Commonwealth Veterans Visit Korea

By J.R. Breen

Contributing Writer

Commonwealth veterans gathered last Friday to commemorate a decisive Korean War battle 59 years ago in which they staved off massive Chinese forces supporting the communist North.

Approximately 200 veterans and accompanying family members visited the area around Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province.

Veterans toured monuments to those who fought in the battle, including Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British forces.

``It's been very amazing, South Korea is the only country that really appreciates what Australia has done for it,'' said Australian Eric Hayes, who fought in the same area in 1952, after the battle of Gapyeong, at the monument to Australian and New Zealand forces.

``They opened up the mortars. At the time I was running (up to my position), the next thing I knew I was down the bottom of the hill, I was hit by mortar fire.''

Hayes spent six months undergoing treatment in a Japanese hospital before returning home.

Elsewhere in the Gapyeong area, alongside a towering monument to the British Commonwealth forces sits a small, black marble memorial to the men from British Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) who fought and died on the eve of the battle.

``I have never seen that before,'' said John Sturt, one of the two representatives of his regiment present. ``It's very good, but the only thing is its 20 years too late. Most of us boys, we are eighty now, so this is probably the last time we are going to see it.''

``Gapyeong was our last battle,'' Sturt said. ``The main recollection I have is of the day before the main battle, the ROKs (South Korean forces) collapsed, we had to get the New Zealand gunners out; they were being surrounded by refugees and Chinese, so it was a dodgy situation,'' he said, referring to a practice by North Korean and Chinese soldiers, where they would hide among civilians to infiltrate ROK and U.N. forces.

After their mission was completed, the regiment left the front. They were eventually transported to Hong Kong. ``We were no longer a fighting force,'' Sturt said.

On Saturday, veterans visited the ROK 25th division's observation point, overlooking Samichon Valley where the bulk of the commonwealth forces were stationed throughout the war. The area is now inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the border that has divided North and South Korea since an armistice agreement ended fighting in 1953.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the war. Approximately 2,400 people, including veterans and their relatives from 21 countries, will be invited to commemorate the various events.

Since 1975, South Korea has invited Korean War veterans to the country in an expression of gratitude for the sacrifices they made on its behalf.

The four Commonwealth countries sent a total of 94,000 soldiers, with 1,752 killed and 5,181 others wounded.

Although important anniversaries are still up-and-coming, such as the 60th anniversary of the armistice agreement in 2013, some believe that this year marks the end of veterans returning in large numbers.

``My understanding is that the South Korean government will be marking 2010 as the key Korean War anniversary,'' said Andrew Salmon, the Seoul-based historian and author of 'To the Last Round'. ``The British government is not. They will be commemorating 2013.

``Personally, I am disappointed that the British government is not commemorating 2010, because in another three years a significant number of the veterans we have today will no longer be with us.''

For Sturt, who has been back to Korea twice before, another trip is not realistic.

``When you're paying for the trip out here, including for your son, it ends up being 2,500 pounds (approx 5 million won). That is just too expensive to do again,'' Sturt said.