Armed forces in wartime need bases to operate from...
The base should not be in the war zone, but it should not be too far from it either. The United Nations Command (UNC) was fortunate to have Japan within 2 hours by air and 12 hours by sea of the nearest point on the Korean mainland.
Japan was extensively damaged by a strategic bombing campaign at the end of World War II. However, it was an industrialised nation that could provide the skilled manpower, facilities and supplies the UNC needed.
As the UNC grew in size from 1950 to 1953, Japan's postwar economy benefited. The country had to boost its industrial production to supply the labour and materials for the UNC in South Korea.
The military and naval bases used by the UNC were those established in 1945 when the Allied occupation force arrived in Japan. They were often sited at wartime Japanese bases.
The ex-Imperial Japanese Navy base at Sasebo in Kyushu, for instance, became the United States (US) Navy's premier port.
The British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) was responsible for the western end of Honshu, nearest to Korea. The Commonwealth used Kure, another wartime naval base, to repair and rearm its ships. They repaired the battle damage to HMS Comus there. In November 1951, HMAS Tobruk was resupplied with ammunition there, having expended 321 rounds bombarding Hungnam.
Kure was also home to the BCOF Hospital, which remained the main Commonwealth hospital throughout the war.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base was Iwakuni.
In the first months of the war, No 77 Squadron operated from Iwakuni, flying sorties crossing the Sea of Japan* to attack the North Korean Army. When the squadron advanced to Korea, the RAAF maintained its administrative headquarters, a transport squadron and a maintenance squadron there to perform work that could not be done in Korea.
From 1951, the RAAF flew patients from Iwakuni home to Australia.
The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), also a part of BCOF, was based at Hiro, not far from Kure, which held the Commonwealth headquarters.
Kure was also the conduit through which Commonwealth forces replenished from their home countries. Reinforcements arrived there to be forwarded to Korea, and troops returning home by sea left from there.
* The Australian Government and the Department of Veterans Affairs do not take a position on whether the body of water between Japan and the Republic of Korea should be referred to as the “Sea of Japan” or the "East Sea".
Seoul, Korea, 1953. Preparation for evacuation of wounded from Seoul to Japan. Nurses are from the RAAF Nursing Service. The aircraft is a RAAF Douglas C47 Dakota. [AWM P00573.005]