Battle of Wawon

Coordinates: 39°43′N 126°3′E / 39.717°N 126.050°E / 39.717; 126.050 (Wawon)
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

39°43′N 126°3′E / 39.717°N 126.050°E / 39.717; 126.050 (Wawon)

Battle of Wawon
Part of
Kunu-ri, North Korea
Result

Chinese victory

  • Turkish delay action[1]
Belligerents

 United Nations

 ChinaCommanders and leaders Turkey Tahsin Yazıcı
Turkey Lütfi Bilgin †[2] China Zhai ZhongyuUnits involved Turkey Turkish Brigade
United States 2nd Infantry Division
South Korea II Corps
114th Division
Casualties and losses Turkey 200 killed
450 wounded
14 missing[3]
Chinese estimation:
~1,000 killed and wounded[4]

The Battle of Wawon(

United Nations forces to withdraw without suffering many casualties and reassemble later in December.[7]

Background

See also: Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River

After the destruction of the

Home-by-Christmas Offensive on November 24, 1950.[10] As part of the offensive, the newly-arrived Turkish Brigade was assigned as the reserve of the US IX Corps, and was placed directly behind the center of the Eighth Army's advances.[11]

Despite MacArthur's optimism, a massive PVA counterattack soon developed on the night of 25 November.

Kunu-ri.[14] As a counter, the Turkish Brigade was ordered by IX Corps to advance east from Kunu-ri on the afternoon of November 26.[13]

Because the Turkish soldiers understood neither English nor Korean,

6th and 7th Infantry Divisions fleeing from Tokchon were attacked by a battalion of Turks who were the first to arrive at Wawon, after the Turks mistook the Koreans for Chinese. 20 South Koreans were killed and four others were injured by the Turks. The Turks suffered 14 deaths and six injuries as a result of an exchange of fire with the South Koreans.[failed verification][17] Because of false intelligence, the Turks were expecting to encounter with Chinese somewhere on the road.[18][19]
The event was incorrectly reported by American and European media as a Turkish victory over the Chinese and even after news leaked out about the truth to the Americans, no efforts were made by the media to fix the story.[20][21] On the night of 27 November, the exhausted Turkish Brigade entered the village of Wawon to the east of Kunu-ri, and Brigadier General[nb 2] Tahsin Yazıcı of the Turkish Brigade ordered a semicircular perimeter to be established towards the northeast.[16]

Battle

Members of the Turkish Brigade in action.

On the night of 27 November, the advancing PVA 114th Division of the 38th Corps—under the command of Zhai Zhongyu—ambushed and destroyed the Turkish Brigade's reconnaissance platoon,[22][23] alerting the entire brigade in the process.[24] Knowing that the Chinese attack was imminent, the advance battalion of the brigade quickly took up defensive positions on the road leading into Wawon.[25] They were soon met by the PVA 342nd Regiment, 114th Division,[23] and the Chinese concentrated their attacks in an effort to penetrate the Turkish defensive lines.[24] Heavy fire from the Turks managed to drive back the Chinese advances, but the attacking PVA regiment continued to spread towards the left flank of the defenders. By dusk on 28 November, the entire advance battalion was engulfed by the Chinese; sword and bayonet fighting ensued, resulting in 400 Turkish casualties.[24][26] Observing that Wawon was surrounded by hills occupied by the Chinese, Yazıcı ordered the Turkish Brigade to withdraw 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) westward to the village of Sinim-ri.[24]

As the Turkish Brigade withdrew at night, the PVA 342nd Regiment followed closely behind.[24] Upon arriving at Sinim-ri, the Chinese immediately cut off the brigade by launching surprise attacks on the rear artillery units and the 3rd Battalion.[25] At the same time, communication was lost between the Turkish headquarters and its battalions, leaving the rest of the brigade isolated from the outside world.[24] Undaunted by the difficulties, the trapped Turks fought back stubbornly until their ammunition supply had run out.[27] The fierce fighting forced the Chinese to call in the 340th Regiment to reinforce the 342nd.[28] Despite the hard fighting, the Turks were close to being overrun by the morning of 29 November and only a timely air strike allowed the Turks to escape encirclement.[27] In the aftermath of the fighting, the Turkish Brigade was completely fragmented, with most of their equipment and vehicles lost.[29] With the US 2nd Infantry Division entering Kunu-ri on the night of November 28,[30] the remnants of the Turkish Brigade fell back towards Kunu-ri and joined up with the US 38th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division.[24][31]

Although the US IX Corps managed to safely pull back into Kunu-ri, the Turkish Brigade's ordeal was not over. On 29 November, the Turks that had been expelled from Sinim-ri were retreating in complete disarray,[32] with the 38th Infantry finding Turkish survivors of the ambush struggling into Kunu-ri.[26] By the afternoon of 29 November, the PVA 114th Division linked up with the 112th Division of the 38th Corps and renewed their attacks against the Turkish Brigade and the US 38th Regiment,[28][33] with the 114th Division attacking the Turkish Brigade on the right flank of the 38th Infantry Regiment along the Kaechon River.[28] The Chinese outflanked the Turks by attacking along the southern bank of the Kaechon River, then crossed the river at the UN rear areas.[34] Upon noticing this development, Tahsin Yazıcı ordered a withdrawal,[34] leaving the right flank of the 38th Infantry Regiment completely uncovered.[35] The Turkish defeat at Pongmyong-ni resulted in havoc since the retreat of the Turks exposed the right flank of the 38th Infantry, and the disarrayed mass of retreating Turks stopped the 1st Battalion from taking their place at the 38th infantry's flank after Colonel George B. Peploe commanded them to cover the exposed flank.[35] At the same time, the PVA 113th Division of the 38th Corps had cut off Kunu-ri from the south, completely surrounding the US 2nd Division and the Turkish Brigade at Kunu-ri.[28][36] In the ensuing battles and withdrawals with the US 2nd Division, the Turkish Brigade was effectively destroyed as a fighting unit with 20 percent of its men becoming casualties.[37]

Controversy

Both historian

Paul Freeman believed that the Turkish Brigade was "overrated, poorly led green troops" who "broke and bugged out", and blamed them for not protecting on the right flank of the US Eighth Army.[38] However historian Bevin Alexander noted that given the Turkish Brigade was the only UN force present between Wawon and Kunu-ri, the Chinese inability to capture Kunu-ri before the US 2nd Infantry Division meant the Turks had fulfilled their original mission and covered the withdrawal of the US IX Corps.[1]

Brigadier General Tahsin Yazıcı has reported that he was not informed by the US commanders about the retreat of the US Army and during their retreat the US tank commanders supporting his unit had refused to attack the enemy on several occasions. Therefore his troops had to carry out bayonet charges to break out of encirclement, which caused hundreds of casualties. In his memoirs, Yazıcı also states that the only US unit he was grateful for was the combat medic unit of the US Army [1].

Aftermath

Despite the heavy losses, the sacrifice of the Turkish Brigade was not forgotten by the US Eighth Army. On 13 December 1950, General

Bronze Star medals to the Turkish Brigade for their gallantry in action against the Chinese, and this occasion was proudly remembered by the Turkish soldiers in Korea.[37]

Movies and documentaries

See also

Notes

Footnotes
  1. Army
    .
  2. ^ Yazıcı had volunteered for a reduction in rank to Colonel to lead the Brigade.
Citations
  1. ^ a b Alexander 1986, p. 314.
  2. ^ "Korean War: 1st Turkish Brigade's Baptism of Fire". History.net. 12 June 2006. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  3. ^ "Korean War (Kore Savaşi)" (in Turkish). Turkish War Veterans Association. Archived from the original on 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  4. ^ Chinese Military Science Academy 2000, pp. 102, 104.
  5. ^ Starbuck, A.K. (December 1997). "Korean War: 1st Turkish Brigade's Baptism of Fire". Leesburg, VA: Weider History Group. Archived from the original on 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  6. ^ Appleman 1989, pp. 91, 200.
  7. ^ a b Bozkurt, Abdullah (October 3, 2010). "Turkish veterans recall Korean War memories". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-08.
  8. ^ Millett, Allan R. (2009). "Korean War". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  9. ^ Roe 2000, pp. 174, 176.
  10. ^ Appleman 1989, pp. 24, 33.
  11. ^ Appleman 1989, p. 87.
  12. ^ Alexander 1986, p. 312.
  13. ^ a b c Appleman 1989, p. 88.
  14. ^ Chinese Military Science Academy 2000, p. 101.
  15. ^ Appleman 1989, p. 89.
  16. ^ a b Chae, Chung & Yang 2001, p. 251.
  17. ^ Appleman 2008, pp. 88–89.
  18. ^ Appleman 2008, pp. 88–89.
  19. ^ "THE TURKS IN KOREA - CREATING a MYTH (Part 2)". Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  20. ^ Appleman 1989, pp. 88–89.
  21. ^ Leckie 1962, p. 203.
  22. ^ Hu & Ma 1987, p. 14.
  23. ^ a b Chinese Military Science Academy 2000, p. 102.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g Chae, Chung & Yang 2001, p. 252.
  25. ^ a b Chae, Chung & Yang 2001, p. 253.
  26. ^ a b Appleman 1989, p. 90.
  27. ^ a b Chae, Chung & Yang 2001, p. 254.
  28. ^ a b c d Chinese Military Science Academy 2000, p. 104.
  29. ^ Appleman 1989, pp. 89, 91.
  30. ^ Appleman 1989, p. 200.
  31. ^ Appleman 1989, p. 91.
  32. ^ Appleman 1989, p. 206.
  33. ^ Appleman 1989, pp. 206–207
  34. ^ a b Mossman 1990, p. 110.
  35. ^ a b Appleman 1989, p. 207
  36. ^ Appleman 1989, pp. 227–231.
  37. ^ a b Appleman 1989, p. 92.
  38. ^ Blair 1987, p. 455.

References

External links
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