CHAPTER V
Conflict in Korea
Korea is about as far from Canada as any country can be, and, in 1950, most Canadians were only vaguely aware of its location. Dim memories from high school history classes identified it a s country in which Russia, China and Japan had contended for generations. Japan had been in control during this century but, on that nation's defeat by the Allies in 1945, Korea became independent.
Under the sponsorship of the United Nations, the country was divided at the 38th parallel of latitude In the north, the Russian and Chinese governments impose the rigid patterns of a Communist state. In the south, the United States attempted to establish a democratic state modeled on the western nations.
The North Koreans wished to unite all of Korea under a Communist government. President Syngman Rhee, of South Korea, had harshly suppressed many civil liberties in his nation and, using that as justification, the North Korean armies invaded South Korea in June 1950, without a declaration of war.
This aggression was a deliberate challenge to the rule of law and to the authority of the United Nations. Fearing that, unless this conflict were stopped, it might result in another bloody world war, President Truman ordered the United States armed forces, in the name of the United Nations, to intervenein Korea. Other member states of the United Nations, including Canada, quickly placed their armed forces at the disposal of General Douglas MacArthur, who had been appointed United Nations Commander. It was this overseas conflict that once more drew Tom Prince into the service of his country.
The Canadian government honoured its United Nations commitment by forming and training the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. It was for this battalion that Prince volunteered.
Prince and other veterans of the Second World War were immediately reinstated as corporals and sergeants, in charge of training the inexperienced men. The battalion went to Wainwright, Alberta, for basic training, such as marching, caring for uniforms, survival techniques and various types or arms training. Other than these basic skills, the purpose of such intense training was to bring the men to first class physical condition and mold then into a battalion of 1,000 men, with a fighting spirit based on the traditions of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
Tom Prince gloried in all this, for tradition, important in his own life, had been lacking in his exciting service in World War II. The First Special Service Force had been newly formed and had created a tradition rather than being the recipient of one. For the first time, Prince was a member of the battalion with a well-established tradition that reached back to the First World War.
Gilbert Hooper remembers a day in 1950 when a squad commanded by Sgt. Prince was waiting for a train at the C.P.R. station in Winnipeg. For some reason, the squad had incurred his displeasure and he was lecturing them in a roaring voice. (Hooper claimed it could be heard four blocks away at his work place at City Hall.)
You're in the Princess Patricia's now. You are hard! you drink hard! you play hard! You love hard! You hate hard! You fight hard! You can decide what you drink, how you play, who you love. We'll decide who you hate and who you fight! Remember that and you may live to boast of your war exploits to your kids.
As the battalion sailed across the Pacific towards Korea, on December 7, 1950, boredom became a problem and proved the saying that a soldier's life is "95 percent tedium and 5 percent hell," The tedium was probably what caused the soldiers to complain bitterly about the quality of the food. The officers persuaded the ship's cook to prepare more "meat and potato" dishes and fewer "spaghetti" meals, and the complaints subsided.
Then a small group of men proclaimed Operation Haircut and formed a "cue ball" club. Soon, half the regiment, Prince included, were supporting clean shaven noggins. Those reluctant to shave off their hair had to be ever vigilant lest colleagues crept up on them with a pair of clippers, pin the arms and legs or the victim and enroll another member in the club. Some bad memories of the food must have persisted, however, and the night before landing a group of Patricias raided the quarters of the crew and shaved the heads of all the cooks.
On arrival in Korea, the men immediately began field training at Miryang, an area typical of the country. The troops learned that the terraced Korean landscape, with its rocky ledges, huge boulders, and ditched rice paddies, offered concealment both for them and the enemy. Intensive training continued for six weeks.
By mid-February, the men were at the war front and saw action almost daily. They were a unit of the 27th Commonwealth Brigade which included one battalion from each of the Middlesex Regiment, the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, an Australian infantry battalion and a New Zealand field artillery brigade. As a combined force these troops were given the dangerous task of driving Communist forces from their strongholds on hills and mountains.
These hills were numbered for ease of identification, and it was the capture of Hill 500 that Sgt. Prince was involved in his first major fighting of the campaign. Following two days of intensive bombing of Hill 500, the Canadians moved up the slopes at 7 a.m. It took two hours of climbing and fighting through slushy snow to reach its summit. At the same time, the Australians had captured an adjoining height, Hill 614. As a Result of the Australian-Canadian advance, the United Nations Force held a commanding ridge line within striking distance of Communist supply lines.
The platoon, containing Prince, and commanded by Major George Flint, received high praise. They had braved a combination of cold winds and drenching rain before locking horns with North Korean troops. Under withering small arms fire, they had crawled up a hillside on hands, knees and bellies, before reaching enemy lines and forcing the enemy to flee. In such battles and on dangerous night patrols, Tom Prince shone as the bravest among the brave.
On another occasion, an order was received from the company Commander to organize a Snatch Patrol. The purpose was to cross the No-Man's Land separating the United Nations armies from those of North Korea, infiltrate enemy positions during the night, quietly locate a lightly guarded machine gun, kill the soldiers, dismantle the gun, and return with it to the U.N. line. The U.N. Forces didn't want the machine guns but they did want to demoralize the enemy by such daring Snatch Patrols.
Corporal John Reilly, who later recalled the incident, volunteered for the patrol to be led by Sergeant Tom Prince. He quickly assembled the seven men, and gave them a brief outline of the strategy. Three rules were given the men:
1. There would be no talking.
2. Sign language would be used.
3. Uniforms would be mutilated.
Prince assured them that he would personally beat up any man who broke the rules, and then gave them a quick lesson in sign language. After that the men had to cut from their uniforms all metal objects such as buttons and metal tips of shoe laces. Then the standard army belts, with their metal buckles, were removed and replaced with a rope. Finally, black shoe polish was rubbed on the faces of the men so that an unexpected ray of moonlight would not illuminate their white skins. Only Tom Prince did not smear his face with shoe polish. "Indians," he said, "are the right colour for Snatch Patrols." Oddly enough, John Reilly remembered one interesting fact. Not even when he made a joke did Tom Prince laugh!
When darkness fell, Prince led his patrol towards the North Korean lines. The patrol moved silently, each member holding the hand of the member ahead. Suddenly, Prince stopped, and squeezed the hand of the man behind him and as the squeeze was passed from man to man, the patrol halted. Prince dropped to his knees and began to feel along the ground. His keen eyes spotted something unnatural about the soil, and soon his gently probing fingers uncovered a thin wire - a trip line - which, if roughly disturbed, would set off a number of flares to illuminate the scene and allow enemy snipers to shoot any intruders. Quickly digging into his pack, Prince drew out a roll of white toilet paper and gently wrapped several feet of the line with it. Only then, by the signal of two hand squeezes which were passed down the line, did he give the order to advance. Although no word had been spoken, each man, as he advanced, was aware of where not to step by the thin white line on the ground.
The patrol was a success. Two machine gun emplacements were discovered by Prince. The men crept up on the unsuspecting enemy, killed four soldiers with knives, stripped the two machine guns from their tripods and returned home before dawn broke.
After sleeping off the exhaustion of the night's duties, Corporal Reilly awakened in the afternoon and went to the mess tent to eat. There he met Prince, his leader and comrade of the night before. However, there was no rehashing of the grave danger or the sweet victory of the Snatch Patrol. The job was done and Prince didn't want to talk about it.
Although Prince's bravery was beyond question, his commanding officer, Major Flint, had doubts abut Tom in two regards. First, although he admired bravery, he felt Tom took too many chances that threatened the soldiers under his command. He tried to restrain Tom and gave him fewer night patrols than requested. Secondly, he was concerned about his physical condition. It struck him that Sgt. Prince was labouring excessively and, on occasion, seemed in pain when climbing the tortuous Korean hills. Tom, however, laughed and offered to take on any member of the platoon in a physical endurance competition.
It was a tough life for all the men. When fighting, they lived at the front lines in slit trenches. The slit trench was a hole dug by soldiers and usually about two thirds of a metre wide, about two metres long and as deep as local digging permitted. If the soil was rocky, it might be as shallow as half a metre. In sandy loam it might reach 2 metres.
The men usually paired up, and the idea was to dig a narrow hole from which they could fire in defense of the position, and in which exposure to shrapnel from artillery fire was reduced. At night, fully clothed, each soldier wrapped himself in his one blanket and lay on a poncho ground sheet.
For an hour after nightfall and during the hour before dawn, both men had to "stand to" for those were the danger periods. For the rest of the night they spelled one another off in two or three-hour watches.
Action was possible at any moment and the soldier had to beprepared to fight the minute he awakened. The hear of the soldier was kept at a minimum, but then weighed 35 kg. It consisted of weapons, ammunition, one days food rations, water and a shovel. He had to be able to pack it, have it on his back and be moving within a few minutes of receiving marching orders.
After three months of fighting, the Canadian brigade was exhausted. In mid-April the were sent back from the battle lines for a Rest and relaxation break. The men enjoyed the luxury of living in tents, having sleeping bags, eating hot food, and being able to shower and shave.
Their rest camp was in the Kapyong river near a village named Chongchon-ni. Here the valley was nearly five kilometres wide but on either side of the river two high ridges swept down to the water, restricting all traffic to a narrow passage. The west ridge was named Hill 677, while the east ridge was identified as Hill 504.
On April 22, 1951, the resting Patricias enjoyed the spring sunshine. They had no idea that the North Koreans were planning a major offensive which they hoped would see their troops strike hard, break through the U.N. lines and, in a lighting thrust forward, capture Seoul, the capital of South Korea. From there, they planned to encircle and capture the large American army and drive all others from Korean peninsula.
That evening, the Communists attacked the South Korean army which was replacing the Patricias and holding the right flank of the 9th U.S. Corps. The poorly trained South Koreans could not withstand the ferocity of the attack and the front collapsed. On the morning of April 23, the Patricias were rudely awakened as the fleeing South Korean troops streamed through their rest camp.
Lieutenant-Colonel Stone immediately realized the seriousness of the retreat and ordered the Patricias to full alert. They advanced to the war front, dug in and assumed defensive positions on Hill 677. Across the river the 3rd Royal Australian Regiment dug in on Hill 504. This hill was reinforced by retreating remnants of the Middlesex Regiment and the New Zealand Field Artillery. The Kapyong gateway had to be held or the South Korea and all the United Nations Forces would be lost. The only other help was the United States army that put "C" Battery 2nd U.S. Mortar Battalion and "A" Company 72nd U.S. Heavy Tank Regiment on call.
At 10 o'clock that evening, the first enemy troops launched an all-out attack on Hill 504.
Out of the night came whistles, bugle calls, shouts, screams and showers of mortars on the forward Australian companies. Close behind came scurrying infantry estimated at two battalions strong, hurling grenades and carrying Bangalore torpedoes to breach the wire.
The Australians held fast as assault after assault was launched against them. The American tanks were brought into the fighting and engaged the enemy at point blank range. Despite this, the situation was critical by morning. The outskirt positions on the hill had been lost, and although American reinforcements were on the way, the Kapyong gap had to be held for at least another day. A break-through world imperil the entire United Nations Forces. By 3 p.m., the Australian commander advised that he could no longer hold the front and that his troops would form a defensive line to the rear. This left Hill 677, occupied by the Patricias, as the sole bastion of the Kapyong position. The fate of Korea was in the hands of the Patricias-brave men all. Among them was Tom Prince.
It was to be several days and nights of sheer hell. At 10 p.m. the first wave of attackers hit Hill 677. The ferocity, coupled with the fact that the American tanks committed a ghastly error and fired on the Patricias rather than on the Communists, and drove the North Korean back. At 11:30 p.m. another major attack was repulsed. The third attack was launched around midnight, and the Patricias, short of ammunition, held the enemy off by repeated bayonet charges. At 1 a.m. a forth assault was launched but this time accurate fire from the American Tank Corps broke it up. The Patricias held the hill against continuing attacks as the day progressed. On April 26, the American Air Force was able to make an airdrop of food, water and ammunition to the beleaguered Canadians. After one last attempt to gain control if hill 677, the enemy withdrew.
Later, Sgt. Ulmer described the nights and days war correspondent, Bill Rose:
They would coming in waves. There's a whistle, they get up with a shout about 10 feet from our positions and came in. The first wave throws its grenades, fires its weapons and goes to ground. It is followed by a second which does the same, and then a third comes up. But they just keep coming.
In June of that year, a special citation was made by the United States Government to the Princess Patricias.
Once more the Patricias were sent to a rest and relaxation camp. This time Major Flint ordered Tom Prince to have a complete physical check-up. The doctors found an arthritic condition of the right knee which must have kept him in perpetual agony, and might have seriously impaired his agility. Only his intense competitive spirit allowed him to lead younger, more able men into battle, not only keeping up with, but surpassing their physical accomplishments. He was assigned to less arduous duties in the ensuing months. The 2nd Battalion was sent back to Canada when relieved by the 1st Battalion. Tom Prince, despite vehement objections, was returned to Canada in October 1951.
After a brief leave with friends and relatives in Winnipeg, Sgt. Prince was sent to Camp Bordon, an army training camp in Ontario. The camp was a small city of army huts surrounded by rolling pine forest. For aging permanent army staff, Camp Bordon was a cushy camp in which to wait for pensions. Here there was no war, only talk and the training of young men for it. The discomfort of foreign battlefields could be forgotten in this soldier's heaven, with its five-day week, tablecloths, swimming pool, movies, games, bed lamps and white sheets.
But Prince, doing routine administrative duties and teaching young officer cadets, hated it. In the Sergeant's Mess his fellow sergeants found his reminiscing rather irritating, for none of them desired any more of the "hell" of war.
Young officer cadets were embarrassed by his sneers when he handed out "thunder flash" fireworks on the training field. These simulated the noise of grenades but could cause no harm. Prince would mutter about "kids playing war" as the young men received their supply.
Yet, it was obvious that he enjoyed the awe of the officer cadets and his fellow instructors when they learned of his ten medals. Indeed, he made sure that everyone knew precisely what medals he had earned. Although earning a reputation as a bit of a bore, the men excused him because he was sincere about his desire to return to the battlefield. Not only was Prince talkative about his war record, but he was equally loquacious when talking about Indians. He felt it necessary to remind people that he had no inferiority complex about his race and colour. It was a point that was quite unnecessary for the leavening effect of a uniform and rifle was accepted as a matter of course.
Prince was an excellent instructor in field-craft. Unfortunately, most of his time was spent distributing equipment for exercises and lectures, calling parades, posting up orders and inspecting billets. Of all these duties, Prince was sick and tired.
With a better diet, a more restful life and medical care, Tom Princes arthritic knee improved considerably. He applied for a second tour of duty in Korea as a member of the 3rd Battalion of the Patricias. In the summer of 1952, his request was granted, and on October 9 the 3rd Battalion sailed for Korea to relieve the 1st Battalion. By November 8, Tom Prince and his comrades were again fighting on the front line of battle.
During this period, the United Nations were negotiating a cease-fire with the North Koreans and there wee no major offensives by either army. Indeed, the war had become a series of small patrols sent out by the opposing armies to harass each other. Days wee quiet but nights were filled with action, and these were as dangerous for the soldiers as a major offensive.
On an early morning patrol on November 17, Prince led fourteen men into enemy territory to pinpoint the location of an enemy working party. They were about to begin firing when the enemy patrol, 40 strong, stumbled upon them in the darkness. A number of Patricias were struck down but their comrades rallied and beat off the enemy. Sgt. Prince, wounded in the back of the knee, disengaged his patrol and began to fall back under strong enemy fire. Two wounded men were left behind but Prince carried another on his shoulders back to base. The war may have been reported as quiet, but there was always dangerous activity for the men.
the spring brought changes in enemy tactics. Mortar shells began to detonate with a plop instead of a blast; the air would be filled with leaflets rather than shrapnel. The messages on the propaganda leaflets never varied. Canadians should go home. They were fools to do the fighting for the Americans. Although the propaganda had little effect, the Canadians decided to retaliate, and soon their artillery was shooting shells filled with leaflets guaranteeing safe conduct to any Communists who deserted.
The war of fighting slowly became a war of propaganda with a slightly comic character. On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth was crowned, and the Canadian artillery launched a barrage in her honour. The Communists were amazed to find themselves fired upon by shells which contained no explosives-only red, white and blue smoke. Although there continued to be rare
clashes of patrols which crossed each other's paths by accident, the had largely stopped. The last hostile contact the Patricias had with the enemy is recorded in an intriguing item in the War Diary for July 19: "An enemy patrol is suspected of throwing stones at one of our patrols." Soon a truce was signed, and the Patricias sailed for home.
After a brief leave spent with friends in Winnipeg and Scanterbury, Tom Prince returned to the army base in Winnipeg. His major noticed he was walking with a limp and Tom was immediately sent to Deer Lodge Veterans' Hospital. An examination revealed that his arthritic knee was much worse and an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. D,M. Bruser, was called in for consultation. There was no choice but to operate, for arthritis, coupled with injury done to the cartilage during his days as a paratrooper, had caused severe damage. Following the operation it was decided that Prince could no longer serve as a soldier, and on October 28, 1953, he was discharged from the army with a small pension.
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