The Canadian Forces were involved in the 1950–1953 Korean War and its aftermath. More than 30,000 Canadians participated on the side of the United Nations, and Canada sent eight destroyers. Canadian aircraft provided transport, supply and logistics. 516 Canadians died, 312 of which were from combat. After the war, Canadian troops remained for three years as military observers.
Background
Japan's defeat in World War II brought an end to 35 years of Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The surrender of Japan to the Allied forces on 2 September 1945 led to the peninsula being divided into North and South Koreas, with the North occupied by troops from the Soviet Union, and the South, below the 38th parallel, occupied by troops from the United States.
The Soviet forces entered the Korean Peninsula on 10 August 1945, followed a few weeks later by the American forces who entered through Incheon. U.S. Army Lieutenant-General John R. Hodge formally accepted the surrender of Japanese forces south of the 38th Parallel on 9 September 1945 at the Government House in Seoul.
Although both rival factions tried initially to diplomatically reunite the divided nation, the Northern faction eventually tried to do so with military force. The North hoped that they would be able to unify the peninsula via insurgency, but the success of South Korea (Republic of Korea: ROK) in suppressing insurgency brought about the realization for the North that they would require military force. North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea: DPRK) had expanded their army and Korean volunteers fighting in Manchuria in the Chinese Civil War had given their troops battle experience. The North expected to win with the war in a matter of days. Troops from North's Korean People's Army (KPA) crossed the 38th parallel on 25 June 1950 beginning a civil war.
The invasion of South Korea came as a surprise to the United Nations. The day the war began, the United Nations immediately drafted UNSC Resolution 82, which called for:
all hostilities to end and North Korea to withdraw to the 38th Parallel; a UN Commission on Korea to be formed to monitor the situation and report to the Security Council; all UN members to support the United Nations in achieving this, and refrain from providing assistance to the North Korean authorities.
When the Korean People's Army crossed into South Korea on 25 June 1950, they advanced for the capital Seoul, which fell in less than a week.
North Korea's forces continued toward the port of Pusan, a strategic goal and the seat of the ROK government. The Korean People's Army conquered all of Korea except for this tiny enclave at the end of the peninsula. The war was nearly won by the DPRK. In two days, the United States offered assistance and the United Nations Security Council asked its members to help repel the North Korean attack. Canada, the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, India, the Philippines, Ethiopia, France, and other countries sent troops to Korea under a United Nations security council resolution.
Canadian Army involvement
Special Force
Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes, then Chief of the General Staff was in favour of Canada providing an infantry brigade for the 1st Commonwealth Division. Since Foulkes favoured keeping the Canadian Army's Mobile Striking Force intact for the defence of North America, he recommended recruiting a separate Special Force for the Korean War.
Recruits for the Special Force were enlisted for a period of eighteen months with recruits coming from both the Active Force, World War II veterans and adventure seeking young men. The normal recruitment standards were lowered since "the army would not wish to retain the 'soldier of fortune' type of personnel on a long term basis'". Units of the Special Force would be second battalions of the existing three Permanent Force regiments.
On 15 August 1950, the 2nd Battalion was created within Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) as a component of the Canadian Army Special Force in response to the North Korean invasion of South Korea. The new battalion trained in Calgary and at CFB Wainwright, before boarding the USS Private Joe P. Martinez on 25 November 1950, to Pusan in South Korea. The battalion landed in Korea in December and trained in the mountains for eight weeks before finally taking part in the war on 6 February, becoming a component of the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade of the IX Corps in the 8th US Army. The 2nd Battalion of the PPCLI was the first Canadian infantry unit to take part in the Korean War.