In September 1950, United Nations (UN) forces launched a major counteroffensive, breaking out from the Pusan Perimeter alongside an amphibious landing at Inchon. After liberating Seoul, UN troops pursued the disintegrating North Korean Army (KPA) 700 km north towards the Yalu River. Advancing with the UN Command, the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), fought its initial battles at the Apple Orchard, Broken Bridge and Chongju. The UN advance triggered a massive Chinese intervention. Chinese forces halted the rapid northern advance in late October 1950.
Advancing north to Yalu River
The expectation of Kim Il-sung (North Korea) and his allies Mao Zedong (China) and Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union) that all of South Korea would fall in a month was not met …
The United Nations Command (UNC) held on to the Pusan Perimeter and built up its strength there.
In mid-September 1950, the troops broke out as another UNC force landed at Inchon near Seoul. This cut off the North Korean Army (KPA). In one of the longest pursuits in military history, the UNC chased the KPA 700 kim in 6 weeks. The KPA army fell apart and over 100,000 prisoners were taken. This was most of the force the KPA had used to invade the south.
With the UNC now well inside North Korea, heading for the Yalu River in late October 1950, the war seemed all but over.
The men of 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) wondered if they would see any fighting. The Australian troops arrived in the Pusan Perimeter just too late for the breakout. They headed north to catch up with the UNC advance, but it appeared they had missed the war.
The men of 3RAR did not change their view when they first encountered a mass of KPA infantry on 19 October at Sariwon, 30 km south of the North Korean capital Pyongyang. All 1,982 KPA soldiers surrendered to 3RAR without a shot being fired.
The following week, 3RAR found the war and established its reputation as skilled infantry.
KPA resistance stiffened. Driving north-west from Pyongyang, 3RAR, under its commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Charles Green, fought 3 successful battles in 8 days:
- Apple Orchard on 22 October
- Broken Bridge on 25 October
- Chongju on 29 October.
Chongju was the furthest point north the Australians reached in the Korean War, about 70 km south of the Yalu River.
Korea, October 1950. 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) is transported north in American trucks in pursuit of the North Korean Army after the breakout from the Pusan Perimeter. [AWM P00675.058]
The Apple Orchard (Yongju)
This was 3RAR's first major battle.
Racing north to link up with American paratroopers who had dropped ahead of the advance, the 27th Commonwealth Brigade, with 3RAR the leading battalion, headed for Sukchon on 22 October 1950.
The battalion was suddenly fired upon by an element of the 239th Regiment of the North Korean Army (KPA) hidden in an apple orchard beside the road.
C Company fixed bayonets and, with US Sherman tanks in support, swept through the enemy position. As Lieutenant Colonel Green redeployed his force, another KPA attack made for his headquarters. D Company, in reserve, was called up to drive them off.
With their morale broken after a 3-hour fight, the KPA troops began to retreat. The Australians advanced once again, taking 239 prisoners. By midday, they made contact with the American paratroopers.
After Lieutenant Colonel Charles Green ordered an infantry and tank assault, the Australians routed the numerically superior force in an incredible victory. Seven Australians were wounded, while the KPA suffered heavy casualties, including 104 killed.
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hercules Green (with the headset on), CO 3 RAR, discusses the tactical situation with his Intelligence Officer, Lieutenant Alfred Argent. They are sitting in a Bren gun carrier. During October 1950, when this photo was taken, 3 RAR was in the vanguard of the race north to the 38th parallel as the North Koreans retreated. (AWM 044768)
Broken Bridge (Kujin)
On 25 October 1950, 3RAR came up against the Taeryong River. A patrol crossed the partly demolished bridge and discovered the enemy in strength on the far side. While searching for an alternative crossing point, D Company captured the town of Pakchon further north along the river, taking 225 prisoners.
That night, A and B companies crossed the ‘broken bridge’ and dug-in on the far side. The KPA soon detected them and were determined not to allow the Australians to establish a bridgehead. The KPA made several strong attacks on A and B companies, which were reinforced by a platoon from C Company.
At one point, a Soviet-supplied T-34-85 tank approached in the dark to within 10 m of the B Company Headquarters. American tanks could not cross the river to help the Australians.
Nevertheless, the Australians held their position. At dawn, the KPA called off its attack and withdrew.
The action was successful for the Australians, but cost 8 men killed and 22 wounded. The KPA lost 90 dead and 52 captured as prisoners.
Chongju
Once again, 3RAR led the brigade when it encountered serious opposition. On 28 October 1950, a battalion-sized KPA force, with tank and artillery support, was found dug-in on wooded hills across the line of advance.
US airstrikes softened up the KPA position before 3RAR attacked.
D Company took the ridge south of the road first, and then A Company took the heights north of the road. Opposition was unexpectedly strong, and the attack likely would have been repulsed without the support of a company of US tanks.
By dark, the Australians were dug-in on their objectives. The KPA counterattacked to recover the ridges. When D and A companies were attacked by tanks, the men knocked out 3 of them with bazookas. The situation was so desperate that supporting artillery and mortar fire was called in within metres of the Australian fighting pits. This broke the attack.
The Australians secured the objective after intense fighting. The KPA lost 150 killed, and the Australians lost 9 killed and 30 wounded.
Just days later, on 1 November, their popular commanding officer Charles Green was wounded by a stray North Korean artillery shell. He died that day.
Chongju is said to have been the hardest fight any Commonwealth troops had seen since the war started.
UN drives north at Inchon
On 7 August the KPA began a series of assaults against the UN Pusan defensive perimeter....
Despite initial successes, by 14 September all the KPA assaults had been repulsed. And Pusan was secure.
General MacArthur had decided in July that he would counter the communist invasion of South Korea with an amphibious landing at Inchon on the west coast. UN forces would recapture Seoul and cut off the KPA army around Pusan. The plan was called Operation Chromite.
Meanwhile, it would be the task of US 8th Army and the ROK units at Pusan to break out and exploit the Inchon landings.
Operation Chromite on 15 September was a complete success.
On 16 September, UN forces at Pusan began the breakout. Within a week the KPA defences collapsed.
US armoured task forces, followed by infantry, then raced northward from Pusan.
On 26 September, these units linked with units from the Inchon landing force at Osan.
By 27 September US Marines of X Corps had overcome the KPA defenders of Seoul. The South Korean capital was liberated.
Now cut off from the north, the KPA units disintegrated. They fled northward, abandoning vast quantities of equipment and stores. Eventually only 30,000 of the 130,000 KPA invasion force escaped.
Pursuing ROK units crossed the 38th parallel into North Korea, followed by the UN forces. On 19 October, the North Korean capital of Pyongyang was captured. UN troops continued moving north, dealing with resistance from the remaining KPA units.
As part of the British Commonwealth Brigade, 3RAR fought its first actions of the war at this time. The Australians eventually reached as far north as Chongju.
ROK forces captured the ports of Wonsan and Iwon, and units of US X Corps landed at both on 25 and 29 October. The US 8th Army continued to advance north while US X Corps moved inland and advanced to the north-east.
On 27 October, ROK units reached the Yalu River. The same day, the first of a series of successful attacks and ambushes by Chinese troops on ROK and US units occurred. This was the first concrete evidence that China had entered the war.
Chinese deserters confirmed that there were large numbers of Chinese troops hidden in the mountains and poised to attack.
The stage was set for a dramatic reversal of fortune for the UN forces in Korea.
Watch our strategic map sequence of the Korean War.
