Hill 187 Korea Nov-1-2 1952

[Mike Blais]

RCR at Hill 187, Korea

Dave BrownThe Ottawa Citizen

Friday, November 09, 2007


Now 82, Edward Mastronardi was the commander of 2 Platoon, Able Company, Second Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment.
]
The 28-man platoon survived an eight- hour battle on Hill 187 on Nov. 2-3, 1951. The platoon would use up all of its ammunition, throwing 350 hand grenades in the course of the night.Every Nov. 2, Edward John Mastronardi, now 82, has trouble sleeping, so he sits alone in his Ottawa home remembering a night in Korea in 1951 when he listened to a shout from the darkness: "Canada boy! Tonight you die!"

He pours a drink, and marvels that he survived.

Near-misses come to mind. On his first patrol, he was carrying a box, so when a Chinese soldier popped up a few metres away and aimed at him, he was helpless. A shot rang out, and the enemy soldier fell. The man behind the green Canadian lieutenant said:

"You owe me one -- sir."

On another occasion, a Chinese infantryman stepped out from cover and threw a hand grenade that struck Lieut. Mastronardi on the chest. It wasn't a dud.

"It fell to the left and I fell to the right. It exploded, but I got away again."

He was in more firefights than he can recall, but the Nov. 2 action on Hill 187 near what was then Pusan and is now
Busan, is the one that keeps replaying in memory. It's as if something he can't control still wants to figure out how anybody in his 28-man platoon survived that night from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
As the hilltop battle rages in memory, he repeats the prayer he says he kept repeating all that night: Help me, oh God, when death is near, to mock the haggard face of fear. And if I die, if die I must, my soul will triumph in the dust.

"I don't know where I picked that up, but it's seen me through some tough times."

When he became a civilian, Ed Mastronardi kept his battle experience to himself. He served in the Canadian Navy from 1944 to 1950, in the Army from 1950 to 1953, and in the Air Force until 1962.

The Toronto native was by then a missile expert, and his knowledge made him valuable to the public service. He retired in 1987 after a lengthy career with Treasury Board.
He changed his decision to talk about his battlefield experiences in 2006, when he was asked to take part in the making of a film by an Ottawa historian. It has since appeared on the History Channel under the title In Korea with Norm Christie.

By the numbers, 26,791 Canadians served in Korea and 516 were killed. Like many who served in Korea, Mr. Mastronardi felt his fellow warriors deserved more profile in Canadian history. When Mr. Christie asked veterans to name one man to represent them, the name Mastronardi kept popping up.

On Hill 187, Mr. Mastronardi was ordered with his platoon to man an outpost down the ridge of a hill leading toward enemy territory. The lines were separated by about a kilometre, and the outpost was near the midpoint. As it grew dark, the soldiers could hear activity in front of them, and knew the Chinese were preparing a major offensive.

It started with the shouted announcement to "Canada boy," and Mr. Mastronardi says that was the only point he remembers feeling fear.

"I realized then that my platoon was the target of all that preparation. After that, things got too busy. There was just too much to do."

Through the night, second platoon would use up all of its ammunition, throwing 350 hand grenades. So many bodies were scattered about that they picked up weapons and ammunition from the dead and wounded. The fighting was hand-to-hand and nose-to-nose. Images he can't shake are still in his memory, such as shooting a Chinese soldier who was blowing a bugle -- through the bugle.

He was ordered to abandon the position, but he couldn't. He had one dead and 14 wounded, and a tradition to uphold: "The Royal Canadian Regiment does not leave its wounded."
Those still capable of movement kept the wounded supplied with weapons, and those wounded who were able kept firing.

The escape back to the main line was in a three-sided artillery box. The lieutenant called in fire from two dozen 25-pounders -- artillery pieces laying shells in a pattern 50 metres to the front and sides. While that was happening, the wounded who could walk helped the wounded who couldn't, and those still fighting set up the next line of defence. The Canadians came out of it with only one dead and a healthy respect for the Chinese. "Good soldiers," says the old veteran. "Tough. Dedicated."

The action that night earned Lieut. Mastronardi a Military Cross and made him a legend. He is still called on occasionally to speak to officer candidates, and he always passes along the same message learned that night through hard experience: "Be bold. Be innovative. Make the right decisions."

There are people in his Nov. 2 reveries he remembers fondly.
A last-minute replacement was brought to him in shackles. A troublemaker. But under fire, the man was one of the best.

"The bren guns were overheating and jamming. He was stripping them down and cleaning them with gasoline and getting them back into action."

A stretcher-bearer seemed to believe he was bulletproof, and performed rescues that night that should have got him killed. He saved many lives and his officer recommended him for a Military Medal. It was reduced to a Mentioned-In-Dispatches.
His sergeant was another bulletproof type who constantly seemed to be standing on a parapet, firing from the hip.

"He was one of those who loved action, and I believe
he really did think he was indestructible," said Mr. Mastronardi.

"After Korea, he called me and told me there was great opportunity with the French Foreign Legion. He had just joined and the good news, he said, was that the job came complete with a free daily ration of a litre of wine."

Like Mr. Mastronardi, the sergeant was a qualified paratrooper. He jumped into the battle of Dien Bien Phu, a defeat for the French that closed the First Indochina War in the spring of 1954. He was killed.

"I had to build a new platoon after Hill 187, but I hardly remember other platoons. I remember every name and face from the hill. I thought I was the last man alive, but I heard recently of a man living north of Toronto."

They're planning to get together.

[Mike Blais]

Kenneth Albert Himes   The Royal Canadian Regiment  Korea.

http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/hrp/hrp_detail&media_id=1551

Mr Himes was born February 6, 1932, in Fort William, Ontario. He left school while in Grade 6, and worked at various jobs. After joining the Militia in an attempt to make money, he was posted to Churchill in the medical corp. While there he met men from the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) on training - he was so impressed with their skill and level of training, that he decided to join the RCR, and no other unit, as soon as he came of age. Canada was already looking for volunteers for Korea at the time Mr Himes became eligible to join, and thus was sent to Winnipeg the same day he signed on. After basic training in Petawawa, special training in Wainwright, and mountain training in Jasper, Mr Himes was notified Christmas Day 1952 that the RCR would be shipped to Korea - they arrived in Seoul in late April. Within two weeks of arriving in Korea, Mr Himes found himself in the middle of the Battle at Hill 187 - it would prove to be the worst action he participated in during his tour. After the peace accord was signed, Mr Himes remained in Korea with the RCR for an additional 8 months, patrolling the demilitarized zone. Having 3 years served under his belt, Mr Himes left the military soon after returning to Canada, but joined the RCR again when he found himself out of work. He remained with the RCR until he retired from active service in 1962.

Off to War...

Transcript
Interviewer: When you had made your intention known, what was the reaction of your family? Well, mother didn't think I was going to go anyway, so that didn't matter. And... until one day I walked, came home, there's a little bit of a story here. I was taking a girl to the show one night and I happened to walk by the recruiting armouries, and there was a sign that said recruiters inside. So I went in, I haven't seen that girl since, and next morning I went to work. They said if I was still interested to go back in the afternoon, one o'clock. So I went to work, boss was home sick, and I got my cousin to look after my, I was with bread route then, and I told him to look after my route, I'm gonna check on this army bit. And at one o'clock, at three o'clock in the afternoon I had a ticket in my hand for the train that night, going to Winnipeg. Went home, wrote, mother wasn't there, left a note saying if you want to see me at eleven o'clock train, and left. Interviewer: Did they in fact see you off? My mother got down there. Wanted to know where the heck I was going! Interviewer: Did she have any words of advice that you can remember? No. She knew I was going to do it anyway, so that's the difference.

Premonitions of death...

Transcript
It was aboard ship, and we were all... just before we got to Japan, and a chap by the Corporal Doug Newol. Did basic training together, he was from Newfoundland, he had the bottom bunk and I had the top bunk I got used to that with my brother. And he said to me one night, he said "Come up on board, on the deck" and it was dark, and he told me a story, and he said "You know," he said "in the Second World War," he says "my two brothers were killed, and neither one lasted two weeks." And he says, "I'm afraid that's going to happen to me." So I kind of said, you know, "Don't worry Doug, we'll, we'll get through it, that's just you know coincident that, that happened." Well I went to "A" Company and he went to "C" Company, and on May the 2nd, on May the 2nd he had come up with a group to pick up food for the, for the "C" Company, and him and I happened to just run into each other, and all he said to me, he said "Ken. It's close." He was killed that night. And that was on the fourteenth day. Interviewer: What impact did that have on you and your morale? I didn't know that he was killed right then, but I got tasked in with removing the bodies, the casualties, we had a lot of casualties during the night. I think we had somewhere around like eighty people were wounded, killed, missing. And so on the 4th my company commander, Major Bates, called me up and he said "You're taking that party out there and picking up the bodies." And I went out, because I've asked people before if they've seen Doug Newell and nobody seemed to know him. But as soon as I got out there, they had brought a lot of the bodies into one spot and I just looked down, I seen his back, and I said "That's Doug Newell." Interviewer: And that was all within two weeks, of coming up to the front. Yep. Well this all happened in one night. Interviewer: And it was within that two week period that Mr. Newell died. Yep. That he died, yep.

***


Interviewer: You had mentioned, Mr. Himes, that this action where your friend Mr. Newell was killed, that that happened within two weeks. You indicated that you've gone to the front in about a week and a half, so three or four days later... was it the first three or four days relatively quiet until the battle that you're referring to?

Well, they did a lot of ranging in. The Chinese were ranging in and so they wouldn't put a big barrage down until they'd send over, you know, a few shells here, there and whatnot. And that would.... ranging in... oh maybe one gun was firing so.... the time between another shot. And... but they were putting another one being ranged in, and all that...different spots. Interviewer: So the trick here was that they were trying to get all of their artillery pieces sitting in the right area and they were then assumably getting ready for an attack of some sort. Yeah. Interviewer: What, what actually did happen? "A" Company sent out a patrol, for a fighting patrol, there would be probably about thirteen, fourteen people on it. And when they entered into the valley, they ran into some Chinese. The patrol ran into some Chinese and a fight, fire fight started, which started the whole thing. And then all the artillery, the Chinese artillery and mortars were being dropped onto "C" Company, and a group of us, ten of us from "A" Company we got word that we had wounded down there, from the patrol. But by the time we got together and started down with stretchers we got about half way and it was time to throw the stretchers away, and carry on into the battle. As I say, I didn't see Doug Newell that night at all anywhere, and it was pretty well chaos. The Chinese were shooting at us, our own artillery was firing on our own hill. The lieutenant in "C" Company, he called down for a barrage from our own artillery and our mortars were fired, and... so we had everybody shooting at us I think. The armoured corps were firing their flat trajectory weapons, and machine guns, and... So on the way down, all I could, as I approached the hill, all it was just like a red cherry, the explosions were that fast.

Interviewer: What else do you remember about that night?

That we were very busy, and the time flew actually. I found the time just flew, I guess we were so busy.

Interviewer: And you were tending to the wounded at that time?

No way! No way. The wounded just have to wait in those cases there.

Interviewer: You would have to wait? ]

Yeah, see I wasn't a, I was just a stretcher bearer what they called... I knew first aid and I carried a rifle. And I also carried, when I went down there, I carried a bag that had the red cross on it. Well I got rid of that right away, because I was going to be shot if I was caught.

Interviewer: Why would you have been shot?

Disguised myself as a medic. And with a rifle in my hand!

Interviewer: Ok. So you would be seen as trying to camouflage what you really were.

Yeah.

Interviewer: Which was in infantry.

Yeah.

Interviewer: But your job, actually that night was as a stretcher bearer.

I was, supposed to go. Yeah.

Interviewer: And in a time of chaos and crisis you were expected to become an infantry man again. Yeah. Always an infantry man.

Interviewer: After the Chinese backed out and the battle came to an end, was it light or dark?

It was light when they started, they were pulling out. It was over about, just at dawn they were on their way out.

Interviewer: And you men then went about the business of taking the wounded back?

Yeah, the wounded were coming back. They were going out from different directions because it was hard to keep track because a wounded person, if you could still walk - he was walking out himself, so....

[Mike Blais]

Kenneth Albert Himes   The Royal Canadian Regiment  Korea.

http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/hrp/hrp_detail&media_id=1551




Patrolling


Transcript
Interviewer: Do I understand it that the Allies were basically along one ridge of hills, and the Chinese would be along another ridge? Yeah. Interviewer: With the valley in between being No Man's Land? That's right. Interviewer: During the nights, it's my understanding that the Canadians in particular were expected to patrol, and that was a point of pride. Yeah. Interviewer: That the Canadians were to own No Man's Land. Yeah Interviewer: At night. Mm hmm. Interviewer: Can you describe to me what types of patrolling would be done? Well, you have a recce patrol, they're just going to see what's out there, not going to, hoping not to do much fighting. A fighting patrol, and their job is to go and pick a fight. There's also a patrol called the snatch patrol, and that's try and grab a prisoner. So there are various things that they go on out there, and sometimes a patrol changes it, its job description pretty fast. Interviewer: You were on a number of these patrols? I think I had four, four is all is I got onto. It's...unlike the outpost or anything like that, but I don't count that as a patrol. Interviewer: Do you have any vivid memory of those patrols? They're dark and scary. Yeah, it's one of the things you really, you're hoping that you don't want to be too close to anybody but you don't want to get too far away so you can't find them. Interviewer: How many men would normally go out on one of these patrols? You could have about half a dozen, or up to a dozen. You don't... considering there's all different kinds of patrols going out and from different spots. Interviewer: If you blundered into a Chinese patrol... Your going, now you're going to be fighting. Interviewer: In the dark... Yeah. Interviewer: What happens if one of your men were hit? And wounded? We'd try and get you out, but I mean we can't guarantee. Cannot, can't... I mean, if a person is killed, there's no sense in trying to help them. Probably you could, you could have somebody go out there another night very early and try and draw get them in, but as you probably know there's bodies still missing so...

The Enemy

Impressions of the Enemy

Mr. Himes recalls his impression of the Chinese enemy, particularly his shock at the numbers of bodies sacrificed.

Interviewer: What was your impression of the enemy that you faced in Korea? I think they've got to be stupid the way they throw their bodies away. But that's what they're using, is mass, mass, mass force. When they attack, they attack.... the ones in front could either have rice mats or whatnot and their bodies stayed over the wire, and then the other ones come behind with burp guns or hand grenades, and then people come along after that with ammo and just pick up the burp guns, because they haven't got any, so it's... Interviewer: But it'd be a terrifying thing for a person from the West to see this. Yeah.

*******


Coming Home.

Transcript
Interviewer: When you look back on your time in Korea, do you ever wonder why it is that Canadians, and more particularly the Western nations don't remember the Korean engagement in the way they ought to? I think it had a lot to do with the attitude of the legions. Legions were started by the first, people of the First World War who didn't like the people from the Second World War. And the people in the Second World War didn't like us, so, I don't know. Because we were told it wasn't a war. It was a police action. That's what they told everybody: it's a police action. Interviewer: And because presumably the numbers were somewhat smaller, it was considered to be that police action. Yeah. Interviewer: Tell me a little bit about that. Did you experience that kind of prejudice, in a legion hall? Yep. Interviewer: Can you describe a little bit about that? Oh, one time I went into, I was going to join the legion, thought I'd give it a whirl, and I got the application form and I said to the guy in the office, I said "Is it alright if I go in and have a beer and I'll fill out this form?" And he says sure. I was filling out the form, guy looked over and said "What are you doing?" I said "Filling out the form." He said "Well they only take Veterans here." I said "Ok, no problem." He looked down he says "Korea?" He said "That wasn't a war!" He said "I was in a World War." I looked at him, put the pen down, shook my head, I said "You're right. I can't join your legion because you fought the whole world and lived." Got up and walked out. Interviewer: Well that.... I know you're smiling, but it must've hurt a great deal, that someone... Yeah... I belong to the legion now! But, that's the way we were treated. And, there was quite a few others that I know of that got treated exactly the same way. In London, Ontario, as long as we were in uniform we could come in and use the facilities but we weren't able to join. So it took me a long time to actually get around to joining the legion.

[Mike Blais]

The Chinese attack Hill 187
The battle of Hill 187 occurred on May 2-3, 1953. Mr. Meagher was there and recounted his experience. Two officers he knew, Lieutenants Gerard Meynell and Douglas Banton, both of The Royal Canadian Regiment, were killed during the engagement on May 3.

"I was in my slit trench at 2130 and it was pretty black. I heard our Able Company patrol, led by Lt Meynell, patrol get hit. There were about 20 of them out there by the Sandaecheon River. I heard bursts of gunfire which meant the patrol was ambushed. And then I heard the staccato sound of a Sten gun, our light machine-gun. And then I heard a soggy grenade go and that was it. Our patrol had walked into about 400 assault troops that were headed to assault Hill 187 and Charlie Company.

"Lt Banton, who had been my platoon commander, was a gun-ho guy who always got to places first and he felt he could win the Victoria Cross. That´s what he told us back in Canada. He headed down into the minefield gap, put up his arms and said "Come through me, come through me!" to the patrol that was scattered and wounded. He lasted about two minutes. There is a rule in the front line that you never stand up when you can sit down and never sit down when you can lie down.

"After the patrol got hit, a bombardment came in on the Princess Pat´s to the right of us. A bombardment means that you can´t distinguish one shell from the other. The sky lit up there and I thought there was an attack coming. They lost two soldiers in it. Then, there was artillery, mortar and machine-gun fire coming from the Chinese all over the place. They had massed their guns for the attack. The telephone lines linking the battalion were destroyed by the guns.

"At exactly two minutes to 12, on May 2, there was a 20-minute bombardment of 20 rounds and everything was shaken. The place lit up; it was brighter than day. Grassfires broke out all over the valley and all over the hills, the minefield, wire and trenches were destroyed, the bunkers caved in because the bombardment was so heavy. And the Chinese came in under the artillery barrage."

http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/lf/english/6_1_1.asp?id=3012

[Tim Robinson]

Mike,

Some info attached for you to help prepare your presentation. I will seek the one we prepared for 3RCR.

Tim

[Mike Blais]

Good stuff! In fact, just what I was looking for! Thanks.

[ranrad]

Really nice to read these guys.. thanks for getting them up here. And may i begin by asking any and all Korean vets to take some time and write their memoirs of Korea..there are some books , but not nearly the real stories that can be told..may i encourage you all to do that.. help us put an end the Canadas Forgotten War, and keep the real stories for all time..i have been somewhat remiss myself , having had two uncles over there in the Artillery, and one a sailor on board the Cayuga.. the two Arty are still alive , the elder now in Nanaimo and nearing 90.. but neither have said much about their time, one being somewhat bitter that the WAR became Forgotten... but he proudly stands in his Korean War Vet Assoc Uniform every Remembrance Day, and quietly remembers his old pals...we need, Canada needs, posterity needs all of their stories...i hope many will read this and can do this for us all..ranrad

[eileen]

I was just reading about hill 187, so I went to my father's records and looked at the date he had his index finger blown off on the hill 187, the date was may 29th 1953, that hill saw alot of men die or be injured.  Was anyone reading this there with my father on may 29th 53.  I have heard of two other dates on 187 but not the date my dad, Eric Howard BCoy 3 Bn.RCR got injured.He was usually 1st RCR, but I guess you got moved where you were needed. The medical records for this injury go on for pages. You guys kept good records in the middle of these battles. amazing, to see the actual hand writing of the man who took him off to safety, then on to the norwegion mash unit. A Capt. RA Duncan was the first man to help him and then Capt J.K. O 'shoughnessy R.C.A.M.C. Does anyone Know what Evac 60 ADS means, it is the first place he was taken when he got hit. I am fascinated by the accts made by the medics as they bring these men to safety.  In 1944, my father was taken from the field of battle after 36 days of straight fighting and was hysterically blinded, he saw two of his friends blown up and his eyes refused to see for 3 days.  The man who wrote this report wanted everyone to know what my father had survived and wrote it down, if he hadn't of done this no one would understand what happened to my dad, 36 days with no sleep, as they were being shelled constantly, even in the rest areas.  It helps me understand who he became, because these medics kept the record of what he was going through.  The medics deserve so much credit, they saved his life many times.  I am grateful, as I would not exist, I was born after he came home from both those battles. eileen

[Mike Blais]

God bless the medics... then and now!

[Ron McConnell]

My brother passed away recently, he was in Korea in 1951-1953.   Though he never spoke much about what happened over there, I wonder if he could have been in that Platoon.   He was known then as SB10573 Lcpl McConnell G.R.  Anyone with any information please let me know, by this means or to ronmcconnell@hotmail.com   I did hear one storey that he was thought to have been killed by a mortor round that was dropped on his shaving stand, later they discoved he had gone into his bunker just before the round hit as he had forgotten his razor, Lucky for him as it turn out , his helmet and other shaving stuff was never seen again.  Zulu29er

[eileen]

Mr. Blais or Mr. Gross, can you guys tell me why the date of my dad's injury on hill187 is different than the date the battles were reported to be fought on the 2 and 3rd of may, his records show it was the 29th of may, was there severel battles on this hill, maybe we lost the hill back to the chinese or something?

[Mike Blais]

Skirmishes and harassment fire from artillery and mortars continued throughout the month of May after the battle of the 2/3rd, Eileen. However, the Chinese never mounted another another major effort to breach the UN line or Hill 187 and the armistice was signed seven weeks later.

[eileen]

thanks mike