8th King's Royal Irish Hussars - Korean War

Korean War

In 1948, the 8th returned to Leicestershire, transferring to Tidworth as part of the Strategic Reserve in 1950 but when the Korean War broke out they were sent out as part of the 29th Independent Brigade under the command of Lt Col William Lowther OBE (Bart). Having trained flat-out to become familiar with Centurion MkIII tanks they sailed from Southampton to Korea on the HMT Empire Fowey on 11 October 1950, docking in Pusan on 14 November. Having reached the front, north of Pyongyang, all squadrons found themselves in full retreat, regrouping on the Han River. Early in 1951, Recce Troop saw action on the Han River in an area known as "Compo Valley" and had twenty three soldiers killed or missing. During this action a Cromwell tank was captured by the Chinese and had to be knocked out several days later by fire from the Hussars own Centurions. Captain Donald Lewis Astley-Cooper who was in command of Recce Troop then put together a scratch force known as "Cooper Force" of Cromwell tanks borrowed from 7 RTR which assisted the hard pressed Royal Ulster Rifles who had been under attack by superior forces since 2 January. Astley-Cooper was last seen dismounting his brewed up Cromwell and running away with his loader. His subsequent fate is unknown. In February, the United Nations Forces took the offensive, helping the Glosters capture Hill 327. By April 1951, patrols were probing north of the Imjin River seemingly uncontested until a massive enemy assault started the Battle of the Imjin River on 22 April 1951. During the lull it had been decided to rotate the 8th back to the United Kingdom,. A & B Squadrons along with RHQ had already reached Kure in Japan when the Chinese Spring Offensive had broken out and were immediately ordered back to Korea. C Squadron, commanded initially by the one eyed veteran Captain Peter Ormrod and then by Major Henry Huth (flown in from Japan) was left to undertake the taskings given to the Hussars alone. The troops of tanks commanded by Capt Ormrod, Capt Murray, Lt Boyall and Lt Radford engaged the attacking Chinese over several days to try to prevent the loss of the important high features defended by the Glosters, the Northumberland Fusiliers and the Royal Ulster Rifles. The 8th were forced to make several sorties into overrun positions to rescue infantrymen cut-off by the advancing Chinese infantry. The fighting was fierce:

Captain Ormrod's tanks had forced their way down the last lap of the valley through milling Chinamen. They could see what was estimated at 2,000 more, swarming down the western hillsides, from the heights where they had been held up all day. The Centurions came through, crushing enemy under their tracks. Sgt. Cadman found a Chinaman battering at his turret to get in, and directed the tank straight through the wall of a house, to brush him off, and then ran over an M.G. post beside the road. Cornet Venner, who had behaved with great gallantry at every stage of the day's fighting, lost his scout-car, but guided one Centurion out of trouble and escaped, wounded, himself. Captain Ormrod was wounded in the head by a grenade. Three platoons of Infantry suddenly appeared, in parade-ground order, out of the river bed – and were blown to confusion with some of the last ammunition the tanks carried. Some tanks took to the paddy and were ploughing-in Communists, crouched under every bank. The firing was a continuous iron rain on the outside of the tanks, and only a small proportion of the Infantry on the top survived this death-ride. The tanks came out of the valley to see the Belgians leaving their ridge, that all day had guarded this southern opening.

Richard Napier, (a tank commander in the battle) in his book From Horses to Chieftains recalls:

After about three hours of continuous firing, my machine gun barrels needed changing; my recoil system was so hot that it wouldn't run back and my loader/operator Ken Hall, had fainted with the continual hard work and fumes.

Napier relates how, unable to use his weapons he withdrew, allowing infantrymen to hitch a ride on his tank. The Chinese had infiltrated behind them and were swarming around them, shooting at the infantrymen on the tank. The crew resorted to lobbing grenades out of the hatches at the mass of Chinese infantry. On one occasion, the Centurion tanks of the 8th were swamped by Chinese soldiers who were attempting to prise open the hatches to throw grenades inside. The response of the Irish Hussars was to turn the turrets of their tanks towards each other, and "hose" the enemy off with their Besa machine guns. On their return to the British Lines these tanks were said to have "ran red with the blood of dead Chinese." Human detritus was also caught up in the tracks as the tanks had run over a number of Chinese and (unfortunately) some British dead. With the final withdrawal of C Squadron the battle was over, the last shots being fired by Major Huth. C Squadron them split into two components, one under Major Huth supporting the Northumberland Fusiliers with one troop detached to the Glosters, the other under Capt Strachan in support of the Royal Ulster Rifles. They held their positions for two days in anticipation of further Chinese attacks which did not come before withdrawing to Seoul. Major Henry Huth received the DSO for his part in the Imjin battles and Captain Peter Ormrod won the Military Cross.

"It was at the Battle of the Imjin River in April 1951 that the Centurions of the 8th Hussars won lasting fame when their tanks covered the withdrawal of the 29th Brigade in heroic fashion in the face of the overwhelming Chinese Spring Offensive".