by Griff Hosker
Men appreciated such commanders for they knew where they stood!
“So, Major, you and your unit are due to be rotated but we have this one operation first. We move up to our jump-off positions in the next three days. Our task is relatively simple. We have to take a ford on the Imjin River and hold the high ground close to Highway 11. We have Republic of Korean units on one side and Americans on the other. I intend to use the skills of your section to our best advantage. You will be our eyes and ears as we advance.” He had smiled, “I know you and your lads have had a hard time but, remarkably, your losses have been lower than any other unit. That speaks well of your men’s skill.”
“We have been lucky, Brigadier, and we both know the value of that.”
“Quite so. You have a day or two to settle in and I will send over Lieutenant Machin, one of my aides, with the maps and the aerial photographs. We will begin the attack at dawn so that we can have good air support. As I say once we have the ford then your work is done and I expect that you will be taken from us fairly quickly. Your men have played their part already.”
“Thank you, sir.”
After the hotel, the tents were a comedown but one we understood. We were close to the Hussars and our men went to chat with them. Sergeant Major Thorpe had found some packing cases and we had those as seats. The snow had gone while we were in the hotel. Although it was hardly balmy, we were able to sit outside in battledress protected by the windbreaks which were our tents! Ken had brought us a brew and I gestured for him to join Jake and myself.
“This next action might well be our last, Sergeant Major. We are overdue a rotation. You might spread the word. It is not gospel but as the Argylls have just been rotated and we have been here longer, you never know.”
“That will please the lads with families, sir.” I lit my pipe. Sergeant Major Thorpe asked, “Do you mind if I try some of that baccy, sir? It has a nice smell.”
“Of course.” I wondered how long it had taken for him to pluck up the courage to ask.
As he filled his pipe he asked, “How does it smoke, sir?”
“It is a moist tobacco so slowly. It is not too hot a smoke. I like it. I prefer a bar tobacco like Condor, soaked in navy rum but…”
The Sergeant Major laughed as he put a match to his pipe, “Aye sir, that would be nice.” We had our pipes going and Lieutenant Morrison had learned that our silences were necessary.
Eventually I broke the silence, “Any plans when this is over, Sarn’t Major?”
“Aye, sir. I have served my time and then some. I have grand bairns I haven’t seen yet and more than seven months back pay. I will put in my papers when we get back to Blighty. I doubt they will fly us back and we will have at least a month at sea.”
“And you, Lieutenant?”
“The same as I told you before, sir. Nothing has happened to make me change my mind, sir. If I am going to fight, I would rather fight for something worth fighting for. What about you?”
“I was only brought back because they were short of senior officers. I will go back to the territorials and play at soldier for two weeks every summer. For the rest I will enjoy building up the company and seeing my children grow.” The Sergeant Major and I spoke of his grandchildren and my children. I saw the wistful look on Jake’s face, that was a journey he had yet to make.
This was a major operation. I visited Headquarters each day and learned more on every visit. An American liaison officer told me, in confidence, that Major Rogers and his Rangers would be making an attack not far from our position across a vital reservoir. The ninety-odd thousand soldiers from Operation Thunderbolt would be dwarfed by this operation which also involved almost half of the South Korean forces. General Ridgeway was a planner and he would not take unnecessary risks; slow and steady were his watchwords.
I was summoned to a meeting in the last week of March. I was not the only relatively junior officer there. Major Rickford commanded the Ulster Rifles and Major Huth represented the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars. The Brigadier had a map before him. “Gentlemen, we are going to take part in Operation Rugged.” He pointed to a line which was about two miles north of the 38th Parallel and went from the east coast of Korea to Seoul. “This is the Kansas line and it is our objective. There are a number of Chinese and North Korean Divisions facing us but, as you no doubt know, they have had supply problems and the increasingly benign weather means we have air support. Our particular target is the Imjin River and Highway 11. This operation, if successful, will be followed by Operation Dauntless which will take us here.” He pointed to another line which looked to be sixteen or so miles further north. “This is the Wyoming Line but that is for the future.” He looked directly at me, “We now have some Commandos under the command of Major Harsker. He has been acting as a recce for the Americans but we now have his men and I intend to use them. They will be supported by the Hussars. It will be good to have tank support. We need their Centurions and armoured cars.”
Major Huth, of the Hussars, raised his hand, “Sir, A and B Companies are due to be rotated. Our tanks are already being loaded onto tank transporters.” He looked apologetically at the rest of us. “C Company will be taken to Japan when the tank transporters return.”
The Brigadier shook his head in dismay, “Not your fault but which half-brained pencil pusher came up with that idea? Well, of course, C Company will have to stay. We need tanks.”
“Of course, sir.”
“Who is the commander?”
“Captain Peter Ormrod. A good chap!”
“Then have him liaise with Major Harsker.” I could see that the Brigadier was unhappy with the situation and he glowered around the room. “Is there any other joyous news for you to share with us, gentlemen?”
We all shook our heads and he proceeded with the briefing. Afterwards, he called me over. “Sorry about this, Major, but as you might have gathered, I knew nothing of this.”
“We both know, sir, that this was a regular occurrence in the last war. We will manage. To be honest the American half-tracks are probably better than Centurions in this sort of action. Just so long as we can call in their firepower if we get in trouble then we should be alright.”
“Remember, Major, you will have four battalions to support you.”
“But we don’t know the numbers we will be facing, sir, nor the defences they have in place.”
“A good point but aerial photography suggests that they have no tanks there and have yet to put artillery into the line. It will be the sheer weight of numbers.”
I returned to my men and told them of the operation. When they heard the start date, the 2nd of April, some found it amusing coming as it did, a day after April Fool’s day.
Captain Ormrod roared up with another of his tank commanders, Lieutenant Hurst; they drove in a borrowed jeep. The Captain had lost an eye in the last war and wore an eye patch which gave him a piratical look. He later told me he had a prosthetic but it had a habit of falling out and so he kept it for, as he called it, best. He and the young Lieutenant saluted.
I nodded to Lieutenant Morrison and Sergeant Major Thorpe, “Lieutenant Morrison and Sergeant Major Thorpe. As you can see, we are a small unit.”
“I shall fetch some tea, sir.”
“Thanks, Sarn’t Major.”
The Captain smiled and took the packing case I offered, “And we are not much bigger. I know that Major Huth is less than happy to be leaving one squadron to do the work of three.”
“The Centurion is a good tank. I know that.”
“It is the best but we both know, sir, that if we are surrounded by overwhelming numbers then they can destroy us!”
“And we will be with you so leave the infantry to us!” My pipe had gone out and so I loosened the crust with a match. “The thing is, Captain, it would be easier for us if we operated ahead of you and called you in when we needed heavy armour. They can hear you coming.”
They both laughed, “Quite right, sir. The Centurion is a
good tank but it is a noisy bugger! And, of course, the terrain does not suit us. Still, we have incredibly thick armour and our only fear is losing a track. The Commies have nothing that can come close to damaging us. We have discovered that they are intimidated by dragons. We have painted dragons on our tanks. The Yanks told us about it. You never know, it might work!”
We spent a pleasant hour talking. The Captain and I had some shared experiences. He had been at Normandy although not with the first wave. The hour was amongst the most productive I had had in a long time. I felt as though I knew the Captain; more than that, I trusted him.
The timing of each attack was left largely to the individual commanders. It was a mark of General Ridgeway’s style. He trusted his officers. Having looked at the maps, the Brigadier decided to have the Hussars advance up the main highway to the Imjin River. We, supported by the Glosters, would head up a side road which twisted through the mountains. The Centurions would have struggled in the terrain anyway but Brigadier Brodie anticipated that the sound of the tanks’ engines would draw the enemy like flies to the main road and we might be able to ambush the ambushers. The Glosters had one half-track and the main body of the regiment used lorries. We left at dawn. By now we had perfected our technique and the two jeeps kept half a mile ahead of the noisier half-tracks and lorries. We had rigged up two of the Bren guns to augment the firepower of the Brownings in each half-track. Sergeant Major Thorpe had also used the men’s Bergens to provide some sort of protection from shrapnel. While we waited for the actual attack, we augmented our armament. We acquired two grenade rifles and a mortar.
We had learned much in our time in Korea. The enemy used mines and minefields but they were not very good at doing so. They rarely hid them well enough and four miles up the twisting road we saw the crude attempt to mine the road. I was careful when I made it safe but any of my men could have done the same. We had just given the signal for the column to move when we heard machine guns from the east. The tanks and the main column had been attacked. In many ways, it was a relief because I had feared an attack from the west. The fragmented nature of our advance made it hard to predict the direction from which the enemy would attack.
The message came through from the Brigadier and our plans went into action. We were to ambush the ambushers. The main road was less than two miles away and the ground between us, whilst rough, could be traversed by jeeps and half-tracks. A Company from the Glosters left their lorries to follow us as the four vehicles turned to go to the aid of the main column. We managed more than three-quarters of a mile before the going proved to be impassable. We left our vehicles and made our way through scrub and rock. We could hear the Besa machine guns in the Centurions as the tanks and armoured cars tried to fend off the Chinese and North Koreans. There was no point in using their big guns. The firing drew us to the point of attack. A Company was just half a mile behind us. They had two mortars with them as well as six Bren guns.
I spied the first of the Communist soldiers. It was the Headquarters section. I saw the antenna of the radio as well as the other signs of such a company. There were more officers and non-coms than men! I waved my men into a line. The enemy was a hundred yards from us. “Lofting, when we begin our attack, I want one bullet in the radio, then the operator and after that every officer you can kill!”
“Sir!” He went to get a good vantage point.
“Lieutenant Morrison, take ten men and flank them to the south.
Sergeant Major Thorpe take another third and flank them to the north. Begin your attack when you hear our guns!”
“Sir!”
Major Delaney who was in command of A Company appeared. I pointed ahead, “We are going to attack the enemy. Use your men to back us up.”
“We can go in with you if you like?”
“To be honest, Major, we are a well-oiled machine and we know how we work. Next time, eh?”
He did not seem offended, “Whatever you say. You are the experts at this sort of thing.”
I looked at my men, “We don’t fire until Lofting has knocked out the radio. I want to take out their command post and then use the confusion to our advantage.”
“Seems like a sound plan.”
I cocked the Thompson. “Over to you, Lofting!”
We ran. He would judge the moment. He had learned to look for the signs and, as an officer began to turn, he fired five bullets so quickly that I thought five men had fired. The radio was hit and three men fell. I fired my Thompson and my men used their rifles. There had been ten men in the Headquarter’s party. None survived. I waved the Glosters forward as my men scrambled up the rocks to enfilade the Communists below us.
“Ashcroft, search the officers for papers.”
I scrambled up on to the rocks. There had to be a regiment, at least, below us. I did not need to give the order to fire. Lieutenant Morrison and Sergeant Major Thorpe had already begun their attack and the Glosters, eager to join us also found good vantage points. It did not take long to end the ambush. The enemy were surrounded and more than half of them surrendered.
Major Delaney came over to me, “Textbook piece of work.”
I nodded, “This time, but next time? We take one step at a time. We still have twenty miles to go to reach our final objective. When we reach it, I will rest easier!”
It took most of the day to clear the ambush site and to begin to march the prisoners south. We made our vehicles not long before dark. I knew that we were close to the Imjin River and so I just travelled two more miles before we made camp. While the food was prepared, I spoke with Major Delaney. “I intend to take out a patrol before dawn. I want to scout out the river. If they had an ambush waiting for us back there then I am certain that they will have another one at the river or, at the very least, they will be preparing something for us.”
“What if you hit trouble?”
“I have Ashcroft with the radio. I only intend taking eight men. I want to see and not to fight.”
I chose the men and while the rest busied themselves, we got our heads down for a couple of hours sleep. We were awake at 0230 hours and I led the eight of them along the crude road. After a couple of miles, it began to twist and turn down to the valley bottom. It would be an interesting descent but my drivers had already endured a more challenging drive. As we began to negotiate the slope, I could smell the smoke of Korean cigarettes. They had a distinctive aroma. I held up my hand and, drawing my Colt, tapped Lofting on the shoulder for him to follow me. We were both wearing our rubber-soled shoes and we were both silent.
The sound of the river was ahead and the trail flattened out as it joined the road which crossed the river at the ford. We had blacked up, Harris had not been awake or else he would have sung, ‘Mammy’. It was Lofting who spotted the sentries and his arm came across me to arrest my progress. I dropped to one knee and levelled the Colt. I saw movement on the other side of the river. We both dropped to our bellies and crawled along the side of the trail close to the river. There was lush undergrowth here and we were well hidden. There were North Koreans guarding the ford. I recognised their language if not the actual words. I saw the glow of their cigarettes and the occasional flash of flame from their brazier. We kept moving forward. Even if they had turned their gaze to look across the river it would not have been to the ground. Grass and weeds flourished close to the river and we were hidden as we peered through them at the north bank.
There were sandbags and I saw guns. They looked like a Chinese version of the British seventeen pounder anti-tank gun. They could hurt the Centurions. I took the time to see what other defences there were. To the side of the anti-tank guns were heavy machine guns hidden in the undergrowth. I looked at my watch. It was almost 0415 and soon the camp would be waking. I tapped Lofting on the shoulder and we slid backwards. Once we were safe, we rose and went back to the others. I gestured for them to join me further up the slope where we would not be overheard.
“Ashcroft, get on the radio to the main column. Tell th
em that there is an ambush at the ford with anti-tank guns. We will deal with it and they should wait for my signal to attack! Then ask Lieutenant Morrison to bring the men on foot to the river, and for Major Delaney to prepare to support us with his men and the tanks of Captain Ormrod.” I did not want the enemy alerted by the sound of the tanks.
While Ashcroft passed on the messages I spoke with the others. “Williams, I want you to wait up the road for the Lieutenant and the rest of our men. When they arrive bring them down here.”
After they had left us, I began to work out a plan. The danger was the anti-tank guns. The machine guns could not harm the tanks. “Lofting, I want you to get to the place where we hid. I will distract the machine gunners while you eliminate the sentries and then the men on the anti-tank guns. Sergeant Grant, you, Hall and Smith will get close enough to the western machine gun to destroy it with grenades and small arms fire. Collins, Carter and Harris, you will do the same to the eastern machine gun.”
“Sir!”
Grant asked, “And the anti-tank guns, sir?”
“When the six of you have disabled the machine guns then take cover and try to hit the machine guns on the other side of the crossing. By then we will have the Brens and Brownings in place. I intend to use our firepower and then six of us with hand grenades.”
Sergeant Grant said, “You, sir?”
I smiled, “You think I am too old, Sergeant?”
“No, sir, too valuable! Let some of the young lads take the risk.”
“I have done this too long to change. I will be leading one of the teams, now get in position. Lofting’s rifle will signal the attack. Use the mortar and the rifle grenades to hit the enemy further back. As soon as the alarm is sounded then they will rush to their defences. That is when they will be vulnerable.”
They moved, albeit reluctantly, to their attack positions. I also chose myself because, when the others came, I would join Lofting. I still had my Colt with the silencer and I would use it! I was left alone to await Williams and our men. They did not take long and I could tell that they had run.
