Battle of Kapyong
Battle of Kapyong
The Battle of Kapyong is one of Canada's greatest, yet least-known, military achievements. For two days in April, 1951, a battalion of roughly 700 Canadian troops helped defend a crucial hill in the front lines of the Korean War against a force of about 5,000 Chinese soldiers.
The Battle of Kapyong is one of Canada's greatest, yet least-known, military achievements. For two days in April, 1951, a battalion of roughly 700 Canadian troops helped defend a crucial hill in the front lines of the Korean War against a force of about 5,000 Chinese soldiers. Besieged by waves of attackers, the Canadians held their position amid the horror of close-combat until the assaulting force had been halted and the Canadians could be relieved. Their determined stand contributed significantly to the defeat of the Communist offensive in South Korea that year.
2nd Battalion PPCLI
The 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Regiment (2PPCLI) arrived in Korea in December 1950, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Jim Stone, a Second World War veteran. The battalion had initially been deployed when the war was quieting down, with North Korean forces being pushed across their border back into the North. The Canadians were prepared for little more than carrying out garrison duty. The war was subject, however, to wild swings in momentum, and Stone quickly had his men trained up to fight with other United Nations forces against what would become a renewed enemy offensive in the spring of 1951, after China's entry into the war on the Communist side.
The battalion was attached to the 27th British Commonwealth Infantry Brigade and was soon thrown into in a series of skirmishes and battles in the winter of 1951, learning how to fight on the harsh, hilly terrain of Korea, as UN forces tried once again to remove the Chinese and North Koreans from the South.
Defending Hill 677
In mid-April, the Chinese withdrew just past the 38th Parallel as part of a
The Battle of Kapyong is one of Canada's greatest, yet least-known, military achievements. For two days in April, 1951, a battalion of roughly 700 Canadian troops helped defend a crucial hill in the front lines of the Korean War against a force of about 5,000 Chinese soldiers.
The Battle of Kapyong is one of Canada's greatest, yet least-known, military achievements. For two days in April, 1951, a battalion of roughly 700 Canadian troops helped defend a crucial hill in the front lines of the Korean War against a force of about 5,000 Chinese soldiers. Besieged by waves of attackers, the Canadians held their position amid the horror of close-combat until the assaulting force had been halted and the Canadians could be relieved. Their determined stand contributed significantly to the defeat of the Communist offensive in South Korea that year.
2nd Battalion PPCLI
The 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Regiment (2PPCLI) arrived in Korea in December 1950, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Jim Stone, a Second World War veteran. The battalion had initially been deployed when the war was quieting down, with North Korean forces being pushed across their border back into the North. The Canadians were prepared for little more than carrying out garrison duty. The war was subject, however, to wild swings in momentum, and Stone quickly had his men trained up to fight with other United Nations forces against what would become a renewed enemy offensive in the spring of 1951, after China's entry into the war on the Communist side.
The battalion was attached to the 27th British Commonwealth Infantry Brigade and was soon thrown into in a series of skirmishes and battles in the winter of 1951, learning how to fight on the harsh, hilly terrain of Korea, as UN forces tried once again to remove the Chinese and North Koreans from the South.
Defending Hill 677
In mid-April, the Chinese withdrew just past the 38th Parallel as part of a