Gerry van Tonder charts the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade’s service in the Korean War.
On June 25, 1950 – 70 years ago – the China and USSR-backed North Korean forces invaded South Korea, sparking a major conflict, the effects of which were felt around the world. The United Nations – including Britain and many Commonwealth countries – rallied to support the Seoul government, sending men and equipment in an effort to turn the ‘red tide’. The war raged for three years and at least two-and-a-half million people lost their lives – the true figure, which will never be known, is certainly much higher.
Around 2,000 British troops from the 1st Battalion, the Middlesex Regiment, and the 1st Battalion, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, sailed from Hong Kong for the 1,200-mile (1,930km) voyage across the South China Sea to the war on the Korean peninsula on August 25, 1950. It would take the aircraft carrier HMS Unicorn and the cruiser HMS Ceylon four days to reach the South Korean port city of Pusan.
The 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (1/Argylls), commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie Neilson, and the 1st Battalion Middlesex Regiment (1/ Middlesex), led by Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Ma…
