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“We are being attacked by a major
Chinese force. We will hold our positions. We will fight to the
end.”
November 23, 1951. Members of the Royal 22nd
Regiment – the Vandoos – were dug in around the base of Hill 355 on
the front lines in Korea. This strategic height had been won by the
allies in October. The enemy wanted it back. 9,000 shells an hour
rained down during the bombardment. Waves of community soldiers
advanced through artillery fire. The Chinese forced the Americans
from the summit, and the Vandoos’ commander had a choice – retreat
with the rest, or stay.
The Canadians held their ground for
three more days. The U.S. infantry regained the hill, and the enemy
fell back.
Between 1950 and 1953, nearly 30,000 Canadian volunteers joined the
effort to contain communist incursions into South Korea and support
the fledgling United Nations. All of the services were there and all
served with distinction. The Royal Canadian Navy led a daring rescue
of troops from the port of Chinnampo in 1950; members of the
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry won the highest U.S.
battle honour at Kap’yong in April 1951; the Vandoos turned the tide
at Hill 355; and twice – at Hill 355 in October 1952 and Hill 187 in
May 1953 – members of the Royal Canadian Regiment held firm against
forces that greatly outnumbered them.
The navy and the infantry were bolstered by the Royal Canadian Horse
Artillery and Lord Strathcona Horse tanks, as well as members of the
service, medical, engineers, provost, chaplain and intelligence
corps. Still more, from RCAF Thunderbird Squadron, took part in the
Korean Airlift – three years of non-stop supply flights across the
Pacific.
Deadlock in Korea is a fascinating, sometimes heart-stopping, look
at Canada’s forces in a war that history forgot.
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