Korean War (29)

Junks

9 May 1952, a daring and highly successful raid was carried out by the Haeju Patrol and Defense Unit, along with air strikes from the HMS Ocean and gunfire support of the HMAS Bataan.  A large amount of enemy supplies were captured, 150 enemy KIA, they destroyed 27 houses and damaged 50 others.

23 May, the HMCS Athabaskan received enemy gun shots, but silenced them in short order in the Taedong Man area.  On the east coast, Kosong area, the USS Douglas H. Fox received enemy shore gun fire, but also located and eliminated the problem.  The next day in the Kojo area, the Fox did the same.  The ROK government declared martial law in Pusan and the arrests of the Korean National Assembly began.

MiG Alley circled

25 May, MiG-15s were again increasing their aggressive actions in northwest Korea.  The progressive increase, all during the month, indicated the enemy’s intention to defend the area between the Yalu and Chonzchoin Rivers.  On the west coast, guerrillas carried out a raid in the Pongyang-ni area with the support of the HMS Belfast & Whitesand Bay, LST 1089 and the USS Bataan aircraft.  Reports showed 300 enemy KIA and 4 captured.

HMCS Nootka

31 May, the HMCS Nootka on northern patrol with the USS John W. Thompson & Endicott received 160 rounds from 7 enemy coastal radar-controlled guns east of Chuuronjang and not one hit.  The naval counter-fire damaged 4 guns.  At Hongwan Roads, the armed whaleboat from the USS Murrelet encountered 2 enemy sampans who faked their surrender.  The enemy tossed a grenade and followed with small arms fire – none of the enemy survived as the Americans returned fire. (A site to see the Nootka and crewmen is at: http://www.picsearch.com/HMCS-Nootka-pictures.html)

**With all this action I am relating, many others have been omitted.  What so many resources refer to as a “lull in fighting” by land and sea forces is inaccurate.  The UN forces had been and continued to go above and beyond what the historians and I relate.

Marine Fighter Squadron 312

1 June, the HMS Constance captured her fourth enemy junk.  This one contained 3 Chinese soldiers and 15 un-friendlies.   The island of Yongi-do is once again in friendly guerrilla hands; after persistent fighting, the enemy returned to the mainland.  The Marine Fighter Squadron 312 aboard the USS Bataan received a congratulatory message from RAdmiral John Gingrich for their outstanding performances under difficult conditions during the last operating period.

Aerial view of Wonsan bombing damage

4-5 June, the Fast Carrier Task Force accumulated and submitted a list of major power plants in North Korea suitable for air and gun strikes.  Plan ‘Insomnia’, an operation involving groups working midnight to daylight in heckling the enemy, destroyed 4 locomotives.  At Wonsan, 3 US ships fired on and silenced the 75mm enemy guns firing on the minesweepers.

6-7 June, the USS Symbol accepted the voluntary surrender of 8 North Koreans.  The HMCS Nootka destroyed one sampan and captured one with 3 prisoners.

Amphibious Construction Battalion

9 June, the guerrilla garrison on Mu-do successfully repelled an enemy attack and destroyed 4 of the 7 junks used for the attempted invasion.  A detachment of 3 officers and 75 men of the Amphibious Construction Battalion One began the construction of an emergency landing strip on Yo-do Island (Wonsan).

11 June, intelligence reported that an order had been issued to North Korean and Chinese troops to prepare for offensive action.  Also, the largest enemy troop and supply concentrations of the war had already been accumulated at Sibyou-ni, Yangdok, Koksan, Hoeyang and Pyongyang.  A recon party in a motor whaleboat from the USS Buck saw no activity, but a sampan with 6 North Korean soldiers voluntarily surrendered to the ship off Kosong.  The POWs were delivered  to the 1st ROK Corps Intelligence Unit.

14 June, the USS Skagit, LSM 226 and LSTs of Task Force 90 began to lift engineers and equipment to selected sites for the new POW compounds in preparation for further dispersal of prisoners that still remained at the riotous Koje-do site.

Click on images to enlarge.

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WWII Update…

the “Flying Pencil”
(Archaeology magazine)

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Farewell Salutes – 

John Lovering, Sr. – Sommerville, MA & Rockville, MD; US Navy, WWII, Naval Air crewman and radio gunner

Gleason Moore – Providence, RI & Riviera Beach, FL; US Army, Vietnam

Arthur Francis O’Day – Stoughton, MA & NYC, NY; US Army, 51st Signal Battalion, Korea

Dante J. Orsini, Sr. – South Glen Falls, NY; USMC, WWII, FDR Presidental Guard & PTO

Louis Ristaino, Sr. – East Boston, MA; US Army, WWII

James “Alex” Trieste – Delray Beach, FL; US Navy, Vietnam

Zenon Wisnicki – Toronto, Canada; Royal Canadian Air Force

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