A Brief History
On November 2, 1951, a single platoon of the Royal Canadian Regiment fighting in the Korean War on behalf of the United Nations held off a persistent attack by an entire Chines battalion. The Battle of the Song-gok Spur lasted all day and all night into the next day. Such heroism has been routine for Canadian soldiers, sailors, and airmen through the years, and Korea was no exception. Over 26,000 Canadians served in Korea during the War, and over 500 of them gave their lives in the cause of freedom.
Digging Deeper
(We recently replied to a reader with the somewhat dismissive comment that the contributions to the United Nations cause during the Korean War (1950-1953) were negligible, but we fear this cavalier dismissal may have been overstated. We do not in any way minimize the contribution of allied nations that assisted the United States in keeping South Korea free, and in fact applaud the brave contribution of the fighting men of those nations and in particular our friends the Canadians.)
The end of World War II saw the end of Japanese domination of Korea, but the communist influence led by the Soviets and the Red Chinese resulted in a communist dictatorship take over of the Northern half of the peninsula with an American occupied Southern half that was set up with a democratic form of government. While negotiations were supposed to result in a reunification of a single Korea, in June of 1950 North Korean dictator Kim il Sung ordered his army to invade South Korea in a blatant attempt to seize the lower half of Korea under his own rule. The Western nations allied with the Untied States were taken by surprise, but the UN General Assembly quickly passed UNSC Resolution 82 that declared the North Korean invasion of South Korea to be invalid and for the nations of the world to restore the pre-invasion status quo under the authority of the United Nations. UN member nations were prohibited from aiding North Korea, though of course the Soviet Union did exactly that.
Although the United States and South Korean forces bore the brunt of the fighting during the 3 year war, there were contributions by other nations to assist in the defense of South Korea as well. In fact a total of 15 nations contributed military forces of some sort to the UN effort, and other contributed medical or other support. The US contributed 326,000+ military personnel, the largest contribution by non-Koreans to the South Korean cause. Britain added another 14,198 men and Canada, despite having a rather small population (1950 population 14 million) at the time, contributed the 3rd most numerous contingent at 8123 men on the ground at one time, with a total of over 26,000 men serving altogether. Canada added 8 destroyers to the UN naval forces available to support the War in Korea. The Canadian destroyers participated in shore bombardment and came under fire from shore batteries during the Inchon amphibious assault of 1950 and follow on operations in 1951. During other shore bombardments Canadian naval gunfire destroyed 8 North Korean trains. Canadian air units also provided transportation of cargo and personnel, while 22 Canadian fighter pilots flew US F-86 fighters in an exchange program with the US Air Force, shooting down 9 MiG communist fighter jets and probably another pair as well.
In Brampton, Ontario, the Canadians have erected a memorial wall to commemorate the contribution of the Canadian people to the freedom of South Korea during the Korean War, with 516 bronze plaques to memorialize each of the 516 Canadians that died in the War. The memorial wall stretches 200 curved feet and is made of polished granite. In the center of the wall is a larger plaque that lists all the Canadian units that served in Korea. Another memorial to Canadian veterans of the Korean War is in South Korea. We here at History and Headlines salute the heroic contribution of Canadians to the Korean War. Canada is truly a great friend and ally of the United States and the American people.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Did you previously know Canada sent military force to fight in the Korean War? Did you realize other countries had contributed military forces to the UN effort in Korea? Was the Korean War worth fighting to keep South Korea out of the orbit of the Communist Bloc?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Bjarnason, Dan. Triumph at Kapyong: Canada’s Pivotal Battle in Korea. Dundur, 2011.
Fitzpatrick, Meghan. Invisible Scars: Mental Trauma and the Korean War (Studies in Canadian Military History). UBC Press, 2017.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by Ian Muttoo of The Korean War Memorial Wall in Brampton, Ontario from https://www.flickr.com/photos/imuttoo/2871669136/, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
