Korea 1951
by Ian Mackley

On the warm morning of 10 December 1950 the main body of over 1000 K Force troops boarded the troopship RMS Ormonde at Aotea Quay in Wellington bound for a country that few of us knew little about. Our troopship was comparatively comfortable when compared to the ships that had carried troops during the Second World War and the three weeks journey to Korea could be most pleasant before we reached that country which was in the depths of a freezing winter and war.

On Christmas Day the ship was scheduled to tie up at the Port of Manila in the Phillipines and our senior officers decided that on 23 December while still at sea we could celebrate the festive season with a Christmas Dinner. Served at our tables by K Force Officers in traditional manner the meal was prepared by the ships excellent cooks with all the festive trimmings. There was no shortage of beer, which had been donated before our ship left, by a well-known New Zealand Brewery.

Two days later (Christmas Day) when the ship tied up in Manila the lads were allowed ashore with stern warnings to avoid certain areas of this fascinating city. Those areas would be out of bounds to all the troops but I’m not sure that the warnings were heeded. Many of us found the U.S. Military YMCA was a great place to be with its bars, music, poker machines, cheap beer and a kind of nightclub atmosphere. The Filipino beer took its toll on many of us soon after we boarded the ship and sailed; for the next few days most of us had our heads down in the latrines!

A far greater discomfort was soon to come when a week later on December 31st our ship tied up at the Port of Pusan, South Korea. Snowfalls and absolutely freezing conditions became an everyday part of our lives with most of our thoughts turning to being back home laying on a beautiful beach. Clothing we had been issued with before we left New Zealand was totally inadequate for these freezing winter conditions which we were now experiencing.

As winter passed and the weather finally warmed, our thoughts again turned to home and perhaps we might see next summer and Christmas at home. There were hints that peace talks may soon begin giving all of us some hope that we might soon be out of this God forsaken war-tom country before the next freezing winter came upon us. Little did we know that the peace talks would drag on for another two years more and we would still be here for what would probably be a white Christmas. This turned out to be true and the snow began to fall again the week before Christmas of 1951. But at least at that stage of the war our Regiment and most other New Zealand units of the British Commonwealth Division were located in reasonably stable strategic positions.

Most of us had had the time to prepare our hutchies, dug out of hillsides and well protected against enemy gunfire with sandbags that also provided some insulation against the freezing cold. All this was much different from the tents pitched on frozen soil of the first winter. Some of our enterprising lads “acquired” off the Americans, petrol, buming space heaters for the hutchies, which often provided a popular meeting point for our mates who were without heat.

Christmas Day came with snow already blanketing the hills and countryside and the guns of the Regiment, with the troops able to enjoy what for most would be their first white Christmas. Although only a little snow fell on Christmas Day, it was almost a whiteout on Boxing Day with heavy snowfalls preventing us targeting the enemy or us being targeted. No guns were fired on Christmas Day because of an agreement. Gunners were given a reprieve for two days.

With most New Zealand units in Korea now receiving a combined supply of British and American rations our food for Christmas dinner was of a quality not experienced before. Turkey was at the top of the menu with cranberry sauce and roast vegetables. Christmas pudding with ice-cream all served in the traditional fashion by our officers, including our Commanding Officer Colonel Jack Moodie, DSO. The Kiwi units had also obtained ample supplies of Japanese beer.

Even as the men celebrated they reflected on the loss during their time in Korea of the 12 Killed in Action or Died of Wounds including one RNZN, and the five that had died or been accidentally killed on active service in Korea or Japan. Seven of the fatalities had occurred in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

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