Australia in the Korean War

The Liberal government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies, immediately responded to the resolution by offering military assistance.

Troops from the Soviet backed Korean People's Army (KPA) crossed the 38th Parallel on 25 June 1950, starting a civil war.

[8] At the end of their enlistment, personnel recruited from the United Kingdom could elect to be discharged in Australia, or to return to the UK.

When the Korean People's Army crossed into South Korea on 25 June 1950, they advanced for Seoul, which was captured in less than a week.

The lightly-armed Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) put up little resistance against the KPA, whereby their forces continued south toward the strategic port of Pusan.

77 Squadron RAAF and the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR), both of which were stationed in Japan under the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF).

77 Squadron was preparing to leave Japan for Australia when the Korean War broke out and was quickly dispatched to Korea.

After a period of intensive training and reinforcement in Japan, the battalion arrived in South Korea in late September 1950.

Under UN Supreme Commander, General Douglas MacArthur, UN forces were conducting a successful amphibious assault at Inchon and a breakout from the Pusan Perimeter on the southern tip of the Korean peninsula.

By 21 October, the US 24th Infantry Division, with the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade leading, crossed the Taedong River at Pyongyang and headed north.

At 09:00 and 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Yongyu, C Company came under fire from an apple orchard on the slopes of Hill 163 in YD 2354 (map grid location).

Within the British Commonwealth Brigade, 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment passed through and assumed the lead in the drive towards the Yalu River.

The Australians, along with the 1 United Kingdom Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regiment led by Lieutenant Colonel George Nielson, crossed the Taesong River and advanced towards Pyongyang.

[citation needed] There were increasing concerns from the Chinese that the UN offensive would continue past the Yalu River, and cross into China.

[citation needed] PVA forces of the 118th Division attacked the Kapyong Valley, and pushed ROK and New Zealand troops into retreat.

ROKA soldiers poured through a gap under protective covering fire from Australians who were holding their section of the line despite heavy pressure.

After a night of fierce fighting, Major Bernard O'Dowd who was Officer Commanding of A Company, 3 RAR, managed to get through on a radio phone to a general of the 1st Marine Division.

Captain Mills, in command of D Company, 2 PPCLI, was forced to call down artillery fire on his own positions on Hill 677 several times during the early morning hours of 25 April to avoid being overrun.

The 16th Field Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery, also managed to withdraw and link up with the US Army's 72nd Heavy Tank Battalion.

It was an attack on a PVA salient in a bend of the Imjin River, designed to prevent the PVA/KPA from interdicting the UN supply lines near Seoul.

The official historian for the Korean War, Robert O'Neill, wrote of this battle: "In this action 3RAR had won one of the most impressive victories achieved by any Australian battalion.

After 1951, both sides were in a type of combat comparable to the Western Front in World War I in which men lived in tunnels, redoubts, and sandbagged forts behind barbed wire fortifications.

From 1951 to the end of the war, 3 RAR held trenches on the eastern side of the Commonwealth Division's positions in the hills northeast of the Imjin River.

[20] Royal Australian Navy vessels had been stationed in Japan following the Japanese surrender ending World War II.

Following North Korea's invasion of the South, RAN vessels stationed in Japan were put on immediate alert.

77 Squadron was selected as part of Australia's contribution to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force and, after converting to P-51D Mustang fighters, arrived in Japan in February 1946.

The Squadron was withdrawn to Japan in April 1951 to re-equip with Gloster Meteor jet fighters and returned to action with these new aircraft in July, where they met with greater success against the Soviet MiG-15 pilots.

77 Squadron operated in the ground attack role from December 1951 until the end of the war; it remained in South Korea on garrison duties until returning to Australia in November 1954.

Despite their Meteors having inferior maneuverability to the Soviet-built MiGs, the Australian pilots managed to score their first victories of the Korean War, for the loss of three aircraft.

Australia gained political and security benefits, the most important being the signing of the ANZUS Treaty with the United States and New Zealand.