The Imjin and Kapyong Battles, Korea, 1951

6 KAPYONG: THE SECOND DAY

143 Kapyong:TheSecondDay Having been alerted by IX Corps to the possibility that his brigade might have to assume a blocking position, Brigadier Brian Burke had to decide how best to deploy his units. Topographically the most secure defensive position appeared to be just over three and a half miles north of Kapyong, where three major features dominated the valley floor through which the Kapyong River sinuously curved its way southward and down which any enemy was likely to come. On the western side the irregular high ground peaked at Hill 677 opposite, the hulking form of Sudok-san (Hill 794) to the north, and Hill 504 to the east. With a frontage of almost four and a half miles to defend, a mere three infantry battalions were not going to be able to form a continuous line, but if they each held one of the three main hill features they could collectively still dominate the valley floor. This was likely what was running through the brigadier’s mind when he called an O [Operations] Group of his unit commanders around 9 am. If the call to arms came, the Middlesex would occupy Hill 794, the Patricias Hill 677, and the Australians Hill 504.3 By the time the battalion commanders were ready to return to their units, however, the possible deployments as imagined by Burke had to be modified. Still hoping that elements of the 6th ROK Division could rally and push up to Line Kansas–Brigadier General Chang Do-yong had indicated that this could be achieved by the late afternoon–the corps commander, William M. Hoge, ordered Burke to send 16 Field Regiment forward again in support of the South Koreans.4 Having seen six 144 The Imjin and Kapyong Battles, Korea, 1951 firsthand the state of the 6th ROK Division, Lieutenant-Colonel John Moodie and his second-in-command, Major R. J. H. Webb, were deeply concernedaboutthesafetyoftheirmen,andafterreturningtotheirregiment decided to ask for both a written order and an infantry battalion from within the brigade to protect them. As yet the brigadier seems to havethought,inlightofwhathehadheardfromcorpsHQ ,thattherewas still a good chance the rest of 27th Brigade would not in fact be required tomoveforward,or,ifitwere,stillmightnothavetofightamajorengagement . The Kiwi gunners, on the other hand, would be in the forefront with the ROKs, and he could see that they might need more protection than the unreliable South Koreans could offer. Burke therefore agreed to divert the Middlesex to act as “a bodyguard” for 16 Field Regiment: “Just to make sure we can get you back if there is an emergency,” as he put it to Moodie.5 There were already some indications that the South Koreans were still moving rearward rather than rallying. “From the air,” a New Zealand officer attached to the IX Corps air observation flight noted, “it was a scene of chaos and retreat.” It did not take long for those on the ground to notice that all was not well. “I guess it was the morning of 23 April that someone came shouting around for everybody to get the hell up,” a Patricia remembered. “We looked out the [tent] window and all we could see were South Korean troops flying past us along with those monstrous American vehicles they were supplied with. We didn’t know what the hell had happened.”6 That something was seriously wrong was becomingmoreandmoreevident.“Rumorshadbeensweepingthrough camp all morning that things were going bad at the front,” recalled a Digger, “These rumors were backed by civilians hurrying past the camp heading south.”7 As yet, however, lack of information from higher formation headquarters meant that the battalion reconnoitering operations in relation to hills 504 and 677, which began before noon on brigade orders, were merely a precautionary measure, the active front supposedly still being at least six to seven miles to the north of these features. “It was a beautiful , warm day with clear, blue skies,” the 3RAR Intelligence Officer (IO) remembered. “War seemed a long way off.”8 Kapyong: The Second Day 145 HewasnottheonlyAustralianofficertofeelrelaxed.“Ilaystretched out on the grass enjoying a carefree doze,” admitted the A Company commander, Major Ben O’Dowd. His nap was curtailed in the early afternoon when news arrived that Lieutenant-Colonel Bruce Ferguson –who, accompanied by his IO, Lieutenant “Alf” Argent, had gone forward to survey the vicinity of the hamlet of Chuktan-ni, and then returnedforaleisurelylunch–wantedhiscompanycommanderstojoin him and go forward for...