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Posted on 04/22/2003 5:36:49 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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The Korean War lasted for three years. Throughout this time, there was much fighting, killing, and quite a few heroic actions. However, none were more remarkable, heroic, or tragic than the Battles of the Imjin River and Kapyong that took place 52 years ago to the day, between the 22nd and the 25th of April 1951. In April 1951 British 29th Infantry Brigade was holding the defensive line along the Imjin River. The main invasion route across the Imjin was held by the Gloucestershire Regiment (750 strong) and the men of C Troop Light (Mortar) Battery, R.A. The U.N. command needed time to reorganise and asked the Glosters to hold for as long as possible. Against them were three Chinese Divisions (approx. 27,000 men). On Sunday April 22nd the Battle of Imjin River began. The first attempts to cross the River were stopped by No.7 Platoon of 'C' Company under Lieutenant Guy Temple. Four times they stopped the Chinese and only withdrew when ammunition ran low. Temple received the Military Cross. Unknown to the Glosters, the Chinese had used another crossing point (not marked on maps) and over 1000 Chinese crossed to attack from all sides.  "The first frenzied assault fell on A Company. The Battalion's Vickers guns pumped belt after belt of ammunition into the screaming hordes until the cooling jackets of the guns boiled over and they seized up. Bren guns were fired until the barrels became red hot and rifles until they were too hot to hold." Repeated attacks by over-whelming numbers of Chinese continued through the night. B Company were now also in action. By the morning of the 23rd A Company were still fighting. 2nd Lieut. John Maycock had been killed and his platoon reduced to only 6 unwounded men. Lieutenant Terence Waters was severly wounded in the head. Half of A Company were dead or wounded by now. The Chinese had occupied a height known as Castle Site and were setting up machine guns to spray fire on the Company. Lieutenant Philip Curtis led a counter-attack on Castle Site across open ground. Within the first minute 3 Glosters were dead and 4 more wounded. Curtis ordered the remaining men to cover him and he charged alone. Severely wounded in the arm and side, his men tried to crawl out to drag him in, but shaking them off he charged again - alone. Throwing grenades as he ran he knocked out a machine-gun position but was killed by a burst of fire from another. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. Major Pat Angier reported his Company's desperate position, low on ammunition and mounting losses. He needed reinforcements if his Company was to hold its position. But the only order that Colonel Carne could give was "You will stay where you are at all costs until further notice." Major Angier replied "Don't worry about us, we'll be alright." Within 15 minutes Angier was dead. "D" Company were now being pressed also. There were no other UN troops for 2 miles and the Glosters flanks were unprotected. But the Glosters orders were to hold the road to Solma-ri and "as long as there was a Gloster still on his feet Fred Carne was determined to do just that."  During the night of the 23rd and dawn of the 24th "B" Company fought off 7 Chinese attacks and the forward sections were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. By the morning ammuntition was almost exhausted and grenades gone. Bayonets fixed, men fought with entrenching tools and even fists against the onrushing Chinese. To stop them being overwhelmed Colonel Carne concentrated the surviving men into one area. "B" Company now consisted of Major Harding, CSM Morton and 15 men. The Battalion front line had been 4 miles and was now down to 600 yards, but nowhere had the Chinese broken that line. By the evening of the 24th the survivors were concentrated on Hill 235 (since renamed 'Gloster Hill'). By now 29th Brigade had been forced to withdraw and the Glosters were totally alone, their orders "Hold on where you are." In the last report back to Brodie, Colonel Carne replied "I understand the position quite clearly. But I must make it cear to you that my command is no longer an effective fighting force. If it is required we shall stay here, in spite of this, we shall continue to hold." By now the Glosters were surrounded, low on food, water, and ammuntion. The radio batteries were almost dead. American helicopters tried to evacuate the wounded but could not close because of the intense Chinese fire enveloping Gloster Hill. The 8th Hussars (Tank Regiment), the Belgians, Filipinos, Puerto Rican and American infantry battalions tried desperately to break through to the Glosters, but could not. On Gloster Hill, the Battalion HQ had virtually ceased to exist. Captain Richard Reeve-Tucker (signals officer) was dead, Assistant-Adjutant Lieutenant Donald Allman (wounded in the shoulder) was commanding the remnants of one platoon, the Intelligence Officer Lieutenant Henry Cabral was commanding another.  Colonel Carne, with rifle and bayonet in hand, led the Regimental Police in an attack on a party of Chinese, reporting to his Adjutant, "Just been shooing away some Chinese." Adjutant Tony Farrar-Hockley, decided that his appointment as Adjutant was now redundant as the radio was almost dead, his last message was to Lieutenant Temple: "Guy, you will stay where you are until further notice. If your ammunition runs out hurl bloody rocks at 'em." He then joined what was left of A Company. The last of the ammuntion was handed out on the 25th. Each man had 5 rounds, each bren gun one and half magazines, each sten gun half a magazine. The Chinese were blowing bugles and on that morning, sensing the end was near they reached a crescendo of noise. Farrar-Hockley ordered Drum-Major Buss to fetch a bugle and play every call he knew "Except Retreat !" As he played the Glosters cheered him on. "I could see his tall, lean figure, topped by a cap comforter" wrote Farrar-Hockley; "he always played a bugle well and that day he was not below form. The sweet notes of our own bugle, which now echoed through the valley below him, died away. For a moment there was silence - the last note had coincided with a lull in the action. Then the noise of battle began again - but with a difference; there was no sound of a Chinese bugle. There are not many Drum-Majors in the British Army who can claim to have silenced the enemy's battle calls with a short bugle recital." At 0600 on the 25th Brigadier Brodie gave the Glosters the order to attempt to break out. They had held the line for 4 days. In his Log, Brodie wrote the Battalion's epitaph:  Colonel Carne gave his last orders. The wounded could not attempt escape. Captain Robert Hickey, the Medical Officer, Chaplin Sam Davies, and Medical Sergeant Brisland, immediately volunteered to stay with the wounded. The remnants of "A", "B", "C" and Support Companies headed south under heavy machine-gun fire. Soon "A" Company led by Farrar-Hockley were surrounded and captured. Captain Pike and his men ran into a force 10 times his own, after firing off 2 of his last 4 bullets he ordered his men to surrender. Major Harding, Lieutenant Temple and CSM Ridlington had covered 10 miles before being captured. Lieutenant Cabral was captured and was to die in a prison camp "after faithfully adopting an 'incorrect attitude' - as the Chinese phrased it - and being a constant thorn in their sides for 12 months." Colonel Carne, RSM Hobbs and CSMI Strong evaded capture for 48 hours. Captain Mike Harvey, with "D" Company and some machine-gunners (92 men in all) headed north and then west before turning south. After 3 hours they ran into enemy machine guns and lost half the party. Finally the group ran into UN forces. Unfortunatley the American tanks mistook them for Chinese and opened fire, wounding Lieutenant Thomas Conneely and 6 men. Realizing their mistake the Americans covered the group and 5 officers and 41 men reached the UN lines. Captain Harvey was awarded the Military Cross for his leadership. Private Essex of "B" Company was wounded in the head and both legs, his right leg being broken. When he could no longer walk he had crawled until he collapsed from pain and exhaustion. He was found by the Chinese and interrogated, which involved kicking his legs and hitting him in the face. He gave his name, rank and number. The Chinese walked away and tossed a grenade back at him, fortunately only wounding him in the eye. After they had gone he crawled to a village and was tended by the villagers. Finally he made it back to UN lines and in December 1951 he was chosen to broadcast to the Commonwealth before king George VI gave his Christmas Speech.  "In April I was wounded when the Glosters fought the battle on the Imjin River. I was captured and then escaped. For a few weeks I lived with some Korean villagers and they taught me how to keep alive on grass. Then I was picked up by one of our patrols and afterwards the RAF flew me home. Ever since I have been in Cambridge Hospital at Aldershot and today am going home to my father's farm in Gloucestershire. The chaps still out in Korea won't get much of a Christmas, and first of all I want to say cheerio to them, especially those who are prisoners. All the best mates, and I hope that it soon packs up and you all get home alright..." The following officers had made it back: Majors Digby Gist, Watkin-Williams, and Mitchell; Captains Harvey, Bartlett, Taylor and Worlock; Lieutenants Martin, and Barker, 2nd Lieuts. Holdsworth and Whatmore. Returning from leave in Japan, Major Wood, Captain Mardell and Lieut. Bergin rejoined the Battalion. The surviving men of the Battalion were now under command of Major Digby Grist, who sent the famous signal:
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1870 Nikolai Lenin [Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov] Bolshevik/USSR revolutionist
The hundredth anniversary of his birth was the first Earth Day.
What a peculiar coincidence.
Not!
Yep,,and if it don't happen,,,we are in trouble! lol!
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Miltary Families at Easter
 Colt Ozmen, 20-month-old son of Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeff Ozmen, thinks twice about hugging an Easter Bunny bigger than his dad. Petty Officer Ozmen is a corpsman assigned to Fort Detrick, Md. AFPS photo by Kathleen T. Rhem  Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Richard Cheney, blows a whistle to start the 2003 White House Easter Egg Roll. AFPS photo by Kathleen T. Rhem  A young boy assists conjurer Eric Henning in a magic trick. AFPS photo by Kathleen T. Rhem  Five-year-old Hannah Walker gets an egg up in the air as she “rolls” it down the White House lawn. AFPS photo by Kathleen T. Rhem  Two-year-old Michael Bufkin contemplates which end of his marshmallow bunny to bite next. Children who completed the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn received the bunnies. AFPS photo by Kathleen T. Rhem  Children prepare to roll their eggs down the White House lawn. The American Egg Board colored 5,400 boiled eggs for this year’s Easter Egg Roll. AFPS photo by Kathleen T. Rhem  Children prepare to roll their eggs down the White House lawn. The American Egg Board colored 5,400 boiled eggs for this year’s Easter Egg Roll. AFPS photo by Kathleen T. Rhem  Victoria Ann Hartel, 14-month-old daughter of Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph Hartel, looks to be having a bunny of a day. Petty Officer Hartel is assigned to Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. AFPS photo by Kathleen T. Rhem  Four-year-old Lexi Rhem pets a magician’s bunny while her sister, 10-year-old Monica Ollander, looks on. The girls’ dad, Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Sam Rhem, is assigned to Fort Belvoir, Va. AFPS photo by Kathleen T. Rhem
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Ruhrstahl FX-1400 Fritz-X Guided Bomb
The Fritz-X was a 1400 kg (3,300 lb) armor-piercing bomb with control fins and a radio data link usually launched from Do 217 and He 177 bombers. This weapon was the first operational guided bomb and proved quite effective.
Released from an altitude of 16,000 to 20,000ft (4875 - 6095 m) the bomb reached a terminal velocity approaching sound. Half of the pre-production Fritz X bombs hit within a 197 in ( 5m square. ) III/KG 100, formed from Lehr und Erprobungskommano 21, was the first unit to use the Fritz-X. Equipped with Do 217K-2s each plane could carry two of the guided bombs on ETC 2000/XII racks.
On September 9, 1943 two hits scored on the Italian battleship Roma sent her to the bottom. The Italia, also part of this fleet sailing out to surrender to the Allies, was hit and severely damaged. A British battleship, the Warspite was knocked out of the war for a year when a single Fritz-X penetrated all six decks and blew a hole through the bottom. The new weapon also sank the cruiser Spartan and damaged the cruisers Savannah and Uganda. Aggressive fighter patrols and electronic jamming disrupted the control signals from the launch aircraft to the bomb. A total of 1,386 Fritz-X bombs were manufactured, 602 of these being expended in tests.
Designer office: Dr. Kramer's DVL (Deutsche Versuchsanstalt ftir Luft.fahrt)
Structure: special anti-armor steel of great thickness Tail unit: cruciform section strengthened by a twelve-sided perimeter. It had a two-axis guideable fin, actuated by Wagner electrical controls.
Powerplant: None in first versions. Several accelerator rockets of solid propellant were foreseen.
Equipment: Radio-link system Kehl/Strassburg (FuG203 and FuG230)
Warhead: 320 kg of Amatol
Length: 3.26 m (10 ft. 8 1/2 in.)
Span: (elevator) 1.35 m (4 ft. 5 in.)
Maximum diameter: 0.56 m (1 ft. 10 in.)
Launch weight: (unpropelled version) 1570 kg (3,454 lb.)
Maximum speed: 1035 km/h (630 MPH)
Range: 5 km (2.69 nm)
Number of units built: 1,386
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