Korean Winter

by Griff Hosker

  I smiled, “Yes, Ken, we were lucky.”

  He lowered his voice, “And how did they do?”

  “Alright, but they don’t have the reactions of the original team. We need to drill into them that they have to be ready to fight no matter what happens.” I told him about the North Korean attack. “We need lessons in setting booby traps and we had better have a few hand to hand sessions.”

  “Sir, I will head to the canteen and make sure they have food for you.”

  I went into the officers’ tent and closed the flap. Lieutenant Morrison had lit the lamp, “How did you think it went, Jake?”

  He looked me directly in the eye and shook his head, “Not good, sir, and I am speaking personally.”

  I smiled, “Then that is a start. Had you thought it all went well I would have been worried. Corporal Dixon is a good man but he is an NCO. We get paid more to be officers and to lead. I didn’t see you leading.”

  “I was afraid of getting it wrong, sir.”

  “Hesitation means you have got it wrong. The men need you to lead. What would have happened had I been incapacitated? What would you have done?”

  He shook his head, “I hope the right thing, sir, but I don’t honestly know.”

  I appreciated his honesty, “You are the only other officer. You have to be ready to take command if I fall.” He nodded. “How did Williams do?”

  “Keen but even greener than me, sir.”

  “Then work with him every chance you get. If you are shot, we will have a replacement.”

  He looked shocked and said, “That seems a little harsh, sir.”

  “It is the way of the world, Jake. I will spend time with you and try to give you some tips but your best bet would be to watch and then emulate. Now when your weapons are cleaned off you go and get some food.”

  “What about you, sir?”

  “I have a report to write.” It was one aspect of leadership I did not like. I put the pen and paper on the side table and then cleaned my guns. It helped to clear my mind and I liked having perfect weapons. When I picked one up, I knew it would fire!

  The Lieutenant was finishing his meal when I arrived. The cooks had saved me pork chops, gravy, potatoes and sweetcorn. I ate it all and used some bread to mop up the gravy. The young Lieutenant watched me patiently, “Sir, when that avalanche came down weren’t you afraid?”

  “What of?”

  “Being buried alive, sir.”

  “It could have happened I suppose but a greater threat was the enemy. I was the only one who used grenades; why?”

  He shook his head, “I don’t know, sir.”

  “They are a handy little weapon and the closer you are to an enemy the handier they are for they spread shrapnel and can take out as many men in one go as a magazine fired from a Lee Enfield. Remember that. Always take at least half a dozen with you.”

  “But the weight!”

  “Will save your life.”

  As we walked back, he said, “You know sir, I am not certain how useful our training was! I feel ill-prepared.”

  “That is because you are remembering the parts and not the whole. When they sent you on your long run and asked you to get back to base that was the real training.”

  “It was a game, sir.”

  “And there you are wrong. It was giving you the opportunity to practice something which is very dangerous in a safe manner. Tomorrow is a new day. Let’s all start afresh eh? We have a run at 0500!”

  His mouth dropped open and I laughed.

  Chapter 5

  I confess that I was not ready for a run but I had the whole section to think about. The run was not just about becoming fitter it was a way to build a team; when you ran together it was as though you became one being. Our time was three minutes slower than the last one. The men who had been with me on the raid had an excuse, but not the rest.

  When we got back, as they huffed and puffed, I pointed an accusing finger at them all. “Not good enough! We will be out again this afternoon. I have to go to the debrief. I will leave the NCO’s to work with all of you on basic skills such as setting booby traps, hand to hand combat and hiding in plain sight. When I return Lieutenant Morrison and Marine Williams will work on demolitions and I want the rest of you to come with a list of the five best skills you have as a Commando!”

  I saw the perplexed looks on their faces. Sergeant Major Thorpe and I had discussed this and he would give them some pointers. I needed specialists and fast! Colonel Wilding beamed when he saw me, “Like a knife through butter, Major! You and your guys did well and our advance elements are already closing with the North Korean capital! The optimists may well be right and this might be over by Christmas!”

  The words did not inspire me and my heart sank. I had heard the same optimism in World War Two and it had always been misplaced. The plan had been a good one and we had caught the North Koreans unawares but they would fight back. I nodded, “Yes sir. I thought I would give you my oral report first.”

  “Of course, and then you and your men can enjoy a few days’ rest.”

  Shaking my head, I said, “No sir! No rest for us as we made too many mistakes.”

  “Mistakes? But you achieved all of your objectives.”

  “And we were lucky! I have learned, Colonel, that a man has only so much luck and it is better to save that for the times when the training and the preparation do not help.” He nodded and I gave him my report. I left promising him the written version by the next morning. The meeting had taken a couple of hours and I saw that Sergeant Major Thorpe had all of the men working. The raid had injected urgency and purpose into the section. The ones who had been on the raid had told the others of the action and it acted as a spur. The exception was Lieutenant Morrison. Marine Williams was studying the field manual and I saw a pile of unused demolitions close by him.

  I said nothing to him about the Lieutenant as that would be unfair to both of them, “How is it going, Sam?”

  He grinned, “I reckon I have sussed out why that first charge did not go off.” He proffered a timer. “See this one, sir, if you look at it closely you can see a tiny kink in the cover. I think that caused the problem. It was the way we carried them, see, sir. They were crushed together in our bags. Now if we had packed them separately then it might not have happened. Anyroad up, next time we use them I will know what to look for. You feel such a fool when something like that happens, eh sir? Sorry I didn’t spot it.”

  An ordinary soldier had spotted what an officer had not, “It is not your fault Williams. Well done. “

  “Will we have to jump again, sir?”

  “Why, Williams? Are you afraid?”

  He laughed, “No sir! It was fun! It is just that if we do, I will need to work out how to protect the gear when we drop.”

  “Well done, carry on.” I entered the tent and the Lieutenant was lying on his bed and smoking. I closed the flap. It was not perfect but it would have to do. I sat on my bed and took out my pipe. Cleaning and filling it would keep me calm when I spoke with Morrison. I waited until I had the pipe going before I took out my Colt and disassembled it. There was an order to the cleaning of a gun which I found calming.

  The Lieutenant sat up and stubbed out his cigarette. I laid the parts of the Colt on the bed and took the pipe from my mouth, “I thought I asked you to work with Williams on the demolitions, Lieutenant.”

  “We had a look, sir, and I saw nothing that would have indicated a problem. Probably a faulty fuse.”

  I nodded and sucked on the pipe. This was the last of the rum-infused tobacco and it was smoking well, “Williams has found the fault while you were resting.”

  “What sir?” he sat bolt upright.

  “A kink in a timer. It happened because they were not packed well enough. Williams saw that and apologised but it should have been you who saw it.” He hung his head, “When you were at school, did you do well?”

  “At school sir?” I nodded and he beamed, “Always top of the class
, sir. The same at Officer Training!”

  I used my penknife to loosen the ash at the top of the pipe and drew on it, “All of which shows that you are a clever man but you are not transferring that to the job in hand. Sergeant Major Thorpe is out there ensuring that the men are all on task and you are sat here doing nothing. You are my deputy whether you like it or not. If I had been killed out there would the mission have succeeded?”

  I saw him begin to retort and then he paused and he ran through the raid. Realisation set in and he shook his head, “No, sir, but it is different when there are real bullets flying around!”

  “They used real bullets when you trained!”

  “We all knew they were over our heads. The other night was different. We could have been killed.”

  I laid the pipe down and began to clean the Colt’s component parts, “We can all die, Lieutenant. I buried enough friends in the last one to know that. When a soldier goes to war then death is always a possibility. It is the extra weight you pack in your Bergen. If you worry about it then you increase the chances of it coming true.” He nodded. “Now get out there and find out what every man is doing. You need to know these men as well as any of your family, for that is what they are, your family. Get to know Williams. He is a good Commando and he can handle the demolitions but he needs you to help him.”

  “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”

  “Sorry does not get the job done!”

  I cleaned all of my weapons and then went outside. Sergeant Major Thorpe had a brew going and he handed me a mug as I stepped out of the tent. He smiled, “The lads have taken your words to heart.” He looked pointedly at Lieutenant Morrison, “All of them, sir.” To the Sergeant Major, we were all lads.

  “Good. The Americans seem to think this is going well and that it will be over by Christmas.”

  He laughed, “Aye, sir, and we have both heard that before, eh? The Koreans fought well when they charged us. They are not cowards; we just caught them with their pants down. It will get harder, sir. Any more missions planned?”

  “Not that I have heard but I suspect that when the advance is held up then they will need us again. Until then we keep up the training. We will take the men out after two.”

  Sergeant Major Thorpe gestured up at the clouds which were gathering, “And I reckon we will have a drop or two of rain too. We are heading for winter sir and this country looks like it might be rough when that happens. The lads are all on task, I will nip to the Quartermaster and see if the winter gear has come. If the Americans think it will be over by Christmas, they might not bother to collect theirs. I will see what I can scrounge.”

  “Thanks.”

  As I walked around the men, I sensed a more purposeful attitude. The risk of death did that to a man. Training was one thing but no one knew how they would react under real fire until they experienced it. I was still concerned about the Lieutenant but I was stuck with him and I would have to try to mould him whilst in action. The Sergeant Major procured everything that we needed for a winter war as well as replacement ammunition and guns. He even acquired a couple more Thompsons. The two of us knew the value of such weapons and we were able to replace the clunky Sten guns. We had a problem with grenades. We had to use the American ones. They were a good grenade but I was used to Mills bombs and I knew that under fire I would not be as confident in their use.

  We had been back three days when trucks began to arrive at the camp and I was summoned to a meeting with Colonel Wilding. The trucks and jeeps arrived in the morning and I was sent for in the late afternoon.

  Lieutenant Morrison had taken on board my comments and he said, “While you are gone, sir, I will take the men for a run. It may well be we have another mission in the offing.”

  “Good!”

  As I entered the building, I saw an American Lieutenant General and his staff leaving. The airborne wings on his uniform told me his unit. Something was happening. I was whisked in to the office where there was a British Captain of Intelligence. From the piles of papers and the fug of smoke, I knew that the officers I had seen leaving had held their meeting in this office. There was a map of North Korea on a wall and some intriguingly positioned red pins.

  The Colonel looked harassed and lit a cigarette, “Good of you to come so promptly, Major. This is Captain Warwick from British Headquarters. He will act as your liaison for this next operation.”

  I nodded and shook the outstretched hand of the Captain, “I have heard a great deal about you, sir. This is an honour.”

  Nodding I said, “Colonel, would this have anything to do with the 187th Airborne Infantry?”

  The Colonel smiled, “Sharp as a whip, eh Major. Yes, the 187th is going to drop behind enemy lines. We are pushing north really quickly now and General MacArthur wants to try to capture as many North Korean officials as he can. In addition, the North Koreans are trying to take their prisoners of war towards the Chinese border. You know what that means.”

  My ears pricked up; my unit could be prisoners of war. This protentional mission suddenly became personal, “Yes, sir, they become bargaining chips. I take it from my presence and Captain Warwick here that we are involved too?”

  The Colonel nodded to the Captain and went to pour himself some coffee. “Yes sir, there are few British prisoners of war but we have photographs showing at least twenty being marched a few miles behind larger numbers of Americans. They are not with the American prisoners; they are kept separate but heading north. They are being marched and we are estimating where they will be.”

  I knew what was coming.

  “We believe that at least half of the prisoners of war are Captain Poulson and the remnants of your section.”

  “Brevet Major Poulson.”

  “Yes, sir, sorry sir. I believe he was a friend of yours.”

  “He is a friend of mine.” The Captain looked embarrassed. “Captain, have you seen action yet?”

  He looked embarrassed and said, “No sir.”

  “Then you should know that any man with whom you fight is your friend. It is not just the Major who is a friend, the men are too. And Major Poulson is still a friend of mine.” I emphasised the word, is.

  “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. Headquarters want you to go in with the Americans. The British prisoners are heading for Sunchon while the American prisoners and the officials are at Sunkchon. They are close, it is just sixteen miles between the two towns but there is a mountain range between and not close enough for the Americans to guarantee getting to them.”

  “So, our job is to land, recapture them and then what?”

  The Captain looked at the Colonel who sighed and lit another cigarette, “That is the hard part I am afraid, Tom. You will be too far north to make it back to our lines. You and the prisoners will have to hole up and wait for the advance to reach you.”

  I nodded, “If they have been prisoners for a couple of months then they will be in no condition to move anyway. I doubt that the North Koreans will be any less harsh than the Japanese were.”

  “You are right. Lieutenant General Trapnell who commands the 187th was a prisoner of the Japanese and he echoes your words.” The Colonel stubbed out his cigarette.

  “Major Poulson and the men were in summer gear when they were captured. It is October now and I do not doubt that the weather will get worse. We need greatcoats for them and we will need food.”

  The Captain said, “But sir, you are dropping by parachute!”

  “And we can drop containers too. It will be tricky as the valleys are narrow. We will have to make a lower drop than is desirable but it can be done. And the opposition, sir?”

  “North Korean regulars; there is half a company guarding them and a company garrisoning the town.”

  I nodded and took out my pipe, “So that means we will be outnumbered by ten to one.”

  The Captain looked shocked, “They are impossible odds!”

  I smiled as I filled the pipe with the last fragments of rum-infused tobacco, “Of course they a
re but the alternative is to leave my men in the hands of the North Koreans. The odds are acceptable.” I lit the pipe whilst studying the map. When I had it going, I said, “Colonel, we have no heavy weapons. I need two mortars and a heavy machine gun.

  “We have the Browning M1919A4 or the Browning M1919A6.”

  I smiled, “The former, I think. I heard some of your men complaining about the A6 in the last war.”

  “You know your guns. I can get all of the gear you need but your men will have to practise with the new equipment today. You leave tomorrow night.”

  “I thought we might. Captain, could you get the equipment for us? I will need copies of these maps and then I will have to brief my men.”

  The Colonel said, “Captain Waring will be your pilot.” I was relieved. He had done a good job the last time. “Come along, Captain. I will take you to Sergeant Jones, he will get what you need.”

  By the time he returned I had examined the map more closely and seen the size of the problem. The Colonel lit a cigarette and said, “This is a tall order. You are doing that which needs a battalion.”

  “I know but we are the only ones who can do this. We have infantry in Korea but we are the only ones who can go behind the lines. Don’t worry, sir, I do not have a death wish but I will not let my men down. We will do our best and, God willing, keep our friends safe.”

  As I walked back to the tents, I heard the sound of singing. It was my section and the Sergeant Major had them singing as they ran.

  That's my brother, Sylveste (What's he got?)

  A row of forty medals on his chest (Big chest!)

  He killed fifty bad men in the West, he knows no rest

  Speak of the man (Hell's fire!), don't push (Just shove!)

  Plenty of room for you and me

  He's got an arm like a leg (Lady's leg!)

  And a punch that would sink a battle ship (Big ship!)