Let the Bastards Come

The Battle for Kapyong Korea

23-25 April 1951

By David W Cameron

Published by Big Sky Publishing
RRP $32.99 in paperback | ISBN 9781923144156

How was it possible that a mere thirty-six years after the landing at Gallipoli, Australian, New Zealand and Turkish soldiers would actually commemorate Anzac Day 1951 together as part of a UN force defending South Korea from a communist takeover of the entire Korean peninsula.

Prolific military history author David Cameron has turned his attention to the Korean conflict, telling, for the first time, the full story of the Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and American units involved in the battle of Kapyong.

Fewer than 1,000 Australian and Canadian infantrymen, supported by New Zealand artillery and 15 American Sherman tanks fought off an entire Chinese Division of over 12,000 men and contributed significantly to defeating the great Chinese August offensive. The Australians almost alone, but with support from New Zealand gunners and some American tanks, for the first 24 hours, held back the Chinese and were at times surrounded by large numbers of Chinese who launched ongoing human wave attacks against their isolated positions — but the line held with Australians leading bayonet counter charges against the Chinese.

Within 24 hours, Canadian troops were committed to the battle and for 12 hours also faced significant attempts by the Chinese to surround their position – they too held their ground.

The battle of Kapyong was truly a decisive battle of the Korean War in which thirty-two Australians from 3 RAR were killed.

Cameron has made excellent use of first-hand accounts of the engagement to enliven the narrative. He also helpfully offers readers a short history of the earlier power struggles in a region where China and Japan dominated the geopolitical landscape.

The Korean War of course is the war that never ended. For the veterans of the conflict, the fact it came to be known as the ‘forgotten war’ was no consolation for the loss of comrades and the ongoing suffering of post-war trauma.