Reviewer: LTCOL Russell Linwood, ASM (Retd)
The Battle for Kapyong Korea
23-25 April 1951
Kapyong features prominently in the history lexicon of the Australian military psyche, being the name afforded a particularly important battle involving Australians. It lends its name to street addresses in military barracks, a cadet company at the Royal Military College, Duntroon and a range of other histories, being among the few applications. Most Australians have heard of this battle which occurred during the Korean War. Few understand the real importance of it, let alone the detail of how it unfolded, and the consequences. In this book, Cameron takes a different, and most effective, approach to presenting a new look at what Australians regard as one of the major battle honours in its military lexicon. It is Army-centric as it focusses on the core battle in the title.
The title of the book is in part taken from a Canadian soldier’s quote, preluding that this book takes a wider scope of the battle than a purely Australian one. And this is one of the attractants of this work, especially where so many of us have tended to focus on 3 RAR’s role, and the winning of a major US unit citation for its performance at Kapyong.
The book is presented in three parts comprising 45 chapters. Part 1 – Origins explores why the war in Korea came to be fought in the first place and how Australian forces got to be involved. Part 2 – The War takes the reader on a journey up to the actual Battle of Kapyong by starting with the 25 June 1950 attack by North Korean forces across the 38th Parallel. At that time, there were only some RAN, RAAF and a reduced number of Army troops in Japan. BCOF forces were winding down, having largely completed the Australian commitment to the demobilisation of Japan following its surrender in 1945. 3 RAR was hastily reinforced and deployed as part of the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade, serving under command of parent US Divisions during the time covered in this book. It featured prominently in the initial UN counterattack and advance into North Korea. During this time, 3 RAR comprising a high portion of World War II veterans, fought the Battle of the Apple Orchard and then Battle of Broken Ridge, both being early successes.
China officially entered the war following North Korean reverses with the commitment of the Chinese Peoples’ Volunteer Force (CPVF) and the tide turned once again. Following the death of CO 3 RAR LTCOL Charles Green at Chongju, and the short command by LTCOL Floyd Walsh, LTCOL Ian Ferguson assumed command for the rest of the book’s narrative. Casualty replacements included CAPT Reg Saunders, the first aboriginal officer to command a rifle company. The UN forces withdrew and MacArthur was replaced by General Ridgeway, a major contributing factor to the ensuing sequence of events of the war which brings us to focus on the Battle of Kapyong itself.
Part 3 – The Battle takes us to and through the actual battle. Predictably, this part is presented in high detail, and contrary to the general predisposition one might reasonably take as an Australian reader, the battle is not presented as a 3 RAR-only engagement. The Battle of Kapyong was fought by a combined force, under chaotic conditions. It involved a whole brigade whose successful defence of key terrain proved to be crucial to the slowing down of the enemy forces, most of whom were CPVF, with North Koreans also involved. This critical outcome was instrumental to the overall campaign in that is gave other UN forces time to consolidate and avoid the potential for an otherwise disastrous outcome in 1951.
Good balance is given to the role played by all three British Commonwealth battalions and supporting arms. Especially the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Battalion who also experienced large scale attacks and repulsed them for the time needed to enable other allied forces to withdraw, regroup and survive to fight another day. The performance of the US tanks from A Company 1st Battalion 72nd United States Armor, is also described in vivid detail. Without the firepower and relative survivability of the US tanks, supporting artillery fire from the New Zealand and US gun batteries, air strikes (one of which tragically resulted in a napalm strike hitting an Australian forward position), the battle would almost certainly have been lost.
A common thread from the Infantry units’ narratives was the inability to maintain sufficient small arms and integral heavy weapons fire including mortars and medium machine guns, given the huge numbers of enemy attacking them at close quarters, sometimes from multiple directions including the rear. This makes fire support very difficult. These battle phenomena are well described, and I found to be engrossing in the detail presented.
Every chapter is headed by a participant’s quote, helping focus the reader on that segment of the story. The narrative runs very well, and I found moving from the big picture to the specifics both a local and satisfying way to learn about the battle from this perspective. Knowing some of the participants both ages this reviewer (and some other readers). However, it also creates a sense of close affinity with the people who were really there, and for me, this is a distinct bonus.
There is a range of typos and other errors that might have been eliminated with good proofreading eg Townsville being in NSW, however this minor distraction is more than offset by superior End Notes and a Bibliography that demonstrates high quality research. Maps are clear to follow, with the only observation being that if a place is referred to in the text it might also be on the map. This does not always occur.
The human side of war shines out in Let the Bastards Come, and procurement of the book for this great presentation of how it manifests in one of Australia’s more prominent battles is recommended. A great addition to the library, and a most entailing read. I for one am much better off for the reading journey offered by David Cameron with this book.
