Sixteen Nations

[cyberia]

Diggers in Korea...


Of the 16 countries that came to the aid of the Republic of Korea when it was invaded by the North, Australia invested 17,000 service personnel between 1950 and 1953.
Of that number, 1,216 were wounded, 29 captured and 340 either killed in action or listed as missing, with one dying in captivity.

I thought it would be fitting to start this thread with the stories of three Diggers who never made it home...

Private "Slim" Madden thumbs 10 rounds into his Lee Enfield .303 rifle from stripper clips, while giving covering fire for "B" Company, 3RAR, during their advance on a spur near Hill 614

Private Horace William "Slim" Madden was captured in April, 1951, at Kapyong. RAR's (and Australia's) most highly decorated Korean War Digger, Slim was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his courage as a prisoner.

Like many other soldiers in 3 RAR at the time, Madden had served in the Second World War and on BCOF. He was discharged in 1947 and worked as a nursing orderly in the Morrisett Mental Hospital. He re-enlisted on 19 August 1950 to join 3 RAR in Korea. He joined the battalion in November and volunteered to become a linesman in the Signals Platoon. During the battle of Kapyong he was with battalion headquarters when it was shelled and he suffered concussion. When the Signals Platoon was ordered to withdraw, Madden dropped behind, probably being stressed from his concussion. He was surrounded by Chinese troops and forced to surrender.

Madden was slightly built but nonetheless recovered fairly quickly and demonstrated his fitness by helping other prisoners as they marched to the rear. He shared the little food he had with others but refused to cooperate with his captors and was often beaten. One day, he was beaten to death.

The only Australian to die in captivity, Private "Slim" Madden was awarded The George Cross for his defiance of the enemy, and his work to protect and feed his less fortunate prisoners, at the final cost of his own life.

Pte. Rupert 'George' Bullock on leave in his home town of Murwillumbah NSW, before shipping off to Korea

George Bullock of 3 RAR died on 25th January, 1952.
Fifty-six years after his death, Bullock's family in Central Queensland used the internet to seek information explaining the death of George so long ago.
Asking for comrades of George's to come forward with information and photos of him. They wanted to resolve years of uncertainty and ease some of the pain caused by never learning what had happened to him.

The family said the only information they received was a telephone call asking for someone to go to Post Office to pick up the telegram - the announcement of his death.

The request was answered by Alexander Bates, the Pres. of 3 RAR Corp. and through his efforts an Australian Army unit War Diary was located for the night of 25th January, 1952, in a placed called Pu-Dong-area 1162168.

After nearly six decades, George Bullock's family finally learned that he was a member of 12 Platoon, D Co 3 RAR which made an assault on the "pinnacle" of Hill 227 on 25-26 January 1952. That the night was bitterly cold, and a search light bathed Hill 227 in a ghostly light.

The report went on to say the platoon encountered resistance, but managed to reach the summit of Hill 227, and begin to occupy it when they came under heavy mortar and shell fire before being attacked from the north, west and southwest by 2 enemy companies supported by large numbers of automatic weapons.
Though some of his platoon managed to withdraw, George Bullock and 6 other diggers died that night deep in the cold snow covered hills of Korea.

The end of a story, with which now his family can lay their questions to rest.

Lionel John "Bomber" Terry, MIA (presumed dead)

It was a freezing cold moonlit night January 24, 1953 when 22-year-old K Force volunteer Bomber Terry set out on a "snatch Patrol" from which he would never return.

Snatch Patrols were common during what was known as the "Static Phase" of the war. Men would set out into the bitter cold nights under orders to return with a prisoner for questioning. These raids were rarely successful and almost always resulted in a firefight.

The patrol on that night was comprised of 31 men divided into three groups all heading deep within enemy territory. Terry was assigned to a group lead by a Sgt. John Morrison, which had crept up to an embankment of an enemy trench.
Morrison's plan was to only reconnoitre the trench when he slipped over the edge alone and dropped inside, but he was quickly challenged by four enemy soldiers which he promptly killed.
Alerted, the Chinese responded immediately with fire. Morrison's group returned fire and quickly withdrew. In the distance, Morrison could hear that the other two groups were also coming under heavy fire. The mission was a scrub and their only chance was to try and make it back to their lines.

Morrison's plan was to move swiftly to high ground but he found the ridge line already held by the enemy. The situation was critical: the ridge was occupied and enemy were approaching from all sides. Morrison was faced with their only "chance of success." There was the need to take immediate, aggressive action and after two attacks on the ridge the Diggers were able to dislodge the enemy and move ahead though still under harassing fire.

A mere 500 yards from their lines the small group of Australians were once again threatened, this time by two platoon size groups approaching from their rear and left. As the group continued to try and reach their lines Terry, who had been wounded earlier in the evening, wheeled around and began to attack the Chinese unit verging on their rear. Terry was seen charging into a group of about 20 of the enemy hurling grenades and firing his Owen Gun. The Chinese stopped short and dispersed, but Terry was never seen again.

Due to his actions, Pte. Lionel John "Bomber" Terry was considered for the Victoria Cross.

Epitaph at the Australian War Cemetery in Korea:


"If there's a life that follers this
If there's a "Golden Gate",
The welcome that I want to 'ear,
Is just "Good onya Mate"

[Geek44]

Thanks Paul...great post.
We had an old family friend who was wounded in Korea. His rifle was hit by an enemy bullet shattering the wooden stock. He returned home with fragments of the stock embedded in his upper body, face and shoulder.
Amazed to hear they were still using the Owen in Korea. The Owen is reputed to be almost a home-made weapon having been developed by its originator in his back shed. The magazine pointing straight up 'Bren style' seems pretty silly to me. I've heard that if dropped (highly unprofessional) it was prone to emptying itself but don't quote me on it.

[TRDG]

I agree, very nice Paul, a very good read and it make ya think a bit more on the cost of war, lest we ever forget.

Cheers

Tom

[Geek44]

Just as an add to Australia's contribution in Korea, there were several squadrons of aircraft as well. Types used by the Aussies in Korea included the F-51 Mustang which was licence built in my home town by CAC (Commonweath Aircraft Company), the Sabre which was similarly built here and the Gloster Meteor. Of note here was one particular Meteor known as 'Hale Storm' piloted by Hale (I don't know his first name or rank) from Tasmania (the little island at the bottom which is a state). His aircraft is the last flying example of the single seat Meteor in the world and I had the pleasure of seeing it fly two years ago. The armament of this aircraft is all in the nose and the fairings for the gun muzzles generate what they call a 'blue-note' which is a very distinctive buzzing/whining sound when the aircraft dives. Not unlike the dive siren of the Stuka. I have pics on the other computer...I'll post 'em later.

[Geek44]

As promised, here are my pics of 'Hale Storm', the last flying single-seat Gloster Meteor in the world. I took these pics two years ago at a small aerodrome in New South Wales. The star attraction at Temora is the Mk VIII Spitfire (I have pics of that also) but there is also a de Havilland Vampire, Lockheed Hudson, Cessna Dragonfly, a Ryan trainer, Lockheed Constellation and several other types all in flying condition.

Meteor 1.JPG

Meteor 2.jpg

Meteor 3.jpg

Peace.

[Leatchy]

Originally Posted by Geek44

Thanks Paul...great post.
We had an old family friend who was wounded in Korea. His rifle was hit by an enemy bullet shattering the wooden stock. He returned home with fragments of the stock embedded in his upper body, face and shoulder.
Amazed to hear they were still using the Owen in Korea. The Owen is reputed to be almost a home-made weapon having been developed by its originator in his back shed. The magazine pointing straight up 'Bren style' seems pretty silly to me. I've heard that if dropped (highly unprofessional) it was prone to emptying itself but don't quote me on it.

Mate they were still using the Owen in Vietnam. The Australians who were caring them were forced to give them up for M16s, they were not happy. The Owen was devised in the designers back yard, but it was very solid and reliable when used in less than ideal conditions (think Kokoda). It was certainly far superior to the British Sten. The magazine on top was, to my understanding, in order to reduce the incidence of jamming.

[McCoy]

The Owen was probably the second or third best SMG durin' the entire WWII so It's understandable that they didn't wanna give it up for M16's.

[MAGNA]

The Owen was certainly a good gun. It was capable of firing after being submerged in water or mud, something you couldn't do with most other SMG's. It did look wierd although the design completely protected the breech and allowed foreign material to come out. It was rugged and dependable, as were the Soviet SMG's.

[cyberia]

My goal with this thread is to spotlight the contributions of all 16 Nations that pitched in under the UN flag in Korea. I started off with Australia because I knew the Aussies would pick up the ball and run with it.

We can leave Australia running another week or so, then bring in another nation to be recognized, perhaps England, and hope our British members will contribute as well.

To preserve the flow of the thread, lets not have any "line jumping".

[Geek44]

Originally Posted by Leatchy

Mate they were still using the Owen in Vietnam. The Australians who were caring them were forced to give them up for M16s, they were not happy. The Owen was devised in the designers back yard, but it was very solid and reliable when used in less than ideal conditions (think Kokoda). It was certainly far superior to the British Sten. The magazine on top was, to my understanding, in order to reduce the incidence of jamming.

Thanks mate...I learn a lot on this forum.