On April 22, 1955, British Lieutenants Philip Curtis and Terry Waters attended church service
in an abandoned Korean Temple in the windy hills of South Korea. The two men pondered silently
as they prepared themselves for the battle ahead. Their regiment had been appointed to hold the line
at the Imjin River at any cost, and they knew that if the front was breached, Seoul would fall again.
That night, hundreds of brave British and Belgian soldiers held their positions
along the hills on the South riverbank when suddenly a flare lit up the sky and revealed
thousands of Chinese soldiers crossing the river in a massive abrupt attack.
The men would soon be engulfed in one of the bloodiest battles in British military history.
Outnumbered 7 to 1, the British soldiers and their allies tried to hold off a massive wave
of Chinese soldiers that threw themselves against the UN line of defense in an attempt to breach it.
It would be China’s last and largest effort to try to overwhelm the weary and numerically
inferior UN task force and invade the Korean Peninsula to establish a Communist government.
But the battle-hardened Gloucestershire Regiment would not give up so easily…
The Conflict
The war in Korea was reaching a boiling point; what started as a struggle between Communist North
Korea and democratic South Korea had evolved into a violent proxy war involving China,
the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, and a dozen UN countries.
By 1950, China had entered the conflict, and it had conquered practically all the peninsula
and cornered the UN troops in the port city of Busan.
However, after finally receiving the reinforcements they so desperately needed,
the UN forces were able to counterattack and break the Siege of Busan.
The UN task force then took Seoul and pushed the Chinese and North Korean troops back
through the 38th parallel north. Still, the victory was short-lived,
as a massive Chinese counteroffensive soon pushed back and captured the Southern capital once more.
With additional reinforcements and superior air support, UN forces managed to take back the city
in March of 1951, making it the fourth time the capital had been conquered in the last two years.
The war continued with the battlefront moving up and down the 38th parallel
as both factions made gains and suffered losses. Winter cleared,
and UN forces dug in, holding defensive positions close to the 38th parallel.
Eventually, the 29th British Independent Infantry Brigade
Group was ordered to hold a line by the Imjin River, just 20 miles off Seoul,
as the Chinese and North Korean troops were expected to unleash a major attack.
It was spring, and the Chinese prepared for the largest and most ambitious offensive yet;
they planned to capture Seoul once again and then break the UN’s line of defense
to capture the South and force the UN forces to retreat.
Clashing Forces The entire Korean
conflict was defined as an encounter between overwhelming numbers against advanced firepower,
with North Korea having an almost unlimited number of Chinese troops at its disposal.
Consequently, their strategy was to overpower the UN forces by sheer numbers alone
and hope that the opposition’s technologically
advanced weapons and intelligence would not be enough to withstand their assault.
For the attack on Imjin River, the Chinese offensive was commanded by General Peng Dehuai
and consisted of 300,000 troops over a 40-mile front, while British troops defending the
hills on the Southern riverbank would face three divisions led by General Yang Dezhi’s 19th Army.
On the other hand, British forces were made up by the 29th British Independent
Infantry Brigade Group, commanded by Brigadier Tom Brodie. The Brigade was
composed of the 1st Battalion The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers,
the 1st Battalion The Gloucestershire Regiment commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James Carne,
and the 1st Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles and their attached Belgian Battalion.
Support for the British forces included a tank unit of 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars,
25-pound guns from the 45th Field Regiment Royal Artillery,
and 4.2-inch mortars from the 170th Independent Mortar Battery.
The positioning of the 29th Brigade’s battalions was weak and thinly spread across several hills.
The size of the area was more suited to a division than a brigade,
but at the moment, the defense had been deemed a temporary line,
so the positions were neither mined nor wired nor adequately reinforced.
The British battalions were situated on hilltops south of the Imjin River,
while the Belgian Battalion was north of the river on Hill 196.
The groups were broadly scattered and incapable of providing mutual support,
while communication was also an issue due to the distance and insufficient defensive groups.
In addition, the 8th Hussars’ tanks and the 45th Field Regiment’s guns
were located further south to support the troops. However,
the battalions had no medium or heavy artillery support accessible at battle time.
The Assault
The attack came on the night of April 22,
when Chinese infantry strode across the Imjin river covered in utter darkness.
In the deepest point, the water covered the invading soldiers all the way to their torsos.
Their daunting numbers were revealed when the UN troops fired flares over the river.
The pale light showed countless bodies crossing the Imjin’s waters in coordinated silence.
The British soldiers began to fire at once to repel the Chinese troops,
and their fire was highly successful at shredding through the incoming multitude,
inflicting countless casualties on the enemy forces.
Still, little by little, many Chinese soldiers were able to cross and bring the fight directly
to the hills where the British troops were positioned. Due to previous intelligence efforts,
Chinese commanders knew the dispositions of the 29th Brigade and the gaps between their units,
and they used this information to encircle and isolate the defending battalions.
On the left side, the Gloucestershire Regiment soon became a primary target for the Chinese,
and their positions were gradually overwhelmed.
On the east side, the Northumberland Fusiliers also became heavily engaged;
both battalions were unable to help each other as they were separated by the heights of Gamak San,
the highest hill in the area.
By the early morning on April 23, the Gloucestershire Regiment,
also known as the Glosters, were being forced into an ever-shrinking perimeter on Hill 235
while a company of the Fusiliers was overrun on its hilltop.
Lieutenant Curtis and his platoon were then ordered to carry out a counterattack to capture
some of the positions that had been lost to the overwhelming Chinese numbers. The counteroffensive
was initially effective but was ultimately held up by heavy Chinese fire and grenades.
The lieutenant then instructed some of his men to give covering fire and charged the
central position of resistance. During his attack, Curtis was severely wounded,
but he insisted on making a second attempt to capture the lost positions.
During the second assault, Curtis lost his life within a few yards of his objective,
not before throwing a grenade that destroyed the enemy position he had so bravely tried to regain.
He would be awarded a Victoria Cross for his sacrifice.
Throughout the night, the surrounded infantry units received support from the guns of the 45th
Field Regiment. Then, as dawn broke, Chinese forces achieved a breakthrough
and forced several UN troops to withdraw south.
Centurion tanks from the 8th Hussars now moved up the valley to support the weakened infantry
and evacuate their wounded, while UN airstrikes arrived with the light of day,
bringing some relief to the heavily outnumbered ground troops in the area.
The Glosters
The brief pause in the Chinese offensive allowed the Royal Ulster Rifles to move ahead
and occupy Hill 398 to secure the only position where the brigade could hope to withdraw.
Meanwhile, the Belgian Battalion battled its way back across the river and redeployed to the south.
During the night of April 23, Chinese reinforcements crossed the Imjin with the
intent of eliminating the Glosters, who continued to resist wave after wave of Chinese attacks.
The fighting continued with more casualties and wounded soldiers by the minute.
The Glosters were becoming a significant concern for UN officials,
as their position was compromised, and they were running low on ammunition. Still, they held their
position even as other UN units retreated due to the overpowering numbers of the Chinese.
On April 24, an effort was made to reinforce the Glosters, but it proved a disaster;
the Chinese now completely surrounded Hill 235, and it was unreachable by the allies.
By now, the entire Chinese 63rd Corps had successfully crossed the river
and threatened to entrap the other isolated battalions.
Astonishingly, the Glosters and Ulster Riflemen clung on, repelling attack after attack,
even calling for airstrikes on their positions when the assaults became exceedingly overwhelming.
After two days of relentless fighting, the order was given to withdraw, and the weakened
and depleted battalions fled across Route 11, which was under enemy fire. Meanwhile,
the Fusiliers escaped under the covering fire of the tanks, and many of the Ulster Riflemen
marched southeast over the hills, avoiding the valley floor that was now overrun by enemy forces.
The withdrawal was slow and uncoordinated,
and the tanks had to be used to retrieve many of the wounded soldiers.
Then, as the Chinese realized the UN forces were retreating,
they rushed down from the hills to intercept them and prevent them from escaping. The Chinese
inflicted numerous casualties in the retreating UN forces, but they could not stop their withdrawal.
By now, only the Glosters remained put, unable to escape. With no way to go,
they were given permission to break out, but most were captured and taken as prisoners of war.
Lieutenant Terry Waters became a prisoner of war after being captured with many other
Glosters members. They were tortured and forced to starve before tempting them with much better
conditions if they revealed details of the UN’s forces. Most, including Waters, refused. The
lieutenant would pass away in prison and would later receive a George Cross for his sacrifice.
Although they withdrew at the end of the battle, the 29th British Independent
Infantry Brigade held the line enough time for reinforcements to arrive. The Chinese then sent
all the troops they could to overwhelm the UN’s defenses, but they could never break the line.
The Brigade had lost over a quarter of its strength, suffering 1,091 casualties,
including 622 Glosters. Chinese losses were estimated at 70,000.
The 29th Brigade’s heroic stand at the Imjin River was crucial in the outcome of the war.
By the time they retreated, they had bought sufficient time for the UN forces to regroup
and block the Chinese advance on Seoul. The encounter also brought the conflict
to a stalemate, successfully blocking China from making any further territorial gains.
China and North Korea would sign an armistice only a few months later,
and that truce has kept peace in the peninsula to this day.
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