Synopses & Reviews
In late summer 1950, under-equipped, under-gunned British and Australian troops joined United Nations forces defending a South Korea reeling from invasion by the communist North. As the tide turned, 27th Infantry Brigade--1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 1st Middlesex and 3rd Royal Australian Regiment--spearheaded the counterattack into North Korea, decimating North Korea's army. Meanwhile, the elite 41 Commando, Royal Marines was raiding deep behind enemy lines. With victory imminent, men expected to be home by Christmas. It was not to be. In a shock onslaught launched out of Manchurian blizzards, Mao's legions stormed south. Fighting for survival, 27th Brigade broke free of a closing trap before holding open the route for US units escaping a massive ambush. Then, as rearguard, it covered broken UN forces and desperate refugees fleeing through an apocalyptic winter warscape of devastated villages, blown bridges, and burning cities. And on the war's most harrowing battleground, 41 Commando braved Hellfire Valley to reinforce besieged US marines surrounded amid North Korea's most hostile mountains. What followed--the breakout from Chosin Reservoir to the sea--remains the most epic fighting withdrawal of modern history. Though Korea remains the biggest, bloodiest, most brutal war fought by British troops since World War II, the story of their central role in the conflict's most terrible months has never been fully told. Far more than mere battlefield history, Andrew Salmon's book draws on interviews with some 90 veterans and survivors to pain an unforgettable portrait of an immense human tragedy.
Synopsis
The first year of the Korean War was a tumultuous series of epic battles, ending in a legendary and harrowing retreat.
In the summer of 1950, British and Australian troops were dispatched to fight with UN forces in the savage struggle against communism in Korea.
After both triumph and tragedy while breaking out of the " Pusan Perimeter," 27th Brigade - the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Middlesex battalions, soon joined by the Royal Australians - spearheaded the UN drive north. After a spectacular series of battles, victory beckoned. 27th Brigade was halted to allow the Americans the glory of reaching the Chinese border.
But across the rugged border, in a shock counter-offensive, China stormed south. In a desperate action, 27th Brigade fought its way out of the trap, to join the UN Command on a harrowing, 200-mile ' bug out." And across the peninsula, surrounded by eight enemy divisions in terrain higher than Cassino and temperatures colder than Stalingrad, 41 Commando fought alongside US Marines at Chosin Reservoir - ' Hellfire Valley', the most nightmarish battle fought by American or British troops in living memory - and escaped annihilation by a hair's breadth.
Synopsis
The untold story of the Australian and British troops who fought during the most desperate days of the war—in the words of the men who came home Dozens of new interviews with surviving veterans are used in this history of a conflict already approaching the edge of living memory. The first year of the Korean War was a tumultuous series of epic battles, ending in a legendary and harrowing retreat. In the summer of 1950, British and Australian troops were dispatched to fight with UN forces in the savage struggle against communism in Korea. After both triumph and tragedy while breaking out of the "Pusan Perimeter," the 27th Brigade—the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Middlesex battalions, soon joined by the Royal Australians—spearheaded the UN drive north. After a spectacular series of battles, victory beckoned. The 27th Brigade was halted to allow the Americans the glory of reaching the Chinese border. But across the rugged border, in a shock counter-offensive, China stormed south. In a desperate action, the 27th Brigade fought its way out of the trap, to join the UN Command on a harrowing, 200-mile "bug out." And across the peninsula, surrounded by eight enemy divisions in terrain higher than Cassino and temperatures colder than Stalingrad, 41 commandos fought alongside U.S. Marines at Chosin Reservoir—"Hellfire Valley," the most nightmarish battle fought by American or British troops in living memory—and escaped annihilation by a hair's breadth.
About the Author
Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based journalist who writes for Forbes, the Times, and the Washington Times.