The forgotten war

Del Boy

Active member
From 16th October 1951 to 19th October 1954 the UK troops were on an ‘Active Service’ situation, it was a dangerous time and many lives were lost throug organised terrorist attacks on camps and vehicle convoys, sniping, abductions, murder and sabotage etc. It is estimated that around 70% of the British Armed Forces stationed in the Canal Zone during this Emergency period were Conscripts completing their ‘National Service’ and were not fully trained in anti terrorist fighting. For years it was called by many as ‘The Forgotten War fought by a Forgotten Army’, but in July 2003 the British Government decided that, after a long campaign by Suez Veterans and their numerous supporters, those who had served in the Canal Zone from 16th October 1951 to 19th October 1954 were to be awarded the General Service Medal or the Naval General Service Medal with ‘Canal Zone’ clasp, 50 years after the event. A large proportion of the names included in the Roll of Honour list are entitled to the medal and it is hoped their next of kin will apply to have it awarded.
Because of incomplete records it is doubtful we will ever know the exact number of people killed as the result of terrorist activities.
 
Last edited:
In the US we call that "A day late, and a dollar short,"

Respect to those guys who now are mostly gone.
 
For information on this conflict and many others try the site below. Also it should be remembered that the conscripts were only paid half the amount of a regular soldier and were usually the first ones into action

http://www.britains-smallwars.com/main/index1.html

Yes Le - and a few years ago I was in Glasgow and arrived proudly at the regimental museum of the Highland Light Infantry, only to find that the regimental archives for those periods show only the sodiers who were regulars, no mention of national service guys; so when it comes the interests and events of HQ company for that period, I do not exist despite NCO seniority earned in tough times. So I might well find myself well rated at later battalion reunions, but I am non -existent in the records, like many others. And as it happens, I was actually a volunteer to the regiment, owing to the fact that as a merchant marine I was excused from national service, but was following a family connection and a duty!
Ah well- such is life!
 
Del Boy
I have found people that died along side of me have been left of the memorials and I have had a bit of fight to get them on them. I got the museum to check the records and battalion orders and no trace of them was found and it took a few photo's of there graves which showed the regiment and their number did we get any where. Up until just recently there names could not be put on the local war memorials as the the Powers to be state we have not been at war since WW2.
 
Sad that Le. Funny old country, ain't we. Haven't shown a lot of respect to the soldiers always ready to gather around the flag when duty calls; probably the cream of our generations. We see it even today- the awful sacrifice being made daily by young men - and still they come forward, and even go back for more. I can only bow before them, which I would do before no others.
 
Governments make a war look honorable and fun so that people will volunteer for it, or force some people to take part of it. Then when the war is lost or when the public don't pay attention, the government dumps the soldiers and forgets about them. South Korea had a similar incident too. As a response to an assasination attempt on the president by North Korea, a team of assasins were assembled and trained. When the government abandoned the project, the assasins revolted and unsuccessfully tried to kill the South Korean president. The extraordinary entire episode was forgotten by the public within a few years
 
Yes there is a book and a movie about it. The movie is excellent. The book, not so much.

It's called Silmido for those interested.

Another forgotten war would be the Malaya Emergency.
 
Yes there is a book and a movie about it. The movie is excellent. The book, not so much.

It's called Silmido for those interested.

Another forgotten war would be the Malaya Emergency.
Ah, Silmido, I remember hearing about this.

I never did finish the movie, though.
I think I will.





Honor to those who fought and were forgotten.
 
n709658561_884244_5727.jpg

Original caption: 7/10/1951-Korea: Turkish and American troops get together for some drinks, toasting each other for their respective fighting abilities. Doing the honors is Turkish Capt. Gunesli.

n709658561_884181_2774.jpg

Original caption: Korean United Nations Forces Move Back To Safety First. Pictures From The Kunuri Sector. Turkish troops searching Chinese prisoners for arms shortly after capture.

14438_1249584330504_1556365456_30669181_5379499_n.jpg

Turkish Soldiers next to US Helicopter

14438_1249589690638_1556365456_30669189_3699633_n.jpg

A colour image of Turkish soldiers in Kunuri Cold.

24033_317592927297_690312297_3296569_4891729_n.jpg

Ünal Reisoğlu - A Turkish Veteran (1953)

n618184930_310489_2371.jpg

We won't let the communists invade!

n618184930_318159_630.jpg

Smiles and joy, even if you are in war.

n8802201_38792022_5767.jpg


Turkish Korean War memorial in Ankara. It was donated by the government of South Korea in 1973. Dedicated to the thousands of Turkish soldiers who fought bravely in that conflict (1950-1953).
 
HEROES OF THE KORE WAR

The Korean War saw a total of 22 countries participate in the defense of the Republic of Korea against communist aggression from North Korea. These countries that answered the United Nations call to evict the communist aggressors from South Korea came from a wide variety of countries that sent varying amount of troops. One of the largest troop contributors to the war effort would come from the nation of Turkey. Turkey deployed an entire infantry brigade with supporting artillery and engineer assets to South Korea. The brigade arrived in Korea on October 17, 1950 with a force of nearly 5,000 men. Ultimately, 14,936 Turkish soldiers would rotate through the brigade through the course of the war making Turkey the fourth largest contributor of troops to the defense of South Korea.

The fact that a nation like Turkey would deploy such a large force for a country it had no historical ties and little contact with would seem strange on the surface, but when you recognize the geo-politics of the Korean War era, the deployment of this Turkish Brigade was vital to the survival of an independent Turkish state. During World War II Turkey had maintained a strict neutrality despite heavy lobbying by the allied powers for Turkey to enter the war against Nazi Germany. The Turks had rightfully feared that if they joined the allied powers, Russian soldiers would have entered Turkey and never leave. The Turks feared the Russians more than Nazis and their fear proved correct when the Iron Curtain fell over Eastern Europe with the end of World War II.

The Cold War was beginning and the Turks knew that the only way to resist at a minimum Soviet hegemony or worse Soviet occupation would be to ally with the United States against Soviet expansion. In 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed to counter Soviet expansionism and Turkey was left out. When the Korean War broke out in 1950 the Turkish government felt they had to set an example to the western world and fight against communist expansion in Korea in order to join NATO and ensure that the west would come to fight in Turkey one day if needed against Soviet expansion there. Soldiers of the 1st Turkish Brigade were fighting just as much for their own country as they were for the survival of the Republic of Korea.

Deployment to Korea
The Turkish brigade arrived in Korea one month after the successful Incheon Landing Operation that had decisively defeated the North Korean army in South Korea. Most of the 5,000 Turkish soldiers were draftees that were completing their mandatory military service of two years. The vast majority of these conscripts had never left the immediate area of their remote farming villages much less travel to the other side of the world to fight a war. Plus very few soldiers could speak English and additionally found themselves immersed in a non-Muslim environment for the first time. Initially American commanders had a hard time trying to accommodate the Muslim diet of the Turkish soldiers, but were eventually able to accommodate them. To say that the Turkish soldiers must have felt isolated and out of their element in Korea would be an understatement.


The person in charge of leading these fish out of water soldiers was the old, but battle tested commander, General Tahsin Yazici. General Yazici had served in the Turkish military for so long that he was a unit commander during the Battle of Gallipoli in 1916 that defeated the British and French’s attempts to conquer Turkey in the wake of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. The Turkish military had not fought a battle of that magnitude in the 44 years since then and needed someone of Yazici stature to command this vitally important mission. General Yazici had voluntarily took a reduction in rank to command this unit similar to the French General Ralph Monclar because he recognized the overall importance this deployment would have for the overall future of his own country.

After debarking at the port of Pusan the brigade was moved to the United Nations staging area in the southern city of Taegu. The 1st Turkish Brigade made quite a splash with the media when they arrived in Taegu due to their large mustaches and rugged looking appearances that was further emphasized by the large sword like knives that the Turks carried on their hips. By appearances alone, the Turks looked like soldiers you did not want to mess with. However, when they arrived at the staging area the soldiers must have had little idea that they would just over one month later being fighting for their lives in some of the most desperate combat of the entire Korean War.

http://rokdrop.com/2008/03/10/heroes-of-the-korean-war-general-tahsin-yazici-part-1/
 
Last edited:
Back
Top