Today (23rd April, 2024) the Korean Embassy and the Korean Veterans Association, Chapter #7, held a ceremony to remember the 73rd anniversary of the Battle of Kapyong in Korea on April 23-25, 1951. The battle was pivotal in that it allowed the retreating South Korean forces to orderly move through the Kapyong Valley and it stemmed the Chinese advance when an Australian battalion, 3 Royal Australian Regiment, and a Canadian battalion, 2 Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (2 PPCLI) stood to face an entire Chinese division. The effort of the Australians (hill 504) and the Canadians (hill 677) in this action stopped the Chinese from rolling into Soeul and making this a very short war.
To see all the pictures from the ceremony, CLICK HERE:
During the action both battalions fought heavily but the Australians were forced to leave hill 504 on the evening of the 24th leaving the Canadians on hill 677. The action got so involved that D Company, 2 PPCLI, was close to being surrounded. The company commander—Captain J.G.W. Mills—was subsequently forced to call down artillery fire onto his own position on several occasions during the early morning of 25 April to avoid being overrun. The exposed Chinese troops did not fare well during this exercise. Late on the afternoon of the 25th, the Chinese withdrew to regroup leaving the Kapyong Valley in United Nations hands and the loss of Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea, was prevented.
The Canadian troops numbered about 700 and faced approximately 5,000 CPVA troops, and wound up with 10 killed and 23 wounded with estimates of up to 3,000 Chinese troops killed by the PPCLI. This was a drawn out and complicated battle and cannot be covered in a blog but there were several other countries involved in this action and their contributions to this defence should not be diminished. The 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was also awarded a US Presidential Unit Citation for their actions in this battle along with the 3 RAR and A Company, 72nd Heavy Tank Battalion.
The ceremony this year, held at the Monument to the Canadian Fallen in Ottawa, was larger than normal with several more countries participating by laying wreaths. The weather was cloudy for the most part but as it came time to lay the wreaths, the sun broke through for a few minutes. The countries laying wreaths were Canada, the Republic of Korea, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and India, as well as several other groups such as the Korean Veterans Commemorative Association, the Royal Canadian Legion and the Canada Korea Society with, in all, 18 wreaths laid.
After the wreaths were laid, poppies were then laid on the wreaths to commemorate the 10 soldiers killed in the battle and then other guests were permitted to place more poppies on the wreaths. There was a very good turnout from the Defence Attachés community with all of them placing poppies as well.
After the conclusion of the ceremony, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea handed out small gift bags to all attendees with a drink and a very tasty cookie/cake that was vanilla with almonds. Mmmmm.
