In one of the darkest days of the Korean War, The King’s Own Scottish Borderers found
themselves in the icy grip of death.
Encircled by an unending army of fanatical Chinese soldiers who descended upon the British
forces in wave after wave of brutal assaults.
As darkness engulfed the land, muzzle fire lit the clash.
It quickly devolved into ferocious hand-to-hand encounters threatening to break the British
front line.
Then, like a gut punch, the chilling news echoed across the radios; the force holding
the critical left shoulder of the Company’s position had been decimated, and the remaining
forces were overrun.
It was over.
Hearing the news, “Bill” SPEAKMAN decided he would not let his comrades be overwhelmed
and trampled by the enemy.
He hoarded as many grenades as he could carry and catapulted himself toward the breach.
He became a tempest, hurling grenades at the rushing enemy forces with savage fury, each
detonation momentarily stalling the enemy’s advance.
Speakman’s defiance stood out like a beacon in the night.
Again and again, he faced the enemy head-on, his bravery igniting a flame within 6 comrades,
who soon followed suit.
Even severely wounded, Speakman refused to stop.
When their ammo ran out, he threw beer bottles, tin cans, stones, and anything he could grab
at the enemy in a desperate effort to keep them at bay and allow his fellow soldiers
a chance to escape.
As the chilling echoes of war rang out across the frozen Korean battlefield, one man's fierce
defiance and leadership sparked a flame of bravery amongst his comrades.
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Finding Conflict
During his younger years, William Speakman had been a mere onlooker of conflict, his
youth sparing him from the horrors of World War 2.
At seventeen, he watched the world breathe a sigh of relief as the greatest conflict
mankind had ever witnessed finally ended.
No sooner had World War 2’s echoes faded than Speakman enlisted in the Black Watch
in 1945.
His youthful innocence was soon chiseled into the demeanor of a soldier as he served in
Germany, Italy, and Hong Kong.
However, fate found a way of ensuring that conflict would find him.
Speakman joined the Korean war front in 1951 while serving with the King’s Own Scottish
Borderers.
On the Asian Peninsula, the tension was mounting with every tick of the clock.
The date July 8, 1951, marked the initiation of armistice discussions, a glimmer of hope
in an otherwise disheartening war.
Yet, within a month, the talks crumbled into nothing.
Both sides were stubborn, unwilling to give an inch, each desiring a demarcation line
that tipped the scale in their favor.
To shatter the Communist’s unreasonableness, the UN forces made a daring move on September
8.
They crossed the treacherous waters of the Imjin River, severing an enemy salient shaped
by the river’s winding course.
Then, in early October, Operation Commando thrust deep into the salient, seizing the
strategic points of Kowang-San and Maryang-San.
By defiantly taking this territory, the UN forces hoped to gain a bargaining chip to
force the communist alliance into softening their unmovable stance in negotiations.
However, on November 4, an ominous chill hung in the air.
A tidal wave of Chinese forces descended upon the two principal summits on Maryang-San with
a force that seemed uncountable.
The King’s Own Scottish Borderers, including Speakman, were stationed there, entrusted
with the seemingly impossible task of holding their ground, regardless of the cost.
Yet, none among the British forces, not even the hardened Bill Speakman, could have anticipated
the sheer magnitude and savagery of the Chinese assault about to ensue…
Heat of Battle
In the icy pre-dawn hours of November 4, 1951, the positions held by the brave men of the
1st Battalion, The King’s Own Scottish Borderers, became the theater for an unyielding barrage
of enemy fire.
Heavy, precise, and continuous shell and mortar rounds marked the sky with streaks of lethal
fire.
By 3:45pm, the relentless bombardment escalated to a fever pitch.
For two hours, destruction rained from the skies mauling the British defenses and wounding
numerous men.
The once-secure territorial gains of the UN forces now bore the wounds of the unparalleled
enemy assault.
The clock struck at 4:45pm, and the enemy advanced, by the hundreds.
Like a tidal wave, they crashed against the positions of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers,
each surge more potent than the last.
An hour later, every corner of the battlefield had transformed into an arena of brutal hand-to-hand
combat.
Among the chaos, Private Speakman, a B Company, Headquarters member, learned of a critical
situation.
The section holding the left flank of the Company’s position was severely depleted,
its officers wounded, and the position was on the brink of being overrun.
Speakman made a decision that would etch his name into the annals of history.
Driven by an indomitable spirit, he decided to confront the enemy head-on and reclaim
the besieged position.
Acting on his own initiative, he quickly assembled a stockpile of grenades and charged at the
enemy position hurling grenades at them in a bold maneuver that took the enemy by surprise.
Witnessing the incredible feat, six men stood up and joined Speakman in his ambitious assault.
Each time the enemy crested the hill, they were met by Speakman’s fury.
His counterattacks’ sheer force and determination shattered wave after wave of the enemy onslaught,
resulting in a grim pile of enemy casualties.
He completely disregarded his own safety, driven by a singular mission to repel the
enemy and secure the position.
His audacious bravery stood as a beacon amid the storm.
Bottle Wielder
After leading an astonishing ten charges through a hailstorm of enemy machine guns and mortar
fire, a bullet finally caught up with Private Speakman.
The round tore through his leg, yet even the searing pain couldn’t dampen his resolve.
Wounded but unbroken, he continued spearheading charge after charge against the enemy.
Only after a direct order from his superior officer he grudgingly allowed a field dressing
to be applied to his wounds.
Once he was hastily bandaged, Speakman returned to the fray without hesitation.
He rejoined his comrades and led them once more, hurling grenades and defiance at the
advancing enemy.
This relentless show of courage continued until his Company was forced to withdraw at
9:00pm, there was no way to contain the unending Chinese troops, and the UN forces had to retreat
to the previously gained territory.
In the critical moment of the withdrawal, the battlefield turned into a fiery hell,
with enemy machine guns and mortar fire raining like a storm and threatening to mow down the
retreating UN forces.
Amidst this chaos, and even as his unit withdrew, Speakman led one final, decisive charge to
clear the hill’s crest and hold it to buy precious time for his Company to safely retreat.
His party was woefully depleted, yet he spurred them on, assaulting the enemy with a barrage
of grenades to keep them at bay long enough for his Company to escape.
When the grenades finally ran out, and with nothing else at hand, he and his men threw
beer bottles, tin cans, stones, and anything he could grab at the enemy in a desperate
effort to keep them at bay and allow his fellow soldiers a chance to escape.
Under the daunting stress of the monumental stand, Speakman’s extraordinary leadership
came to the fore.
He dominated the battlefield, his presence giving hope against what other way was an
influential and massive enemy victory.
His extraordinary bravery and flagrant disregard for his own safety, even when severely injured,
served as a rallying cry for his brethren and became instrumental in inflicting devastating
losses upon the enemy.
Legacy
Amid the chaos and carnage, Speakman emerged as a stalwart force who only retired when
the rest of his unit had reached relative safety.
His relentless drive allowed his Company to hold its position for an astonishing four
hours, buying precious time for his and other units to withdraw.
As such, his actions that day saved countless lives.
In recognition of his bravery, Speakman was given the Victoria Cross, the highest honor
a British serviceman can receive.
King George VI awarded him the honor but sadly passed away before the formal investiture
occurred.
Speakman would later recall (QUOTE): “When I got it, the King was alive, but he was very
ill.
So, the Queen—I was her first VC.
It was a wonderful moment.
I think she was nervous, and I was very nervous,”
Speakman’s heroism propelled him into the limelight, becoming a national icon.
Severely wounded, he was sent home, where he was welcomed in his hometown of Altrincham,
Cheshire, England, with a grand parade and a moving speech by the town’s mayor.
The press of the time dubbed him the ‘beerbottle’ VC, a moniker he disliked, fearing it suggested
that he and his comrades drank beer while on duty.
The beer, in reality, had been used to cool the searing gun barrels.
Undeterred by his wounds and unfazed by his newfound fame, Speakman refused to live a
civilian life while his fellow countrymen were still fighting.
Displaying courage that bordered on recklessness, he volunteered to return to Korea in 1952.
Later, he served with the Malayan Scouts in 1955 and rejoined the KOSB, serving in Aden,
Radfan, Saudi Arabia, and Brunei before being posted to Germany.
In 1968, he finally left the Army after a career marked by relentless courage and selflessness.
But his legacy, a testament to the indomitable spirit of a soldier, would live on.
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