Salmon - To The Last Round: the Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951

T O THE L AST R OUND

Winner of the Hampshire Libraries

M ILITARY H ISTORY P RIZE

Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based journalist who covers Korea for The Times, The Washington Times, The South China Morning Post and Forbes. He first became fascinated by the Imjin River battle in 2001 when he met British veterans returning to the battlefield to mark the 50th anniversary. He has since interviewed over forty of them as well as researching in British, American and Korean archives and trawling through both unit histories and personal accounts.

Andrew Salmons new book on the first year of the Korean War, Scorched Earth, Black Snow, was published in 2011.

http://tothelastround.wordpress.com

First published in 2009

by Aurum Press Ltd, 7 Greenland Street, London NW1 0ND

This e-book edition first published in 2012

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Andrew Salmon, 2009

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I have elected, both below and in the text, to list brigade units in alphabetical order (i.e. Belgians first, Royal Ulster Rifles last). My first thanks must go to veterans who granted interviews. Ranks are given at time of battle. From the Belgian Battalion: Sergeant Armand Philips, Sergeant Andr VanDamme, Sergeant Lucien Senterre and Lieutenant Henri Wolfs. From the Glosters: Private Morris Brassy Coombes, Private Tony Eagles, the late Captain Mike Harvey, Private Sam Mercer, the late Medical Orderly George Newhouse, the late Lance-Corporal Albert Perkins, Lance-Corporal Charles Sharpling, Second Lieutenant Guy Temple and Private Ben Whitchurch. From the 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars: Lieutenant David Boyall, Lieutenant Bernard Dowling, Lieutenant Ted Paul and Cornet John Preston-Bell. From the Republic of Korea 1st Infantry Division: General Paik Sun-yup and Colonel Kim Chum-kon. From the Royal Artillery: Lance-Bombardier Tom Clough, Gunner Bob Nicholls and Lieutenant George Truell. From the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers: Fusilier John Bayliss, Sergeant William Beattie, Lieutenant Malcolm Cubiss, Fusilier Derek Kinne, the late Major Robbie Leith-MacGregor, Lieutenant Tony Perrins, Lieutenant Sam Phillips, Fusilier David Strachan, Corporal Joe Thompson, Fusilier Stan Tomenson and Fusilier Vick Wear. From the Royal Ulster Rifles: Captain Robin Charley, Lance-Corporal Joe Farrell, Sergeant William Doc Holliday, Interpreter Lee Kyung-sik, Second Lieutenant Mervyn McCord, Lieutenant John Mole, Corporal Michael OLeary, CQMS Tommy Sturgeon and Corporal Norman Sweetlove. From the US Air Force: pilot officers Robert Moxley and Carl Schneider.

At museums, I must thank: Geoff Crump, Researcher at the Cheshire Military Museum, for biographical data and photograph of Brigadier Tom Brodie. At the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum: Historian David Read for opening his archive, and Graham Gordon and his wife Mary for driving me around the Cotswolds, to James Carnes home village of Cranham. At the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers Museum: Lesley Frater, and veteran Sam Phillips for driving me to and from Alnwick. At the Royal Ulster Rifles Museum: Captain Jackie Knox for arranging interviews and opening her archive. And at the National War Memorial of Korea, Dr Nam Jeongok, Lieutenant-Colonel Lee Wang-woo and Private Choi Seung-bee. I owe a heavy debt to the Imperial War Museum, London, where audio recordings with veterans, mostly undertaken by Dr Conrad Wood, are invaluable. (The most useful ones for this work were Denis Whybro, Peter Ormrod and Frank Carter.) Thanks to Chris Hunt in the IWMs Reading Room for various kindnesses.

I could not have asked for better co-operation from the US 8th Army in Korea. I must thank Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Steve Tharp, who handles public affairs for the 8th Army and teaches graduate-level courses on the Korean War (and is a barbecue artist par excellence), for introducing me to 8th Army historian Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Ronney Miller, who permitted use of his offices Korean War library, took me on an Imjin battlefield tour with US Special Operations Command Korea in 2007, and discussed the battle over beers. Thanks also to Command Historian Dr Lewis Bernstein for information on Chinese tactics. At the British Embassy, Seoul, thanks to Military Attach, Brigadier Matt OHanlon, Royal Irish Regiment, for granting long-term loan of the British official history, and for accompanying the author on a drive over the battlefield in April 2008.

For reading sections of the manuscript, and/or making various useful suggestions, I must credit Commandant (ret.) Jan Dillen, Fusilier (ret.) Derek Kinne, Brigadier (ret.) Mervyn McCord, Captain (ret.) Tony Perrins, Sergeant (ret.) Lucien Senterre, Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Guy Temple, Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Steve Tharp, Major-General (ret.) David Thomson and Brigadier (ret.) Dick Webster. Any mistakes, naturally, are my own. Particular thanks go to Dick and Captain Barry De Morgan, who, preparing a DVD on the Hussars in the Korean War, generously shared with me their materials, both textual and visual; to Tony Perrins, for putting me in touch with so many sources; to Jan Dillen, who served in the Belgian battalion later in the war, and who introduced me to Belgian veterans; to Bill Hall of the Fusiliers All Ranks Club for putting me in contact with several ex-Fusiliers; to Mervyn McCord, John Preston-Bell and the appropriate museums for granting use of their fine photographs; and to Jan Dillen for letting me use his collection of Padre Vander Gotens shots. Thanks also to General (ret.) Sir Peter de la Billire for his insights on how the Imjin and his own Korean experiences affected his command in Gulf War I. Others: Mark Godsman, an ex-gunner in 45 Field, who assisted with various sources and contacts, and who put me on to the Royal Artillery Institute when the MODs PR team could not. Brian Kennedy, an expert on Chinese martial culture, gave valuable insights into some of the more bizarre sights of the Imjin battlefield. Online, I must thank various posters on military history site www.armchairgeneral.com (you know who you are), who answered many arcane enquiries. I also tip my hat to the http://rokdrop.com/blog, which features various Korean War-related articles and links. Thanks to Jeremy Bigwood and David List for research at, respectively, the US and UK national archives in Washington and Kew. Cheers to my agent, Chelsey Fox at Fox and Howard for placing me in front of Piers Burnett of Aurum Press, and to Piers for remaining civil as deadlines drifted by.

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A full List of Sources appears at the end of the book, but I must acknowledge critical sources up front.

While there is no single, definitive history of the brigade battle, there are many personal accounts. The Glosters have produced the most. The only British Korean War book to attain classic status is Anthony Farrar-Hockleys account of battle and captivity: The Edge of the Sword; no other work records the struggle for Hill 235 with such immediacy. David Greens