Chosin Reservoir: As I Remember Koto-Ri Pass, North Korea, December 1950

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Hermes, Jr., Walter (1966). Truce Tent and Fighting Front. United States Army Center of Military History. p.2,6,9. Archived from the original on 2009-02-24 . Retrieved 2020-06-02. On the evening of Oct. 1, 1950, the submarine USS Perch surfaced 4 miles off the east coast of North Korea. A veteran of World War II combat against Japan, the warship had been converted into a troop transport and in place of torpedo tubes carried troops—67 members of Britain’s 41 (Independent) Commando, Royal Marines. Led by Lt. Col. Douglas B. Drysdale, the men were among the first members of their service to go into action behind enemy lines in the Korean War. Their target that night was a rail line used by the North Koreans to transport supplies and personnel south. A Skyraider takes off from USS Valley Forge in March 1951 while a Sikorsky HO3S-1 rescue chopper stands by. (National Archives) I am damn proud. We won!” says Whited of the war that ended, for all intents and purposes, in a stalemate.

Captain Earle H. Jordan, M/31, awarded Distinguished Service Cross for actions east of Reservoir (RCT 31). [13] World War II ace, continued to carry out bombing and strafing runs despite his aircraft being damaged As Schreiber’s dark blue AD rolled into its bomb run, Kaufman saw the snowy white valley erupt: “All hell broke loose. In my 30 missions over North Korea thus far, it was the heaviest flak I had ever seen.” And it was his turn to head into it. On December 8th, 1950, 117 Marines, soldiers and Royal British Commandos were buried in a mass grave at Koto-ri, the command post 11 miles south of the Chosin Reservoir. Credit: U.S. National ArchivesRyan, Mark A.; Finkelstein, David M.; McDevitt, Michael A. (2003), Chinese Warfighting: The PLA Experience Since 1949, Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, ISBN 0765610876 Like many Marines and Infantrymen in the Korean War, Whited felt ill-equipped for the type of combat he faced there. The first members of 41 Commando to see action belonged to Poundforce, a 14-man team under the command of Lt. Edgar Pounds. Attached to a U.S. Army Ranger battalion, Poundforce supported the Inchon landings by conducting a diversionary raid along the Korean west coast on the night of September 12/13. Following the raid, Poundforce was attached to the U.S. 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV), which by month’s end helped liberate Seoul. Jean White posing for a picture during the capture of Uijongbu following the landing at Inchon on the march north, some time between September 28th and October 3rd, 1950. Chinese Reinforcements Arrive, Stealthily

By 1 December, the PVA 58th Division was virtually destroyed, [167] with the remainder waiting for reinforcements from the 26th Corps of the 9th Army. [168] [169] Much to the frustration of Song Shilun, the 26th Corps did not arrive before the Marines broke out of Yudam-ni. [5] The airfield was opened to traffic on 1 December, allowing UN forces to bring in reinforcements and to evacuate the dead and wounded. [170] With the Marines at Yudam-ni completing their withdrawal on 4 December, the trapped UN forces could finally start their breakout towards the port of Hungnam. The U.S. 5th and 7th Marine RCTs at Yudam-ni were first withdrawn south to Hagaru-ri, arriving on December 4 in subzero temperatures to a warm welcome by members of 41 Commando. The next day the Royal Marines tried to recover nine 155 mm howitzers that had earlier been abandoned. The attempt failed, though they later destroyed the guns. On the positive side, U.N. aircraft managed to fly in 537 reinforcements to Hagaru-ri and evacuate a number of casualties—including 25 Royal Marines. Parish, James Robert. The Great Combat Pictures: Twentieth-Century Warfare on the Screen. Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1990. ISBN 978-0-8108-2315-0. Sides, Hampton (2 October 2018). On Desperate Ground: The Epic Story of Chosin Reservoir. Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on 26 November 2019 . Retrieved 18 November 2019. Battalion – LTC Howard St. Clair 2nd Battalion – LTC Herman Dammer 3rd Battalion – MAJ E.G. Allen 39th Armored Field Artillery Battalion – LTC Robert B. Neely Company B, 10th Engineer Combat Battalion Company D, 10th Engineer Combat Battalion KATUSA - See Republic of Korea Forces below. 7th Infantry Division – MG David G. Barr,

By 6 December U.N. Forces were reorganized and began the difficult and costly fight from Hagaru-Ri down ”Hell Fire Valley” to Koto-Ri. Machine gun squad leader. Armed with small arms he retrieved a marine machine gun that the Chinese had over ran and were using on US Marines. After getting other marines set up on the machine gun, he was killed returning to his own.