Following North Korea's invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950, Australia was the second country after the United States (US) to commit all 3 armed services to the United Nations (UN) intervention. Driven by the External Affairs minister to combat communism and forge a strong US alliance, Australia deployed naval warships, an air combat squadron and an infantry battalion. This decision marked a major shift toward US strategic alignment, laying the groundwork for the ANZUS Treaty, and received broad domestic support.
The Australian government during the Korean War was firmly anti-communist...
The Korean War was the first major international conflict of the Cold War. Australia was one of 16 countries that contributed combat forces to the UN military intervention after North Korea invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. Six other countries pledged medical units. After an armistice on 27 July 1953, Australia maintained a military presence for 4 more years.
In May 1950, Australia pledged 2 military observers to the UN Commission on Korea (UNCOK). On 24 June, Major Stuart Peach and Squadron Leader Ronald Rankin reported a military build-up north of the 38th Parallel but that South Korea’s forces were ‘organised entirely for defence’. When North Korea invaded South Korea the next day, their report enabled the UN Security Council, which the USSR was boycotting, to dismiss North Korea’s claim that it had been attacked and call for a withdrawal.
Australia enters the war
Australia was only the second country after the US to commit elements of all 3 services:
On 24 June, as North Korean forces neared South Korea’s capital, Seoul, the UN Security Council declared that the invasion constituted a breach of the peace and called for UN members to ‘furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary’.
Two days later, following pledges from the US and the United Kingdom (UK), Australian prime minister Robert Menzies announced the commitment of the frigate HMAS Shoalhaven and the destroyer HMAS Bataan. On 1 July, Shoalhaven began escorting ships carrying troops and supplies from Japan to South Korea.
In late June, as US forces rushed to South Korea, the Americans requested air support. No 77 Squadron RAAF was stationed at Iwakuni, Japan, preparing to return home after 5 years with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF). After hurriedly preparing for war, it became the first non-Korean and non-US unit to undertake combat operations on 2 July. Flying from Iwakuni, and later airbases in South Korea, pilots flew Mustang fighters, mainly attacking North Korean troops and supply lines.
On 8 July, the UN Security Council authorised a ‘unified force’ known as the United Nations Command (UNC). Close to half of South Korea had fallen, prompting appeals for more forces.
After careful consideration, the Australian Government announced on 26 July that the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), in Japan with the BCOF, would form part of a British Commonwealth force.
3RAR's contribution was a landmark moment in Australia’s history. Australia pivoted away from the UK, aligned itself with the US in Asia, laid the groundwork for a stronger relationship with the US, and announced itself as an independent decision-maker.
A pivotal decision
Prime minister Menzies had championed the unsuccessful Anti-Communist Dissolution Bill of 1950. However, when the Korean War broke out, Menzies, whose worldview was Eurocentric, did not support Australia committing military forces to the conflict.
The minister for External Affairs, Percy Spender, held a very different view. He saw that Australia's vital security interests in Asia and its diplomatic relationship with the US were directly affected by the situation in Korea. Spender pushed for an Australian military commitment to both fight communist aggression in Korea and cement a firm alliance with the US.
Spender's Korean War alliance with the US led to the signing of the Australia, New Zealand and United States (ANZUS) Treaty. Spender decided to commit Australian military forces to combat in Korea without consulting the prime minister, who was overseas at the time. When Menzies was presented with the fait accompli of
military action in Korea, he adapted quickly to political realities and publicly proclaimed his support.
Political and community opposition to involvement in the Korean War in Australia was very limited. The opposition Labor Party agreed that communist aggression in Korea needed to be answered with firm resolve.
In the wider community, most people supported the war effort. Only a small fraction of the Australian population, mostly local communists, opposed Australia's commitment.
Major Stuart Paul 'Bill' Weir, Officer Commanding the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, shakes hands with President Rhee Syngman of South Korea (second from left) following the battalion's arrival in Korea. James Plimsoll, the Australian delegate to the United Nations Committee for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea (UNCURK) is third from the left (wearing a dark suit). AWM 044419
British Commonwealth Occupation Force
The British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) was a part of the Allied occupation of Japan at the end of WWII...
An almost entirely Australian force by 1950, the presence of BCOF in Japan when the Korean War began enabled the rapid commitment of Australian sea, air and ground forces to the new conflict.
While the larger US occupation force was charged with the military government of Japan, BCOF's task were:
- the occupation of 5 Japanese provinces with a population of 19 million
- the demobilising of Japanese troops
- the dismantling of Japan's war-making capacity by the destruction of dumps of military equipment.
BCOF began operations on 21 February 1946 and ceased in 1952, with the peace treaty coming into force on 28 April.
BCOF grew rapidly to 36,000 personnel by early 1947. Later in the year, because of the success of the occupation mission and the need to deploy BCOF units elsewhere, BCOF was rapidly reduced in size.
BCOF was initially composed of Australians, British, Indians and New Zealanders. Australia was the major contributor, providing 16,200 personnel, the command and much of the administration.
The Australian component of BCOF was drawn from the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The infantry component was the newly raised 34th Infantry Brigade Group (66th, 67th and 68th Battalions). The Navy provided HMAS Australia, Hobart, Shropshire, Culgoa, Arunta, Bataan, Murchison, Shoalhaven, Quadrant, Quiberon, Manoora, Kanimbla and Westralia. The RAAF units were 76, 77 and 82 Squadrons.
From 1948, with the departure of other contingents, BCOF became an Australian force effectively. The following year Australia too began to reduce its commitment.
In May 1950, the Menzies government decided to withdraw all Australians by November. When the Korean War broke out in June, it reversed this decision. At the time, Australia had one infantry battalion, one fighter squadron and 2 ships, all of which were quickly deployed to Korea.
First Australian personnel to serve
Peacekeepers
Two Australian officers were in Korea when the war began.
In March 1950, 3 months before North Korea invaded South Korea, the United Nations Commission on Korea (UNCOK) asked for military observers because of the tense situation on the Korean border. Australia was a member of UNCOK. It sent 2 peacekeepers to Korea:
- Major Stuart Peach, who had been a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II
- Squadron Leader Ronald Rankin, who had served in the RAAF during World War II.
For 2 weeks before the invasion, Peach and Rankin toured the 38th parallel and reported that the South Koreans were in defensive positions, but the North Koreans seemed offensively deployed. The Peach-Rankin report became important when North Korea falsely claimed that the South had begun the war by invading the North.
Royal Australian Air Force
The next Australians to arrive were from No 77 Squadron RAAF. They flew P-51D Mustangs from their base in western Japan.
On 2 July 1950, one week into the war, 77 Squadron became the first UN force to participate after the US.
Part of the Squadron escorted American B-26 Marauders on a bombing mission while the rest escorted transport aircraft flying wounded from Korea to Japan.
Within 5 days, 77 Squadron lost the first of 41 of its personnel to be killed during the Korean War. Squadron Leader Graham Strout failed to pull out of a dive when attacking Samchok railway station on Korea's east coast.
Pilot James Hilary 'Jim' Flemming of No 77 Squadron RAAF standing on the wing of a P-51 Mustang aircraft (A68-757). Photographed in Iwakuni, Japan, on 6 July 1950. Jim flew this aircraft for 3 years before the Korean War and also on the first operational mission flown by 77 Squadron over North Korea. AWM P03595.001
Flight Lieutenant John Irwin Adams DFC of No 77 Squadron RAAF (left) standing on the wing of a P-51 Mustang aircraft while 2 members of the groundcrew prepare for the squadron's first mission over North Korea. Photographed in Iwakuni, Japan, in July 1950. AWM HOBJ0990
Royal Australian Navy
On 29 June 1950, prime minister Menzies offered the UN the support of the destroyer HMAS Bataan and the frigate HMAS Shoalhaven, then in Japanese waters serving with the BCOF.
Bataan began convoy escort duty in the Korea Strait on 6 July. The next day, Shoalhaven joined the UN naval force blockading Korea's west coast.
On 1 August, Bataan, now also on the west coast, fired the RAN's first shots of the war when it exchanged fire with a North Korean coastal battery.
Tribal-class destroyer HMAS Bataan was in Asian waters when the Korean War started on 25 June 1950. On 6 July 1950, Bataan transferred to the United States' Task Group 96.1 for convoy escort duties in the Korean Straits. AWM 300378