Cry Korea

316 Pages·1951·63.625 MB·English

by  Reginald Thompson

CRY KOREA
BY
REGINALD THOMPSON
LONDON
MACDONALD & CO. (Publishers) LTD.
CRY KOREA
By the same author:
ARGENTINE INTERLUDE
DOWN UNDER- AN AUSTRALIAN ODYSSEY
GLORY HOLE
WILD ANIMAL MAN
TOMORROW WE LIVE
LAND OF TOMORROW
AN ENGLISHMAN LOOKS AT WALES
HOME IN HAM
PORTRAIT OF A PATRIOT
VOICE FROM THE WILDERNESS
MEN UNDER FIRE
BLACK CARIBBEAN
DEVIL AT MY HEELS
The Author
(photographed by Stephen Barber)
Frontispiece}
CRY KOREA
BY
REGINALD THOMPSON
LONDON
MACDONALD & CO. (Publishers) LTD.
First published in 1951 by
Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
16 Maddox Street, W.l
Made and printed in Great Britain by
Purnell and Sons, Ltd.
Paulton (Somerset) and London
To the memory of
CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY
and
IAN MORRISON
And· to those whose friendship and fortitude lightened the
darkness of the worst of these days, and whose courage and
integrity are not the least of the hopes of mankind :
Homer Bigart, Stephen Barber, Alan Whicker, Lionel
Crane, G. Ward Price, Tom Shaw, Tom Lambert, Louis
Heren, Jim Hays, Ralph Izzard, Dwight Martin, Georgie
Herman, Bernard Forbes, Bernie Kaplan, Henri Turenne,
Mike James, Alex Valentine, Roy Macartney, Roland
Hurman, Freddie Sparks.
And to those others whose support in more peaceful sur
roundings lent me courage.
"In times when I feel that all that makes for the dignity.
the honour. and the true value of man is in such great danger
-so threatened on all sides-what we go on living for, what
gives a reason to our life, is precisely the knowledge that there
are some young people-however few and from whatever
country- who do not sit back. who keep intact their moral
and intellectual integrity and protest against every totalitarian
slogan, every movement that seeks to bend. to control, to
subjugate thought, to weaken the soul (for in the last analysis
it is the soul that is in question); it is the knowledge that they
are there, these young people, that they are alive, they, the
salt of the earth; it is precisely that which sustains our con
fidence, we the old; it is that which permits me who am
already so old to face death without despair.
"I believe in the value of the small nations. I believe in the
value of the minority. The world will be saved by the few."
ANDRE GIDE
(Spoken one week before he died.)
CONTENTS
PAGE
PROLOGUE 11
PART ONE: THE ROAD TO SEOUL
CHAPTER
ONE THE ROAD TO 'SOMEWHERE' 19
TWO FIRST LEG 26
THREE INCHON 33
FOUR THE INCHON BRIDGEHEAD 39
FIVE ACROSS THE HAN RIVER 48
SIX SLOWLY TOWA RDS SEOUL 54
SEVEN THE FALL OF SEOUL 68
EIGHT THE END OF THE SEOUL STORY 80
PART TWO: THE ROAD TO PYONGYANG
NINE BRIEF INTERLUDE . 97
TEN ACROSS THE PARALLEL 109
ELEVEN THE ADVANCE 133
TWELVE THE 27TH TAKES THE LEAD 152
THIRTEEN THE FALL OF PYONGYANG 171
PART THREE: THE ROAD TO RUIN
FOURTEEN THE KOREAN REHEARSAL 187
FIFTEEN FAR EWELL TO PEACE . 208
SIXTEEN CHINESE PUZZLE . 218
SEVENTEEN ADVANCE IN LINE ABREAST 233
EIGHTEEN THE FLIGHT FROM THE CHONGCHON 245
PART FOUR: THE ROAD BACK
NINETEEN TENSION IN TOKYO 263
TWENTY THE END OF THE BEGINNING 271
TWENTY-ONE THE YELLOW SEA 280
THE F.,ILOGUE 293
INDEX . 299
ix
ILLUSTRATIONS
The Author Frontispiece
Seoul . Facing page 32
The Australian Battalion 33
Taegu . 48
Yesong river bridge 49
Crossing point, Imjin river 80
Kumchon road 80
Namchonjon 81
'The din was terrific' 96
In close country . 96
Captain Slim, adjutant, Padre, author 97
Men of Middlesex 97
North Korean village and villagers 128
Yongbyon . 129
The Argylls at Hungso-ri 144
The Turkish Brigade, officers 145
South Koreans, Y ongbyon area 176
Refugees, Chongchon river road 176
Korean children 177
Cry Korea . 192
No-man's-land 193
Refugees 224
Horse in burning village 224
With the Garry Owens 225
Lt.-Col. Huff's battalion 225
Dwight Martin, author, Homer Bigart 240
H.M.S. Kenya 241
x