Cooper Sir George - Fight, dig and live : the story of the Royal Engineers in the Korean War

a. These tasks are in no particular order, other than the receipt of the demand for them. Not all were completed by the end of the period.

b. JAMESTOWN, WYOMING, KANSAS are code names for defence lines

c. Colours are part of the road code name system.

1. Repair and re-erect 150 yards of road screens on MAROON 3.

2. Continue check of all KANSAS reserve position minefields. (Over 110 miles of fences and 78 minefields.)

3. Lift a small pirate minefield.

4. Recce and repair fences of WYOMING reserve position minefields in Brigade area

5. Repair thaw damage and reinstate 600 yards of track up Searchlight Hill.

6. Repair thaw damage 120 yards back entrance to Main Division HQ.

7. Remove and salvage 400 yards demonstration wiring in Main Division HQ area.

8. Assist left forward battalion by lifting mines in area for new platoon position.

9. Dig and install standard prefabricated Gunner Observation Post on Hill 210.

10. Repair and maintain over ten miles of secondary roads in Brigade area, including making good after thaw, surfacing, ditching, culverting in preparation for rainy season. Note: Considerable lengths of those roads are in forward areas where work can only be done at night. (Continuous task.)

11. Recce and re-plotting all JAMESTOWN minefield fences in Brigade area onto 1:50,000 photos (99 minefields involved, almost all in forward areas where only last-light or first-light recce is possible).

12. Design and construct new shell-proof Battalion Command Post for right forward battalion.

13. Build new Command Post for left forward company of right forward battalion (double prefabricated shelter).

14. Recce suspected pirate minefield in reserve battalion area.

15. Prepare and execute drainage scheme for Divisional Headquarters airstrip.

16. Resurface Divisional Headquarters airstrip 800 yards by 20 yards. 1 inch DG (Disintegrated Granite), 3 inches river-bed gravel, 1 inches DG.

17. Repair and maintain Aerial Tramway on Hill 355.

18. Build 2-stall shower (H&C) for Main Divisional Headquarters A Mess.

19. Doze and drain 250 yards track in forward battalion A Echelon area.

20. Doze 150 yards tank track up hill in right forward battalion reserve company area.

21. Quarry stone on INDIGO II and issue to all comers (Continuous task.)

22. Operate and maintain 40,000 gallons per day Water Point (Continuous task.)

23. Continue construction GREEN V1 2,000 yard new one-way 3-ton hill road in Divisional reserve area.

24. Repair and renew 250 yards road screen on Searchlight Hill.

25. Install double prefabricated shelter in centre company left forward battalion.

26. Breach patrol gap through two trip minefields.

27. Build 140ft 3ft 3ft rock retaining wall bound in Square Mesh Track as part of flood prevention scheme.

28. Level standing area for RNZASC Company.

29. Strengthen and brace Regimental Aid Post of left forward battalion.

30. Drag all roads in Brigade area (Continuous task.)

31. Levelling site for 3rd Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) A Echelon.

32. Dig Trash Pit for left forward battalion.

33. Level and prepare Brigade parade ground.

34. Survey alignment of GREEN VI onto 1:25,000 map.

35. Clear 1,000yds 1,000yds suspected booby trap area in KANSAS positions.

36. Breach patrol gap through a trip minefield.

37. Re-open an old patrol gap.

38. Advise and assist in construction of a splinter-proof cookhouse for right forward company of left forward battalion.

39. Minor maintenance on Divisional Headquarters airstrip (Continuous task.)

40. Make tank crossing place over steep ridge left forward battalion.

41. Lift portion of minefield to enable digging in of new forward platoon position for centre company left forward battalion.

42. Strengthening a Headquarter bunker on Hill 210.

43. Improve jeep track up Hill 355 (Very steep track on rock).

44. Dig Brigade Trash Pit.

45. Build verandah for Main Division A Mess and replace all Window-light by wire screens.

46. Special check of one minefields boundaries.

47. Check suspected pirate minefield in WYOMING area.

48. Erect six Medium Machine Gun prefabricated bunkers on point 210.

49. Make suitable route for tank to cross defences on Point 159.

50. Remake entrance to Command Post of left forward battalion.

51. Doze series of tracks to tank firing positions in WYOMING hills.

52. Gap two forward minefields.

53. Destroy Napalm minefield on point 355.

54. Operate river gravel pit with excavator for road resurfacing by KSC Battalion (Continuous task.)

55. Plan and construct semi-permanent Water Point.

56. Doze and supervise revetment, drainage and road construction of new ammunition point.

57. Check condition and safety of all living shelters in right forward battalion area.

58. Check and reinstate for the flood season two cableways over River Imjin.

59. Hold stores and practise blocking of all minefield gaps in Operation WITHDRAW.

There were never enough Sappers!

Ubique.

History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Vol X, 1948 1960 (Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, 1986)

Barclay, Brigadier C. N., The First Commonwealth Division. The Story of British Commonwealth Land Forces in Korea, 1950 1953 (Gale and Polden, Aldershot, 1954)

Barker, A. J., Fortune Favours the Brave. The Battle of the Hook, Korea 1953 (Leo Cooper, London, 1974)

Carter, Former 22525002 Sapper, Sappering in Korea (privately published, 2008)

Cunningham-Boothe, Ashley and Farrar, Peter (eds), British Forces in Korean War (British Korean Veterans Association, 1988)

Farrar-Hockley, Anthony, The British Part in the Korean War: Vol I A Distant Obligation (HMSO, London, 1990)