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Why were the exterminated troops left there? Was it
because of lingering contamination, or as a message? If so, to whom?
The Americans openly discussed the possibility of using an Atom Bomb to
turn the tide of events in Assuming the bodies were in place for 21 days or
longer, it is incomprehensible to think that no one else stumbled
across our grisly discovery. During this time, across the central
front, UN forces were mounting daily patrols. What other patrols
penetrated this area and what other intelligence was gleaned? What
aerial photography captured the landscape? What of the daily aerial
flights of a variety of spotter aircraft flying over
no-mans-land at relatively low altitudes? It is an
irrefutable fact that on May 21, 1951, UN forces took the offensive,
ultimately retaking not only this area but all the lands given up to the
enemy and more. I can find no explanation. Who disposed of the bodies?
Why, 50 years on, would an innocent nation refuse to reveal acts of
enemy aggression? Assuming the Russians were experimenting with this
type of genocide, had democratic forces deemed it necessary to
demonstrate conclusively that others were not above retaliation? This
incident is a double-edged sword that both confounds and menaces
the intellect. Yet somewhere, the answer lies in some secret archive. Was it a coincidence that the only means of communication I had on that patrol was an American Walkie Talkie? We were too distant to make contact with our company headquarters. The American tanks, three hours to the south, were too far away and unfortunately did not have the equipment to receive our wireless communications. Were we to carry casualties out on our backs? There were no means of periodic situation reports. Were we operating under an enforced silence? Did some experimental intelligence group, knowing full well what we would discover, want to find out if the contaminates were still active? Perhaps we were truly earning our nickname of being labeled the "PBI," The Poor Bloody Infantry. Thank God, we are fortunate enough to live in a civilized nation where one questions how men could possibly commit such horrific crimes. At Los Alamos, the atomic bomb experiments inflicted cancer from radiation upon the American and Canadian troops who volunteered, despite the fact they were reassured that they were perfectly safe. The final incident involved placing the troops within a mile of the detonation point where they were ordered to advance to prepared slit trenches. There were none. The men were radiated while lying on top of the open ground and it was years before the two governments finally admitted their responsibility. Similar experiments were conducted injecting LSD, at the direction of governments. For years they were denied their unfortunate "guinea-pigs" status. For some, compensation came decades later. During the Second World War, Canada subjected soldiers to live Mustard Gas experiments at Suffield Military Establishment. One cannot but wonder what other undisclosed and irresponsible actions may have been committed, or are being committed, in the name of the defence of a nation. The United Kingdom Korean War Veterans newsletter, The
Morning Calm, published my report of our 1951 patrol in April of 1999.
The magazine later received a letter from a UK Korean veteran, Derek
Bennett, formerly a Field Linesman, Royal Corps of Signals, with the 27th
Brigade. Bennett and a chap named Price reported finding 25 to 30 North
Korean troops, lying down as if resting in a field about 100 yards from
a road. They were attired in the usual white winter parkas, having a red
star on their headgear. They were all dead and they could not find a
point of penetration on any of the bodies. The book, "Rangers in
2.
Stone in an interview with LCol GWLNicholson, D. History, Army
Headquarters, 1630 hrs, 3.
Black: Ballantine Publishing Company, (Random House) 1989 Our platoon commander was Lt. Gray. The whole platoon
went on this patrol. It seemed to me we went an awfully long way out in
front our battalion position. It was a hot day we were still wearing our
winter uniforms. I remember clearly... enemy soldiers all in three
lines... Like a platoon. There were a lot of them. All dead. They were
in a sort of sitting position, rigidly upright, all of them. It was not
natural. What I remember most was the awful stench of death. I did not
like it. I remember circling a long way out from them, because I could
not stand the smell. James Wanniandy
I was a member of 12 Platoon, but at the time was
attached to "D" Company HQ, as runner. I was made aware of the
patrol the day prior when the order came down to Capt Mills. Capt Mills
was in command in the absence of Major Swinton, who was in charge of the
Brigade Captain Mills selected 12 to make the patrol. Being
aware of the patrol, I was present the next morning when the platoon
boarded tanks of the American 73rd Heavy Tank Battalion. I went to wish
my buddies luck. The information brought back at the end of the day was
a hell of a surprise to all of us. They had found a whole platoon of
enemy soldiers dead in some sort of mass formation. The information
caused one hell of a buzz amongst us because of the queer way in which
they all died at one time, on their knees sifting on their haunches.
Gray wrote a report for Mills, saying he believed they died from some
form of chemical warfare. That report caused a lot of concern -
was it going to happen to us - when? We expected that there
would be another patrol to further investigate the whole thing, but
nothing happened. After a week, it faded away; we were preparing to move
off of Line Golden, in pursuit of the enemy. George Nestor
Someone put their foot on the exhaust pipe and in a
few seconds dam near burnt the bottom of their boot off. Best Hot Foot I
have ever seen. At Gumcochyi the tanks parked and our patrol took off
on foot. We were to find where the enemy had dug in. Hub Gray took a
photograph of my section moving off along the railroad tracks, with the
smashed up rail station behind us. I was fourth in the photo, carrying
my Bren Gun, and two hundred rounds of ammunition. We were about two
hours out when we sighted the enemy. After pausing to examining the lay of the land, Lt
Gray sent my section onto the right flank to give covering fire while
the other two sections moved forward in an attack formation. The enemy
formation was in the middle of a broad valley. There was no firing. The
enemy troops were in line like an oversized platoon. All dead, sitting
upright. Bloody peculiar, I thought. The men talked about these enemies
dead for sometime afterward. I saw a lot of strange things in
Korea, this just added one more event to my war. To me it was all part of
'another days work.
Hub
Gray served in the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s
Canadian Light Infantry from October 1950 - May 1953.
He joined |