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BATTLE OF THE SAMICHON RIVER
In the final hours of Korean War, the Chinese launched numerous attempts to evict the outnumbered defenders of the ‘bloody Hook’
A 2/ RAR Bren team on the Hook, despite the looming armistice, the Australians were itching to fight. They got their wish
PHILLIP HOBSON/AWM
Death stalked Samichon Valley. Chinese artillery smashed onto Green Finger Ridge, forcing the four-man Australian outpost to hug the earth in the hope of being spared from the storm of red-hot iron. “I’ve been hit in the back!” cried Private Leon Dawes after being struck through the body by shrapnel.
The 19-year-old was likely the last Australian combat death of the Korean War.
