Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 119 continued ... The Battle of Hill 187 is infamous in Canadian military history. Throughout the night and into the next morning, the Chinese would throw wave after wave of men at 3 RCR and hammer them with artillery fire. Eventually, ammunition ran out and men engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Chinese. Grenades were being thrown constantly. One platoon estimated they threw 350 grenades alone. A platoon commander who could see his men dealing with 800 Chinese troops swarming their position, opted to call down an artillery bombardment on his own trenches to disperse the Chinese offensive. The regiment would hold the hill, but it came at a cost of 26 Canadians dead, 27 wounded and seven taken prisoner. Six of the dead were from Nova Scotia. Due to the ongoing ‘peace talks’ a political decision was made to suppress details of the fight to the press. What was published in Canada several weeks later, had been heavily censored before it made it into newspapers. Even today very few Canadians know about what happened at Hill 187. Lieutenant Hugh Gerard Balfour Meynell of Brooklyn, New York; Corporals Douglas Harold Richard MacLean of Truro and Roger Byron Schoultz of Shelburne; and Privates Michael Paul Chiasson of New Waterford, James Joseph Christoff of Glace Bay, and Lloyd Stanley Roach of Pictou served in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment. All six men were killed on 3 May defending Hill 187. Gerard ‘Gerry’ Meynell was the son of Gerald Balfour and Margaret Meynell of Lebanon, New Jersey, and the brother of David and Richard. He was the husband of Maralyn Meynell of Maine. He enlisted in the Canadian Army on 1 November 1950 in Halifax. Douglas MacLean was the son of Allan and Bertha MacLean of Tatamagouche, and the husband of Ethel Marion MacLean and father of Richard Allan, Harold Douglas, Thomas and Heather Margaret. Roger Byron Schoultz was the husband of Harriet Jeannette and the father of Judith Lynn and Marilyn Ann. He was the son of John Alfred and Genesta Schoultz and brother of Russell Alfred and Herman Ernest. Michael Paul Chiasson was the son of Leo and Mary Welina and brother of Robert Joseph Chiasson. James Joseph Christoff was the son of Peter Christoff and brother of Chris, George, William, Stephen, Benny, John, Olga, Margie, Rosie, Lillian and Laura. Lloyd Stanley Roach the son of George Hocken and Sadie Roach and brother of Victor George, Harold Joseph, Margaret Joyce, Lorraine Gertrude and Hazel Mary. 5 May - Corporal Ross Finley Evong of Halifax was wounded. Private Barry Stephen Gushue of Sydney was listed as “missing in action (believed to be prisoner of war).” 6 May - Private Lloyd Stanley Roach of Pictou was listed as “missing in action (believed to be prisoner of war).” Privates Harry Arnold MacDonald of Springhill Junction and John Oscar Rhynard of New Glasgow were wounded. 7 May – It was confirmed that Private Bernard Jewer of New Waterford was a prisoner of war. continued ... Gerry Meynell Douglas MacLean Roger Schoultz Michael Chiasson James Christoff Lloyd Roach
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