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On the banks of this River in Korea
in 1951,

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00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,060
America, Britain
and their United Nation allies

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00:00:16,060 --> 00:00:21,052
were locked in a battle with tens
of thousands of Communist troops.

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00:00:26,004 --> 00:00:31,028
What moved the Allies to cross the
world to fight here in Korea,

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only five years after the bloodshed
of the Second World War,

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00:00:34,064 --> 00:00:38,080
was their drive to stop
Communism spreading further.

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00:00:40,012 --> 00:00:43,096
I'll be revealing the dramatic
reversals in military fortunes

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00:00:43,096 --> 00:00:49,088
of the armies of the Capitalist
West and the Communist East.

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00:00:49,088 --> 00:00:53,052
And telling the story
of how events in Korea

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nearly spiralled out of control,
raising the spectre of nuclear war.

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The Korean war was waged

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by men from 24 different
countries around the world.

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Men divided by ideology
but also by the way they fought.

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On one hand, massive firepower,
on the other, overwhelming numbers.

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SHOUTING

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I'll be telling the story of what
it was like for the ground troops

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when these two very different
armies clashed.

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And describing the brutal fighting
often waged in extreme conditions
across the entire Korean peninsular.

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This is the story
of a largely forgotten conflict

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and of a battle that took place
here on the Imjin River during the
Communist spring offensive of 1951.

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A battle that was to be a
turning point in the war for Korea.

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I'm on a journey to perhaps the
world's strangest border, the border
between North and South Korea.

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Right now, I'm about to enter
the South Korean side

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of the four-kilometre-wide security
zone that straddles the entire
length of the boundary.

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This zone is effectively
a no-go area, policed by troops
from the United Nations,

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marked out by miles of barbed wire
fences and defended with landmines.

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At the border itself,
there are no fences or gates.

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Here the border is simply marked
by this block of concrete just

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four inches high, yet absolutely
no-one is allowed to step across.

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Guarding the border on the
south side stand the soldiers
of the South Korean army.

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Immediately opposite
the men of the North Korean army.

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The only place along the
entire border that the two sides

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are in direct communication,

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is on this spot where a few huts
literally straddle the border.

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Strictly speaking standing here,
I'm in South Korean territory,

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but if I step beyond this table,
in theory, I'm inside North Korea.

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Although practically speaking,
the mysterious country

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of North Korea lies beyond that
guarded and locked door over there.

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So, how come such a bizarre
situation exists here?

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Well, the fact is that
North and South Korea

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are still officially at war and
have been for over half a century.

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Before the second World War,
the entire Korean peninsular
was under the control of Japan.

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But when Japan was defeated,
the victors divided the country

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along this line of latitude here,
the 38th Parallel.

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The Soviet Union sponsored a
Communist regime up here in the
north,

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under Kim Il-sung
and his capital, Pyongyang,

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and the Americans put Syngman Rhee,
a fiercely right-wing Nationalist

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in control of South Korea
in his capital, Seoul.

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Syngman Rhee wanted to govern
not just South Korea
but the entire peninsular.

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He wanted to unite North and
South under a capitalist regime.

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In the North, his opposite number
and bitter enemy, Kim Il-sung,

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also wanted to unify
the Korean peninsular but under
the banner of Communism.

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Each man had his dream of unifying
Korea under his rule but neither
of them did very much about it,

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until just after 4am on the 25th of
June 1950,

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when without any warning,
North Korea invaded the South.

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Within hours, 130,000 men
of the North Korean army
were pouring across the border.

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The North Korean army caught the
South Koreans utterly unprepared,

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the South Koreans could
barely muster a fighting force.

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Outgunned and overwhelmed by enemy
tanks, the ill-equipped army
were rapidly forced back.

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Even though we fired
our guns at them,

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the tanks were not damaged
at all, we could not destroy them.

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We were in a panic.
We couldn't resist the enemy.

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It was terrifying.

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In just 48 hours, the Communist
soldiers were poised to attack
the South Korean capital, Seoul.

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Seoul was the jewel in
the crown of South Korea

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and the North Korean army's
attack on it was swift and certain.

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The Communists burst through these
narrow streets meeting little
resistance as they took control.

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The North Korean troops swamped
the city

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and by June 28th, just three days
after the invasion, Communist
flags were flying over Seoul.

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But the North Koreans
didn't stop here in Seoul.

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They pushed on southwards
aiming to take the whole peninsular
in the name of Communism.

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They crossed rivers,
they traversed mountains

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and they defeated the weak South
Korean army at every encounter.

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For the North Koreans, it was
beginning to look like a walkover.

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The West and its allies feared
the North seizure of South Korea

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would be another dangerous advance
of Communism throughout the world.

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And the West was determined
to do something about it.

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The Americans took the lead in
persuading the United Nations to
go to the defence of South Korea.

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Now the Soviet Union could have
vetoed this proposal
but they weren't there.

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In the Soviet Union's absence,
the vote was passed.

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For the first time, the United
Nations was going to war.

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21 nations from around the world,
including Britain, would send men
and equipment to Korea.

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But there would be no doubt
as to who would be in charge.

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America by far the biggest
single force was in command.

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The fighting in Korea
was no longer a small skirmish
in a far-flung country,

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it had dragged in a superpower.

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Within days, allied troops began
to flood into South Korea.

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American troops were the first of
the UN Forces to arrive in Korea,

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shipped in from their bases
in nearby Japan.

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And they entered here, through
Korean's southernmost port, Pusan.

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When they landed, they faced
a desperate situation,

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and it was getting worse because
by now the South Korean army

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had almost totally collapsed
under the advance of
the North Korean steamroller.

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But the American troops
were virtually powerless
to improve matters.

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Because these were not the same
battle-hardened, well-equipped men

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that had been victorious
in the Second World War.

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We had equipment left over
from World War II,

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most of which had been
in a warehouse someplace.

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It was unserviceable
to non-existent.

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We were in a very poor shape
for everything.

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We were not ready to fight a war,
that's the long and the short of it.

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Just weeks after setting foot on
Korean soil, the American land
forces faced a terrible humiliation.

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By now, the North Koreans
controlled nearly the whole
of Korean peninsula,

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and this meant that the US troops
and their South Korean allies

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were packed into an increasingly
tight corner, an area that became
known as the Pusan Perimeter.

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This was a tiny pocket of land,
just 50 miles by 50 miles,

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around the port of Pusan in the
southernmost tip of the peninsula.

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Everywhere else
was in North Korean hands.

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United Nations forces were
surrounded, and in danger of being
pushed out of Korea altogether.

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What was needed to rescue the
United Nation's forces from disaster

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was a bold stroke from a decisive
leader, and that's exactly what
they got from the man in charge.

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The American General
Douglas McArthur.

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McArthur was one of those
commanders who was larger than life.

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He was America's most decorated
officer in the First World War,

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and he relished the fame he'd won
leading the defeat of Japan
in the Second World War.

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Now the Korean War gave
the aging general a chance
of yet another triumph.

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McArthur knew that if he was to
push Kim Il-sung's Communist army
back into North Korea, he'd need

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a much more ambitious strategy
than simply battling it out
on the Pusan Perimeter.

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In World War II,
McArthur's greatest victories
had been achieved

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through amphibious landings,
sending troops in by sea
to attack behind enemy lines.

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Such landings carry grave risks,
but McArthur was convinced
he had mastered the technique.

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McArthur now proposed to use the
same strategy in Korea,

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with a bold attempt to take
the pressure off his forces

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trapped in this toe hold in
the south-east of the peninsula.

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He would deliver an amphibious
hammer blow, not down here,

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around Pusan, but 150 miles behind
enemy lines to the north-west
at the port city of Incheon.

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If he could seize Incheon,
his troops could move onto Seoul,

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a mere 20 miles inland, cut the
North Koreans off from behind,

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and force them to fight
on two fronts - here and here.

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The North Koreans would
be surrounded and crushed,

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but a landing at Incheon
would be a high-risk exercise.

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The harbour city was placed at the
end of a treacherous passage

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called Flying Fish Channel,
where the tide raced
in and out twice a day.

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When the tide fell by about
11 metres, or 36 feet,

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vast mud flats were exposed,
making an approach impossible.

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Even when the tide was in, the
city was protected by high sea walls

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and a fortified island at the mouth
of the harbour named Wolmi-do.

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McArthur's plan,
codenamed "Operation Chromite",
was to assemble a vast naval force,

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carrying 70,000 US troops,

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who would brave the dangerous
tides of Incheon Harbour
and land on the beaches.

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The Marines would first have to
take the key beach at Wolmi-do,
codenamed "Green Beach",

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which was only possible during the
short window when the tide was high.

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Once the enemy had been silenced on
Wolmi-do, the rest of the landing
force would have to wait a whole

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12 hours for the tide to rise again,
before they could assault Red Beach,
to the north of Incheon,

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and Blue Beach, to the south.

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Set for mid-September 1950,
Operation Chromite

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was to be the largest
amphibious landing since D-Day.

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Many of McArthur's colleagues
thought his plan near impossible.

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One of them even said, we drew up a
list of every natural and geographic
handicap, and Incheon had them all.

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00:15:42,060 --> 00:15:48,056
McArthur himself privately admitted
his Operation Chromite was risky.

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It was going to be a tough
assignment for the crack US Marines

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hand-picked
to carry out the operation.

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...APS unknown, bears one,

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align three, speed...

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00:16:06,088 --> 00:16:10,056
The Marines' success hung
on meticulous planning,

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but when I went to visit the British
Royal Marines aboard HMS Albion

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I found out just how many factors
can throw the best plan off course.

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There's the weather, there's the tide
that has an impact. The sea state.

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Of course, the Americans at Incheon
had real problems with the tides.

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Very high tides,
just a 12 hour gap between them.

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How important is it to get
the tides absolutely right?

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Well, if we get it wrong then we're
going to end up either getting
caught on sand bars offshore...

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And you're at the
mercy of enemy fire.

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Absolutely. And if a tide is too
high, then of course you may be
actually slamming into the sea wall.

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Equally difficult to get people off.

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So timing is absolutely crucial.

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Now, when your landing craft
are underway and you're on that
landing craft and all your guys,

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how critical to you is the covering
fire that's coming down on the enemy
as you go into the beach?

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00:17:03,060 --> 00:17:06,064
Oh, absolutely fundamental.
That's why all our destroyers

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00:17:06,064 --> 00:17:12,004
and our frigates have big guns on
the front, that's what they're for,
to buy us that time to get ashore.

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But this will be a matter of supreme
concern, for the lads that are now on

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00:17:16,064 --> 00:17:19,008
the landing craft and
steaming into the beach.

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And what's it like being
on a landing craft on
your way into a beach?

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There will be guys that are utterly
disorientated. They won't have a clue

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00:17:29,072 --> 00:17:35,060
if they're in exactly the right
position, what they're gonna see
when they get off the landing craft.

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Given with that, some would have
been sick, some will be dizzy, some
will be confused... And frightened?

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00:17:41,012 --> 00:17:42,072
Oh, hugely frightened.

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00:17:42,072 --> 00:17:46,044
One of the crew of the landing craft
who's working up on deck

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will be shouting, 500 metres to go,
400 metres to go, and then
counting them down.

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And of course they get to 100 metres
to go, they all stand up,

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the doors get pushed open
and then they're just stood there
waiting for the ramp to drop.

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00:18:00,016 --> 00:18:04,004
Hit the beach,
ramp goes down, and then they're off.

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00:18:04,004 --> 00:18:10,056
The US Marines waiting off the coast
of Incheon were about to go through
exactly the same experience,

185
00:18:10,056 --> 00:18:13,096
as zero hour for the
amphibious landing drew near.

186
00:18:17,096 --> 00:18:24,072
At around 6am on the 15th of
September the actual landing part
of the operation swung into action.

187
00:18:24,072 --> 00:18:27,088
Under the cover of
allied naval gunfire,

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00:18:27,088 --> 00:18:35,016
six British and American destroyers
had already steamed in
to within a mile of the city,

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and anchored so that
their guns could fire

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00:18:37,068 --> 00:18:41,096
at point blank range on Wolmi-do,
and the entire Incheon area.

191
00:18:45,064 --> 00:18:50,060
For two days, Incheon had been
bombed
by aircraft dropping napalm

192
00:18:50,060 --> 00:18:54,092
on the North Korean defences,
and pounded by warships.

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00:18:54,092 --> 00:18:57,052
LOUD BLASTING OF GUNS

194
00:19:00,064 --> 00:19:03,044
DRONING OF PLANES

195
00:19:09,012 --> 00:19:14,084
Now, under yet more covering fire,
the landing craft used the high tide

196
00:19:14,084 --> 00:19:19,060
to sweep in from the sea
and land on Wolmi-do's Green Beach.

197
00:19:22,004 --> 00:19:25,024
Through the chaos
caused by the supporting fire,

198
00:19:25,024 --> 00:19:29,036
wave after wave of landing craft
headed for Green Beach.

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00:19:30,088 --> 00:19:36,016
Smoke was boiling out of Incheon, the
entire beach area simply disappeared

200
00:19:36,016 --> 00:19:38,016
in an enormous cloud of dust
and smoke,

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00:19:38,016 --> 00:19:41,052
with only the occasional glare
of rocket bursts showing through.

202
00:19:46,032 --> 00:19:48,044
It was just awesome.

203
00:19:52,076 --> 00:19:56,032
But as the first wave of Marines
approached Green Beach,

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00:19:56,032 --> 00:19:59,020
they were faced with
a daunting task.

205
00:20:01,008 --> 00:20:06,080
Scaling the 12 foot high defensive
sea walls under enemy fire.

206
00:20:27,052 --> 00:20:31,060
Well, this is Green Beach
on Wolmi-do today.

207
00:20:31,060 --> 00:20:33,068
Not quite the
same sight that would have

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00:20:33,068 --> 00:20:37,096
greeted the first wave of US Marines
as they clambered up the sea wall.

209
00:20:48,024 --> 00:20:53,024
With the second wave of Marines
just four minutes behind
they quickly advanced inland,

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00:20:53,024 --> 00:20:56,088
the landscape blackened and
blasted by the covering fire.

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00:21:02,044 --> 00:21:08,052
The Marines swept over the island,
meeting limited resistance
and suffering few casualties.

212
00:21:11,004 --> 00:21:15,040
In just two hours the Marines'
Commander radioed the waiting fleet.

213
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,016
Wolmi-do secured.

214
00:21:20,076 --> 00:21:23,076
Phase one of their mission
had been accomplished.

215
00:21:32,008 --> 00:21:35,092
For the Marines,
the battle had only just begun.

216
00:21:35,092 --> 00:21:39,084
As this tide retreated
it took with it the landing craft,

217
00:21:39,084 --> 00:21:42,084
their vital lifeline to
the allied ships out there.

218
00:21:42,084 --> 00:21:44,036
They had to dig in.

219
00:21:44,036 --> 00:21:46,096
For the next 12 hours
they had the unenviable task

220
00:21:46,096 --> 00:21:50,052
task of defending the island
against a possible counterattack.

221
00:21:52,016 --> 00:21:55,036
It was vital the Marines
held their ground.

222
00:21:55,036 --> 00:21:58,048
Only if they retained control
of this crucial island could

223
00:21:58,048 --> 00:22:02,040
further waves of landing craft
move safely onto Incheon itself.

224
00:22:06,060 --> 00:22:10,064
They waited hour after
hour for the tide to turn.

225
00:22:12,016 --> 00:22:15,052
Waiting to defend against any
North Korean counterattack.

226
00:22:18,048 --> 00:22:22,048
But the big attack never came.

227
00:22:22,048 --> 00:22:26,016
Only at half past five
did the tide come back in,

228
00:22:26,016 --> 00:22:31,088
and conditions were again favourable
for the next phase of the American
landings, further up the channel.

229
00:22:33,092 --> 00:22:37,028
Red Beach fell to the Marines
with little resistance,

230
00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,088
but there was still
one more beach to capture.

231
00:22:49,028 --> 00:22:56,032
Almost simultaneously the Marines
assaulted here at Blue Beach,
about a mile south of Incheon.

232
00:22:56,032 --> 00:23:00,044
But things on Blue Beach
didn't go quite as smoothly.

233
00:23:05,036 --> 00:23:09,060
Out to sea, 25 separate
assault waves had formed,

234
00:23:09,060 --> 00:23:14,084
but as they approached the shore,
many of them were swept wildly off
course by the strong currents.

235
00:23:18,012 --> 00:23:21,004
The assault on Blue Beach
was in disarray.

236
00:23:21,004 --> 00:23:25,016
Landing crafts at risk of capsizing,
men in danger of drowning.

237
00:23:29,044 --> 00:23:35,088
Those who did make it through
found the beach choked with smoke
from the earlier Naval bombardment.

238
00:23:37,044 --> 00:23:40,032
The actual landing
conditions were terrible.

239
00:23:40,032 --> 00:23:44,012
The city was on fire, and the
rain was mixing with the smoke and

240
00:23:44,012 --> 00:23:48,028
fire of the bombardment, so it was
very difficult finding the beach.

241
00:23:50,008 --> 00:23:54,008
Some units got mixed up,
landing on the wrong beaches,

242
00:23:54,008 --> 00:23:56,032
and we just had to get
it all sorted out.

243
00:23:57,084 --> 00:24:02,080
Despite the problems,
there was no serious opposition
to stop the allied advance.

244
00:24:04,084 --> 00:24:08,084
They managed to push on through
Incheon and further inland.

245
00:24:11,076 --> 00:24:16,008
Their journey took them eastwards,
liberating village after village,

246
00:24:16,008 --> 00:24:19,084
rapidly crushing what little
North Korean resistance they met.

247
00:24:22,064 --> 00:24:27,068
Their bold attack behind enemy lines
had been a resounding success.

248
00:24:30,068 --> 00:24:34,028
In just 11 days, the men
of the United Nations Army had

249
00:24:34,028 --> 00:24:39,000
reached their target and recaptured
the South Korean capital, Seoul.

250
00:24:46,012 --> 00:24:49,096
The war in Korea was taking
a whole new turn.

251
00:24:54,060 --> 00:24:59,088
By now, the Allied Forces pinned
down inside the Pusan perimeter

252
00:24:59,088 --> 00:25:03,060
had been reinforced
with fresh battle-ready troops.

253
00:25:05,012 --> 00:25:11,012
They broke out and thrust North to
join those who'd recaptured Seoul.

254
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:27,000
The United Nations Forces could
now attack the North Korean
Troops from two directions.

255
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:31,020
Kim Il-Sung's Army was effectively
surrounded and quickly collapsed.

256
00:25:33,024 --> 00:25:38,004
Within just two weeks
the allies had pushed
the crumbling North Korean Army

257
00:25:38,004 --> 00:25:44,016
back over the 38th Parallel,
back into North Korea.

258
00:25:44,016 --> 00:25:46,080
It was an incredible turnaround.

259
00:25:54,008 --> 00:26:00,048
The two Koreas were now
back where they began,
divided by the 38th Parallel.

260
00:26:04,044 --> 00:26:08,064
The question for the UN Allies
was what to do next.

261
00:26:11,088 --> 00:26:19,004
The United Nations
could have ended the war right there
but McArthur wanted to press on.

262
00:26:20,020 --> 00:26:24,012
He didn't just want to kick
Communism out of South Korea

263
00:26:24,012 --> 00:26:28,024
but crush it in North Korea
as well.

264
00:26:28,024 --> 00:26:32,008
He said the North should pay
the penalty for invading the South.

265
00:26:32,008 --> 00:26:36,080
He urged the United Nations
to take the war across the border.

266
00:26:43,056 --> 00:26:48,056
At the end of September 1950,
McArthur got his way.

267
00:26:48,056 --> 00:26:55,056
He was given the go-ahead
to cross the 38th Parallel
and push into North Korea,

268
00:26:55,056 --> 00:26:59,028
the UN Army were no longer
repelling an invasion.

269
00:26:59,028 --> 00:27:02,076
They had themselves
become the invaders.

270
00:27:10,088 --> 00:27:14,036
The Allied invasion of
North Korea began very well.

271
00:27:14,036 --> 00:27:20,060
On October the 7th the main body
of the United Nations force
drove northwards and within a month

272
00:27:20,060 --> 00:27:24,016
they'd overrun the
Communist capital Pyongyang.

273
00:27:24,016 --> 00:27:28,084
Still they pressed on scattering
any North Koreans who opposed them.

274
00:27:28,084 --> 00:27:34,032
The United Nations forces
were now within reach of
fulfilling McArthur's vision

275
00:27:34,032 --> 00:27:39,040
of a total victory over Communism
and the United Anti-Communist Korea.

276
00:27:40,092 --> 00:27:44,048
Word went around that McArthur
had even promised his troops

277
00:27:44,048 --> 00:27:48,008
would be home by Christmas,
in a month's time.

278
00:27:49,068 --> 00:27:56,056
But every step his men took north
threatened to awaken
a sleeping dragon.

279
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:04,036
McArthur's troops were now
fast approaching the Yalu River,

280
00:28:04,036 --> 00:28:08,096
the border between North Korea
and Communist China.

281
00:28:11,028 --> 00:28:13,056
LOUD CHEERING

282
00:28:19,068 --> 00:28:21,072
SINGING AND CHEERING

283
00:28:24,020 --> 00:28:29,068
The Chinese leader Mao Zedong
had been watching events in Korea.

284
00:28:29,068 --> 00:28:35,044
His new Communist regime was only
a year old and far from secure.

285
00:28:35,044 --> 00:28:42,016
Now the United Nations Army
was rapidly approaching
his Eastern border.

286
00:28:42,016 --> 00:28:46,092
As far as Mao was concerned this
was blatant Imperialist aggression

287
00:28:46,092 --> 00:28:49,072
and it had to be stopped.

288
00:28:49,072 --> 00:28:56,060
In September 1950
he ordered the Chinese People's
Volunteer Army into North Korea.

289
00:28:58,032 --> 00:29:04,040
Led by Commander Peng Dehuai,
their aim was to confront and
crush the United Nations.

290
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:14,008
The vast armies of China
had joined the war.

291
00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:23,020
Almost overnight the men
of the United Nations faced
a very different enemy.

292
00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:30,044
The Chinese were tough.
They were battle-hardened veterans

293
00:29:30,044 --> 00:29:38,028
of years of civil war,
experts in close quarters fighting
and used to the rugged terrain.

294
00:29:38,028 --> 00:29:43,060
What really set them apart
as a fighting force is that
they were highly politicised.

295
00:29:43,060 --> 00:29:47,024
Each man had to sign a pledge
of commitment to the cause.

296
00:29:47,024 --> 00:29:51,036
And each unit had to swear an oath
to destroy Imperialism.

297
00:29:51,036 --> 00:29:54,072
They warned us if we didn't
wipe out the enemy in Korea now,

298
00:29:54,072 --> 00:29:58,000
one day they would come back to China
and we would lose everything.

299
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:03,004
We swore to triumph in the Communist
cause and protect everything
the revolution had won for us.

300
00:30:03,004 --> 00:30:07,056
We weren't ever going to be
oppressed by Imperialists again.

301
00:30:07,056 --> 00:30:10,016
CHEERING

302
00:30:13,028 --> 00:30:16,052
The Chinese may have been
rugged and determined,

303
00:30:16,052 --> 00:30:20,044
but their real advantage lay in
the sheer vastness of their numbers.

304
00:30:22,084 --> 00:30:26,096
The UN, on the other hand, relied
on completely different strategies.

305
00:30:26,096 --> 00:30:32,084
Rather than the mass use of
troops travelling swiftly and
silently across open countryside,

306
00:30:32,084 --> 00:30:37,016
the UN had fewer troops, relying
on road-bound tanks and artillery.

307
00:30:43,024 --> 00:30:48,072
Artillery was the key weapon
that would form the bedrock
of the Allied battleplan.

308
00:30:52,032 --> 00:30:57,080
Dan and I were given the chance
to experience what it's like
to be under live artillery fire

309
00:30:57,080 --> 00:30:59,096
when we visited the bombard shelter

310
00:30:59,096 --> 00:31:02,064
of the British Royal School
of Artillery.

311
00:31:06,028 --> 00:31:08,068
A converge, a PD, a two rounds...

312
00:31:08,068 --> 00:31:12,016
At my command, a one-round
fire for effect. A three...

313
00:31:13,020 --> 00:31:14,036
One, zero, fire, over.

314
00:31:32,068 --> 00:31:35,016
You can feel the shockwaves
go through you.

315
00:31:35,016 --> 00:31:36,072
You're telling me you can!

316
00:31:39,020 --> 00:31:43,052
How critical is the artillery
defending a position like this

317
00:31:43,052 --> 00:31:47,060
against imagining these waves of
Chinese attacking? Absolutely vital.

318
00:31:47,060 --> 00:31:51,008
The contribution that artillery
makes in delaying the enemy,

319
00:31:51,008 --> 00:31:53,044
taking them out,
taking out large numbers,

320
00:31:53,044 --> 00:31:56,028
which would have been critical
with the Chinese,

321
00:31:56,028 --> 00:31:59,024
because they did the
human wave tactics, was vital.

322
00:31:59,024 --> 00:32:02,040
INDISTINCT SHOUTING

323
00:32:04,076 --> 00:32:09,036
The lethal effect would probably
about 150 metres in a circle

324
00:32:09,036 --> 00:32:12,088
taking people out,
that would be killing them,

325
00:32:12,088 --> 00:32:17,020
and then the actual damage would
go out to about two or 300 metres.
Extraordinary.

326
00:32:17,020 --> 00:32:19,072
And that effect would be continuous.

327
00:32:19,072 --> 00:32:24,016
Day or night, all weathers, 24 hours
a day. That's what you would receive.

328
00:32:24,016 --> 00:32:28,020
The effect on the enemy out there
would be absolutely devastating.

329
00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:40,000
Even inside the reinforced bunker,
we could feel the force
of the explosions,

330
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:43,000
but it was only out in the open
that we could see the impact

331
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,060
those explosions would have
on the enemy attack.

332
00:32:45,060 --> 00:32:48,064
So these shells are
just like giant hand grenades.

333
00:32:48,064 --> 00:32:50,088
Yes, and that's
the effect we're after.

334
00:32:50,088 --> 00:32:53,052
Each shell breaks up
into hundreds of fragments.

335
00:32:53,052 --> 00:32:56,024
Thousands of fragments.
Thousands of fragments.

336
00:32:56,024 --> 00:32:59,000
The air would have been black
with those fragments,

337
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,000
and I've got some here
which we fired today, actually.

338
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,092
The whole range. The optimum
size is probably this one.

339
00:33:05,092 --> 00:33:08,096
If you just look at that
you'll see how heavy and sharp...

340
00:33:08,096 --> 00:33:10,036
That's just a jagged edge.

341
00:33:10,036 --> 00:33:13,020
One of those would kill someone.
Oh, easily, easily.

342
00:33:13,020 --> 00:33:16,032
These two here would have taken this
chap's arms off,

343
00:33:16,032 --> 00:33:18,044
this one here would have killed him,

344
00:33:18,044 --> 00:33:20,092
that one up the top
is a serious head wound,

345
00:33:20,092 --> 00:33:23,068
and the last one in here
would have hurt his leg.

346
00:33:23,068 --> 00:33:27,000
And yet the Chinese came on and on
through this stuff.

347
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,092
But as they're coming forward,
they're encountering their comrades,

348
00:33:30,092 --> 00:33:33,076
wounded, injured,
screaming, do they keep going?

349
00:33:33,076 --> 00:33:35,076
Do they help them out?
What do they do?

350
00:33:35,076 --> 00:33:39,044
The whole time, they're just sapping
the momentum out of this attack.

351
00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,072
But no matter how lethal
the artillery fire,

352
00:33:55,072 --> 00:33:59,028
it did little to stem the massed
attacks of the Chinese army.

353
00:34:01,048 --> 00:34:04,084
"We swarmed into action like ants.

354
00:34:04,084 --> 00:34:08,076
"The enemy guns overheated
with the continuous use.

355
00:34:08,076 --> 00:34:12,024
"They began to misfire, and
could no longer hit their targets.

356
00:34:13,068 --> 00:34:18,076
"In the end, they would see
so many people coming at them,
they would panic."

357
00:34:23,004 --> 00:34:26,052
One after another,
United Nations positions

358
00:34:26,052 --> 00:34:32,036
were simply overwhelmed by
wave after wave of Chinese infantry.

359
00:34:44,088 --> 00:34:51,000
Some United Nations units fought
hard, others fell back in disarray.

360
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:54,036
Generally, morale collapsed,
and to make matters worse,

361
00:34:54,036 --> 00:34:57,056
the bitter Korean winter
was setting in.

362
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:04,072
By late November 1950, with the
temperature well below zero degrees,

363
00:35:04,072 --> 00:35:08,064
men of both sides were fighting
at the limit of human endurance.

364
00:35:13,012 --> 00:35:17,000
The Chinese soldiers were wearing
only lightly padded cotton uniforms

365
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:21,016
and thin canvas shoes to protect
them against the bitter cold.

366
00:35:22,092 --> 00:35:25,000
The Allies fared little better,

367
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,004
and much of their equipment
simply seized up.

368
00:35:30,076 --> 00:35:35,092
The men had to keep themselves awake
for fear of freezing to death
as they slept.

369
00:35:35,092 --> 00:35:40,040
"The first night the Chinese hit us,
I lost 39 men to frostbite.

370
00:35:41,052 --> 00:35:45,044
"The next afternoon I went
down to the medical station,

371
00:35:45,044 --> 00:35:49,088
"and the doctors were breaking off
all those frozen toes with forceps.

372
00:35:49,088 --> 00:35:51,068
"I never saw those men again.

373
00:35:53,020 --> 00:35:55,020
"I lost a whole platoon to
frostbite."

374
00:35:57,064 --> 00:36:02,044
Fighting a war in these
dire conditions was not what
these men had expected.

375
00:36:02,044 --> 00:36:08,016
To make matters worse, some American
marines found themselves surrounded
in a place called Chosin.

376
00:36:08,016 --> 00:36:10,044
Despite relentless Chinese attacks,

377
00:36:10,044 --> 00:36:13,032
the Americans managed
to fight their way out.

378
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:19,068
Elsewhere on the battlefield,
other soldiers couldn't cope.

379
00:36:19,068 --> 00:36:24,072
Without waiting for orders,
some turned around and fled.

380
00:36:24,072 --> 00:36:29,044
We moved headlong helter-skelter
trying to get to the port at Pusan.

381
00:36:29,044 --> 00:36:33,008
It was disgusting, unbelievable.

382
00:36:33,008 --> 00:36:38,064
I never felt so ashamed in all of
my life as to be a part of an army
that was running away.

383
00:36:46,056 --> 00:36:52,052
Allied defences were
crumbling across practically
the entire frontline.

384
00:36:56,068 --> 00:37:00,044
The United Nations generals
had no choice.

385
00:37:00,044 --> 00:37:03,080
They ordered a
full-scale withdrawal.

386
00:37:07,048 --> 00:37:11,064
It was the largest military
withdrawal in US history.

387
00:37:13,016 --> 00:37:15,024
As the Chinese drove south,

388
00:37:15,024 --> 00:37:19,000
the United Nations army
folded in front of them.

389
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:21,004
By January 1951,

390
00:37:21,004 --> 00:37:25,072
the Americans and their allies had
been thrown back, south of Seoul.

391
00:37:25,072 --> 00:37:30,000
Once again, the South Korean capital
was in the hands of the Communists,

392
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,080
but this proved a step too far.

393
00:37:34,024 --> 00:37:37,016
Because the Chinese
had moved so far south,

394
00:37:37,016 --> 00:37:40,068
their supply lines
were now severely strained,

395
00:37:40,068 --> 00:37:42,096
and the tide turned yet again.

396
00:37:42,096 --> 00:37:47,032
The UN Army
once more began to push north.

397
00:37:49,068 --> 00:37:52,004
Over the first weeks of 1951,

398
00:37:52,004 --> 00:37:57,004
the Allies clawed their way back to
a line just north of Seoul,

399
00:37:57,004 --> 00:37:59,080
but just south of the old border.

400
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:04,004
After seven months of
see-sawing advance and withdrawal,

401
00:38:04,004 --> 00:38:09,048
once more, the two sides
were practically back to where
they'd been when the war began.

402
00:38:14,060 --> 00:38:20,024
The huge, sweeping moves of the
two sides, up and down the
peninsula,

403
00:38:20,024 --> 00:38:24,032
subsided into an apparent stalemate.

404
00:38:26,036 --> 00:38:28,060
But how to break this stalemate

405
00:38:28,060 --> 00:38:34,000
was to lead to a crisis
of the very highest level
of the American leadership.

406
00:38:38,072 --> 00:38:41,008
The American President,
Harry Truman,

407
00:38:41,008 --> 00:38:45,020
did not want to do anything
to escalate the war in Korea.

408
00:38:46,032 --> 00:38:51,096
But General McArthur
still demanded total victory
over his Communist enemy.

409
00:38:51,096 --> 00:38:56,012
McArthur believed his President's
policy was too timid,

410
00:38:56,012 --> 00:38:59,016
and he was going to say so,
loud and clear.

411
00:38:59,016 --> 00:39:01,020
In order to achieve total victory,

412
00:39:01,020 --> 00:39:04,072
he demanded that the war
should be taken into China itself.

413
00:39:06,008 --> 00:39:11,008
What McArthur was proposing
was not simply to attack China,

414
00:39:11,008 --> 00:39:16,016
but to have the option of
attacking it with nuclear weapons.

415
00:39:17,096 --> 00:39:21,064
This war
was threatening to go nuclear.

416
00:39:30,016 --> 00:39:33,060
With McArthur now publicly
challenging Washington policy,

417
00:39:33,060 --> 00:39:37,004
President Truman had to make a
decision, and he made a brave one.

418
00:39:39,056 --> 00:39:45,028
I believe that we must try
to limit the war to Korea
for these vital reasons -

419
00:39:45,028 --> 00:39:50,008
to make sure that the precious lives
of our fighting men are not wasted,

420
00:39:50,008 --> 00:39:55,096
to see that the security of
our country and the free world
is not needlessly jeopardised,

421
00:39:55,096 --> 00:39:59,068
and to prevent a Third World War.

422
00:39:59,068 --> 00:40:04,008
I have therefore considered it
essential to relieve
General McArthur.

423
00:40:04,008 --> 00:40:08,000
General McArthur is one
of our greatest military commanders,

424
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:14,072
but the cause of world peace is much
more important than any individual.

425
00:40:16,060 --> 00:40:20,048
McArthur's dismissal
marks the end of an era,

426
00:40:20,048 --> 00:40:26,048
the end of the Allied aim
to unite the two Koreas
under a democratic flag.

427
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:36,020
McArthur's job went to
General Matthew Ridgway,

428
00:40:36,020 --> 00:40:39,056
a man both liked and respected
by his ground troops,

429
00:40:39,056 --> 00:40:44,048
and a man who accepted the idea
of a divided Korea.

430
00:40:48,068 --> 00:40:54,048
Ridgway's aim was to establish
a defensible line in the mountains
and rivers just north of Seoul,

431
00:40:54,048 --> 00:40:57,028
from where he could keep
the Communists at bay.

432
00:40:59,076 --> 00:41:02,016
But the Chinese commander,
Peng Dehuai,

433
00:41:02,016 --> 00:41:03,072
had a different plan.

434
00:41:04,068 --> 00:41:09,072
He wanted to demolish the
Allied forces, and throw them
out of Korea once and for all.

435
00:41:09,072 --> 00:41:15,044
Unknown to the mainly
British and American soldiers
who were starting to dig in,

436
00:41:15,044 --> 00:41:21,000
China's vast armies were preparing
to launch a massive attack,

437
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,008
their spring offensive.

438
00:41:53,052 --> 00:41:56,044
As night fell on the
22nd of April 1951,

439
00:41:56,044 --> 00:41:59,096
hundreds of thousands of
North Korean and Chinese troops

440
00:41:59,096 --> 00:42:02,096
prepared to attack right
along the battle front,

441
00:42:02,096 --> 00:42:07,024
marked here in the Western section
of the peninsula by the Imjin River,

442
00:42:07,024 --> 00:42:08,088
only 30 miles from Seoul.

443
00:42:11,024 --> 00:42:15,080
These Chinese troops were masters
in infiltration and concealment.

444
00:42:17,060 --> 00:42:20,020
Morale was high.

445
00:42:20,020 --> 00:42:23,088
Confident of victory, the
Chinese leaders told their men

446
00:42:23,088 --> 00:42:27,044
they would be celebrating May Day
in the streets of Seoul.

447
00:42:27,044 --> 00:42:32,072
That night, the Chinese
took their positions
along the banks of the Imjin,

448
00:42:32,072 --> 00:42:35,036
and lay in wait
for the order to move.

449
00:42:42,092 --> 00:42:45,080
The Chinese commander
Peng Dehuai's plan

450
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:50,040
was for a huge coordinated attack,
practically from coast to coast,

451
00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:52,092
and the aim of his
spring offensive?

452
00:42:52,092 --> 00:42:58,032
To destroy entire UN divisions
by swamping them with
sheer weight of numbers,

453
00:42:58,032 --> 00:43:02,044
carving them up into small pockets,
and wiping them out, one by one.

454
00:43:02,044 --> 00:43:05,088
Then he'd move to recapture Seoul.

455
00:43:05,088 --> 00:43:10,064
Peng ordered the North Koreans
to bring pressure on the
east end of the line here,

456
00:43:10,064 --> 00:43:13,084
but the main attack would be
by the Chinese themselves,

457
00:43:13,084 --> 00:43:16,040
punching a hole through
the line in three places,

458
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:22,016
against mostly South Korean forces
here, American forces here,

459
00:43:22,016 --> 00:43:24,064
and here in the west,
where I am now,

460
00:43:24,064 --> 00:43:29,084
the Chinese put a large force
up against the mainly British
29th Brigade,

461
00:43:29,084 --> 00:43:36,052
who were defending the
historic invasion route to Seoul
across the Imjin River.

462
00:43:36,052 --> 00:43:42,036
Until now, the Americans
and South Korean troops had
borne the brunt of this war,

463
00:43:42,036 --> 00:43:46,036
but over the next few days the men
of the mainly British 29th Brigade,

464
00:43:46,036 --> 00:43:49,064
led by Brigadier Tom Brody,
would play a vital role.

465
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:57,020
The 29th Brigade's
nine mile long front along
the Imjin River was pivotal.

466
00:43:57,020 --> 00:44:00,040
If the Chinese breached
the line in this position,

467
00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:03,056
the Allied divisions
either side would be exposed,

468
00:44:03,056 --> 00:44:05,092
and the routes to Seoul
would be open.

469
00:44:07,044 --> 00:44:10,096
Of vital importance
were two river crossings,

470
00:44:10,096 --> 00:44:15,052
with tracks leading to the capital
just 30 miles to the south.

471
00:44:15,052 --> 00:44:20,028
700 men of the Gloucestershire
Regiment guarded this track

472
00:44:20,028 --> 00:44:22,084
from the hills just south of Aforn,

473
00:44:22,084 --> 00:44:26,040
which they later called
Gloucester Crossing.

474
00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:31,048
This second crossing and track
were guarded by another 700 men

475
00:44:31,048 --> 00:44:35,024
from the battalion of the
Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.

476
00:44:35,024 --> 00:44:41,036
In support, both British battalions
could call on the Royal Artillery's
field guns, back here.

477
00:44:41,036 --> 00:44:44,084
All this,
plus some tanks in reserve here,

478
00:44:44,084 --> 00:44:49,092
and some other units on either side
were part of Brody's 29th Brigade.

479
00:44:49,092 --> 00:44:55,032
Everything in this region
was under the overall command
of the American 3rd Division.

480
00:44:56,024 --> 00:45:00,004
There were just 4,000 men in the
British 29th Brigade,

481
00:45:00,004 --> 00:45:04,020
thinly spaced
and not yet properly dug in,

482
00:45:04,020 --> 00:45:10,004
a pitifully small contingent to be
defending such a crucial stretch
of front.

483
00:45:10,004 --> 00:45:17,028
Advancing on them the entire
Chinese 63rd Army, over 27,000 men.

484
00:45:18,092 --> 00:45:22,064
The British were outnumbered
by around seven to one.

485
00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:36,032
10pm on 22nd April, the first
Chinese troops started to wade
across the shallow section of water,

486
00:45:36,032 --> 00:45:40,044
but they were held back for nearly
two hours by less than 16 men

487
00:45:40,044 --> 00:45:44,084
from a platoon of the Glosters,
firing from up on the south bank.

488
00:45:48,012 --> 00:45:50,028
'And then we saw the Chinese,

489
00:45:50,028 --> 00:45:55,044
'they were thick in the water,
somewhere around 2,000 men.

490
00:45:55,044 --> 00:46:01,004
'It was an astonishing target and
we did use up all our ammunitions.'

491
00:46:01,004 --> 00:46:07,008
After halting four separate Chinese
assaults, the British troops ran out
of ammunition

492
00:46:07,008 --> 00:46:11,064
and they had no choice but to pull
back and rejoin their unit.

493
00:46:11,064 --> 00:46:16,048
There was now nothing to stop the
Chinese from advancing further.

494
00:46:18,064 --> 00:46:23,020
Throughout the night of 22nd April,
vast numbers of Chinese soldiers

495
00:46:23,020 --> 00:46:27,028
succeeded in crossing the Imjin
River, that's it down there,

496
00:46:27,028 --> 00:46:29,056
and pushing southwards towards here.

497
00:46:29,056 --> 00:46:34,028
This area, known as Castle Hill, was
held by around a hundred men

498
00:46:34,028 --> 00:46:36,040
of the Glosters' A Company.

499
00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:38,048
They were in for a very long night.

500
00:46:45,008 --> 00:46:49,060
For six hours, under moonlight
and the glare of parachute flares,

501
00:46:49,060 --> 00:46:54,092
A Company fought a ferocious
close quarters battle
for control of this hill.

502
00:46:58,056 --> 00:47:01,012
MACHINE GUN FIRE

503
00:47:05,032 --> 00:47:08,028
Again and again, the Chinese
attacked up it,

504
00:47:08,028 --> 00:47:12,084
and A Company drove them back with
machine gun and mortar fire.

505
00:47:12,084 --> 00:47:18,020
They received vital help from their
artillery, five miles to the rear.

506
00:47:26,020 --> 00:47:27,056
'Shells rained down.

507
00:47:27,056 --> 00:47:30,096
'In front of me, a whole squad
was blown to pieces,

508
00:47:30,096 --> 00:47:35,024
'and the bodies of dead and
wounded scattered along the track.

509
00:47:35,024 --> 00:47:36,076
'I didn't wait to be killed.

510
00:47:36,076 --> 00:47:41,008
'I ran beyond that barrage as
fast as my legs would carry me.'

511
00:47:42,064 --> 00:47:48,052
At times, the supporting artillery
was the only thing slowing the
Chinese advance.

512
00:47:59,004 --> 00:48:01,084
At first light on the 23rd April,

513
00:48:01,084 --> 00:48:06,024
things were looking decidedly
bleak for the whole 29th Brigade.

514
00:48:06,024 --> 00:48:10,060
In fact, it was looking grim right
away along the whole Allied line.

515
00:48:10,060 --> 00:48:12,072
Some 30 miles over to the east,

516
00:48:12,072 --> 00:48:16,056
a South Korean division collapsed
under the Chinese pressure,

517
00:48:16,056 --> 00:48:21,028
and American and Commonwealth troops
desperately tried to plug the gap.

518
00:48:21,028 --> 00:48:26,096
It made it all the more vital that
the British 29th Brigade held on
here at all costs.

519
00:48:26,096 --> 00:48:31,016
The Northumberland Fusiliers,
guarding the easterly track

520
00:48:31,016 --> 00:48:35,052
down from the river, had found their
forward positions threatened.

521
00:48:35,052 --> 00:48:38,068
The Chinese had begun to gain
the high ground,

522
00:48:38,068 --> 00:48:41,040
and the Fusiliers were being
pushed back.

523
00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:46,000
The line was weakening, and the
Chinese were infiltrating the gaps

524
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:48,008
between the British positions.

525
00:48:48,008 --> 00:48:51,012
As for the Glosters,
five miles to the west,

526
00:48:51,012 --> 00:48:55,068
their A Company were unable to
hold out any longer on Castle Hill.

527
00:48:55,068 --> 00:48:59,000
There was no other option
for the soldiers here,

528
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:03,044
reduced to just one officer and
fewer than 60 men, than to pull back

529
00:49:03,044 --> 00:49:06,036
and join the rest of the battalion
further south.

530
00:49:06,036 --> 00:49:09,092
Relying completely on supporting
artillery fire,

531
00:49:09,092 --> 00:49:14,028
they managed to retreat to a hill
that became known as Gloster Hill.

532
00:49:14,028 --> 00:49:19,016
By dawn on the next day, the 24th
April, the entire battalion,

533
00:49:19,016 --> 00:49:24,028
reduced to around 400 men,
were all defending Gloster Hill

534
00:49:24,028 --> 00:49:27,068
against around 10,000
Chinese soldiers.

535
00:49:27,068 --> 00:49:30,044
And they were practically
surrounded.

536
00:49:31,096 --> 00:49:36,020
By now, the Gloster situation
was so precarious

537
00:49:36,020 --> 00:49:39,076
that the 29th Brigade Commander,
Brigadier Brody,

538
00:49:39,076 --> 00:49:43,008
sent in a column of tanks
along this valley

539
00:49:43,008 --> 00:49:46,052
in an attempt to
blast its way through them.

540
00:49:46,052 --> 00:49:50,060
But the lead tank was hit
and it blocked the route,

541
00:49:50,060 --> 00:49:55,024
and the attempt to break through to
the Glosters had to be abandoned.

542
00:49:55,024 --> 00:49:58,060
All hope of getting
help to them evaporated.

543
00:50:02,012 --> 00:50:07,048
That afternoon, General Sole, the
American Commander of all the units
in the area,

544
00:50:07,048 --> 00:50:09,084
radioed to ask how
things were going.

545
00:50:09,084 --> 00:50:14,064
Brigadier Brody, instead of urgently
requesting the Gloster withdrawal,

546
00:50:14,064 --> 00:50:17,092
replied simply
that things were a bit sticky.

547
00:50:17,092 --> 00:50:22,052
He couldn't have chosen a worse
moment for British understatement.

548
00:50:22,052 --> 00:50:26,080
The American General was given no
idea how bad things really were,

549
00:50:26,080 --> 00:50:31,020
and so he ordered 29th Brigade
to hold their position.

550
00:50:31,020 --> 00:50:33,044
What followed was disaster.

551
00:50:42,096 --> 00:50:45,016
At 10pm, the Chinese struck.

552
00:50:45,016 --> 00:50:50,084
The Glosters fought a bloody hand to
hand battle, and pushed back attack
after attack.

553
00:50:50,084 --> 00:50:53,052
The battle raged
all through the night.

554
00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:04,096
It was the beginning of the
end for the Glosters.

555
00:51:12,044 --> 00:51:16,012
The entire 29th Brigade
was at breaking point.

556
00:51:16,012 --> 00:51:20,032
If they didn't withdraw,
they faced death or captivity.

557
00:51:20,032 --> 00:51:24,076
The attempt to get any relief to the
Glosters may have been blocked,

558
00:51:24,076 --> 00:51:29,060
but on the right, the
Northumberlands line of retreat
was still clear.

559
00:51:29,060 --> 00:51:33,096
Brigadier Brody had ordered tanks
up the track to escort them out,

560
00:51:33,096 --> 00:51:38,032
but the withdrawal became chaotic
as the Chinese managed to swarm

561
00:51:38,032 --> 00:51:41,048
onto the track and climb
on the British tanks.

562
00:51:41,048 --> 00:51:46,012
The crews of neighbouring tanks were
forced to hose each other's tanks

563
00:51:46,012 --> 00:51:51,004
with machine gun fire in an attempt
to dislodge the clambering Chinese.

564
00:51:51,004 --> 00:51:57,040
The rescue of the Northumberlands
were succeeding but only just.

565
00:51:57,040 --> 00:52:01,056
But the Glosters off to the west
were left to their fate.

566
00:52:01,056 --> 00:52:06,068
In the face of the rapidly advancing
Chinese, Brigadier Brody had by now

567
00:52:06,068 --> 00:52:10,072
been forced to withdraw the
artillery supporting his troops,

568
00:52:10,072 --> 00:52:13,040
and once these vital guns
were silenced,

569
00:52:13,040 --> 00:52:18,036
the men of the Glosters really
were at the mercy of the Chinese.

570
00:52:18,036 --> 00:52:22,016
The men stranded just up there
on the top of Gloster Hill

571
00:52:22,016 --> 00:52:25,020
were preparing for a nearly
impossible task.

572
00:52:25,020 --> 00:52:30,088
They were going to try and make a
break for it, but many had not slept
or eaten for days,

573
00:52:30,088 --> 00:52:37,080
and with virtually no ammunition,
getting back to friendly lines
would be a near impossible task.

574
00:52:39,052 --> 00:52:42,040
But the Glosters had little choice.

575
00:52:42,040 --> 00:52:46,028
They set out to cross the
enemy infiltrated stretch of land

576
00:52:46,028 --> 00:52:49,080
on what for many
would be their final journey.

577
00:52:52,064 --> 00:52:58,044
The Glosters had started the
Battle of the Imjin with 700 men.

578
00:52:58,044 --> 00:53:01,040
58 had been killed in the fighting.

579
00:53:01,040 --> 00:53:07,000
Only 63 made it back to the safety
of British lines that night.

580
00:53:07,000 --> 00:53:11,004
Nearly 600 Glosters were
taken prisoner.

581
00:53:11,004 --> 00:53:15,032
'It was a very shameful moment
surrendering, I hated doing it.

582
00:53:15,032 --> 00:53:19,028
'Surrendering seemed to go against
everything that I thought

583
00:53:19,028 --> 00:53:22,092
'soldiering should be about.'

584
00:53:22,092 --> 00:53:27,036
The rest of 29 Brigade had fared
little better than the Glosters,

585
00:53:27,036 --> 00:53:33,000
but those few days in April 1951 had
taken their toil on the enemy too.

586
00:53:33,000 --> 00:53:36,024
Although 29 Brigade had lost a
quarter of its men,

587
00:53:36,024 --> 00:53:41,084
it had destroyed nearly half the
Communist forces attacking them
across the Imjin.

588
00:53:41,084 --> 00:53:45,064
And right the way along the entire
battlefront in Korea,

589
00:53:45,064 --> 00:53:50,080
other British, American and Allied
forces fought heroic battles
of their own.

590
00:54:02,072 --> 00:54:07,000
No-one knows exactly how many
the Chinese lost,

591
00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:09,096
but it was in
the tens of thousands.

592
00:54:18,008 --> 00:54:23,016
The Communist offensive ground to
a halt along the entire battle line.

593
00:54:23,016 --> 00:54:27,072
It was to be the last major assault
of its kind -

594
00:54:27,072 --> 00:54:31,076
the Chinese would never again
launch an attack on the scale

595
00:54:31,076 --> 00:54:34,024
of the Spring Offensive of 1951.

596
00:54:34,024 --> 00:54:38,052
Like the Americans, they too
had finally realised

597
00:54:38,052 --> 00:54:42,048
that neither of them could win
control of the whole of Korea.

598
00:54:45,088 --> 00:54:50,004
While the Allied crushing of
the Communist Spring Offensive,

599
00:54:50,004 --> 00:54:55,004
in great part along the Imjin River,
did not end the fighting immediately

600
00:54:55,004 --> 00:54:58,048
it did bring both
sides to the negotiating table.

601
00:55:01,064 --> 00:55:07,088
Yet when they first met on July
10th 1951, few could have had any

602
00:55:07,088 --> 00:55:13,044
inkling that the negotiations
would drag on for over two years.

603
00:55:13,044 --> 00:55:18,048
All this time, the vicious battles
for minor stretches

604
00:55:18,048 --> 00:55:23,072
of tactical ground continued,
and the casualty rate soared.

605
00:55:26,072 --> 00:55:31,080
This increasingly futile war
was to go on another two years,

606
00:55:31,080 --> 00:55:34,052
before the fighting finally ended.

607
00:55:37,056 --> 00:55:41,060
The two sides agreed the position
of the new border between them,

608
00:55:41,060 --> 00:55:47,060
and they agreed on roughly the line
of the 38th Parallel about here.

609
00:55:47,060 --> 00:55:53,016
And on 27th July 1953,
they agreed a ceasefire.

610
00:55:56,072 --> 00:56:01,064
In three years of war, more than two
million people had lost their lives,

611
00:56:01,064 --> 00:56:04,012
and a country had been devastated

612
00:56:05,048 --> 00:56:10,072
And yet the border between North
and South Korea had barely changed.

613
00:56:13,008 --> 00:56:18,080
And there's one even bigger irony,
the two sides have never
signed a peace treaty.

614
00:56:18,080 --> 00:56:24,096
The state of war between North and
South Korea still officially exists.

615
00:56:27,012 --> 00:56:32,088
To this day, Korea's two sides
remain in an uneasy stalemate.

616
00:56:32,088 --> 00:56:37,048
North Korea is still one of the most
undeveloped countries in the world,

617
00:56:37,048 --> 00:56:40,000
and fiercely secretive.

618
00:56:41,068 --> 00:56:45,076
South of the border,
it's a very different story.

619
00:56:51,024 --> 00:56:55,092
South Korea has developed into
a vibrant and thriving democracy.

620
00:57:00,016 --> 00:57:03,088
Today the two Koreas may be
vastly different,

621
00:57:03,088 --> 00:57:06,004
but one thing hasn't changed.

622
00:57:08,040 --> 00:57:14,044
For the people of North and South
Korea, the threat of a return to
hostilities still looms.

623
00:57:16,040 --> 00:57:22,036
50 years after the ceasefire, South
Koreans still plan for the worst.

624
00:57:22,036 --> 00:57:29,032
Around twice a year, a siren sounds
across the South Korean capital
here in Seoul.

625
00:57:29,032 --> 00:57:34,088
It's a drill for the taking of
immediate shelter in the event
of a North Korean attack.

626
00:57:37,012 --> 00:57:39,068
SIREN

627
00:57:39,068 --> 00:57:46,032
For a few minutes, these
city streets empty in readiness
for a return to hostilities.

628
00:57:46,032 --> 00:57:48,088
SIREN CONTINUES

629
00:58:00,060 --> 00:58:05,072
There was an awful lot of very
brave fights going on right
in the middle of the line.

630
00:58:06,092 --> 00:58:13,088
Next time, 20th Century Battlefields
brings you the Tet Offensive,
fought in Vietnam.

631
00:58:13,088 --> 00:58:19,064
This massive communist assault was
the turning point of the 20th
century's longest war.

632
00:58:19,064 --> 00:58:23,032
I'll explain how the American
military had to adapt itself

633
00:58:23,032 --> 00:58:25,096
to face up to a guerilla fighting
force.

634
00:58:25,096 --> 00:58:32,008
And I'll be experiencing what it was
like for the soldiers as they fought
through South Vietnam.

635
00:58:32,008 --> 00:58:35,060
The Tet offensive was one
of the most decisive battles
of the 20th century.

636
00:58:35,085 --> 00:58:45,085
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