselves up and those captured from sampans by TF-95 were a constant influx of information. (TF-95 were west coast patrols of the Task Force which included ships from the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and the U.S.)

17 April, Naval Intelligence reported that an estimated 2,000 enemy troops were massed on the mainland to attack Yongmae-do island.   They were also planning for attacks on Sogom, Porum, Kakhoe, Songmo, Kyo-dong Kulto and Kotkpo in a 3-phase offensive.

18 April, 850 of the 5th Korean Marine Corps Battalion were lifted by US helicopters from Kimpo to across the Han River.  There they would truck to the 1st Korean Marine Corps Regiment area.  The following day, the US 1st Marine Division set up a special covering force to protect the UN Truce Team at Panmunjom, should the talks break down. [This indicated to me, that intelligence was well aware of the rocky state of the negotiations.]

20 April, TF-90 began to lift the 38th Regiment from Inchon to Koje-do; 163 officers, 2,987 enlisted men.  [The reason for this will become rather clear in 2 future posts on the state of affairs at Koje-do (island); a large and dangerous prison camp.]

General Matthew Risgeway

In this month, General Matthew Ridgeway is promoted and moved to NATO.  His replacement is General Mark Clark; he had led the US Fifth Army in Italy during WWII and had a reputation for his political skills.  He was now CINCFE (Commander-in-Chief, Far East and CINCUNC (Commander-in-Chief, UN forces).

At the same time, the Americans restored Japanese self-government  and abolished MacArthur’s old post of  SCAP; (Supreme Commander of Allied Powers)

Click on images to enlarge.

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Farewell Salutes –

Steve Adams – Burnwood, Australia; WWII w/ the British troops, ETO

Edwin Buck – Chicago, IL; US Navy, WWII

Joseph Croci – Elmhurst, IL; US Air Force, Korea

John Fullerton – Walkerton, Canada; 25th Toronto Service Battalion, Lt. Colonel

John Hiller – Sammamish, WA; US Navy, WWII

Ross Lennox – Montreal, Canada, WWII flight instructor, only Canadian pilot to fly all of Canada’s SeaKing Fleet; Ret as Chief Test Pilot

Dominick Oddo – Chicago, IL; US Navy WWII

Dale Showalter – Olathe, CO & Livermore, CA; US Air Corps, WWII

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