Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 97 The Korean War began 25 June 1950, when North Korean armed forces invaded South Korea. The war’s combat phase lasted until an armistice was signed 27 July 1953. As part of a United Nations (UN) force, 26,791 Canadian military personnel served in the Korean War, during both the combat phase and as peacekeepers afterward. After the two world wars, Korea remains Canada’s third-bloodiest overseas conflict, taking the lives of 516 Canadians and wounding more than 1,200. In August 1950 the government of Canada decided to support the United Nations Security Council Resolution 84 that authorized the United States to establish and lead a unified command comprised of military forces from UN member states and authorized that command to operate under UN authorization. Canadian naval, army and air forces would be part of Canada’s contribution. The ‘Canadian Army Special Force’ was established in August 1950 for service in the Korean War. On 15 September 1950 the UN forces began landings at Inchon and drove the North Koreans back across the 38th Parallel. In October 1950 Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River to support North Korean forces. The 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry arrived in Korea in Pusan on 18 December 1950. Nova Scotians would serve in all Canadian elements of the UN force. Some would serve in the forces of Britain and the United States. Unless otherwise stated, all the Nova Scotia war dead, noted below, are buried in the United Nations Cemetery (Busan), South Korea. All Canadian war dead of the Korean War are commemorated on the Korean War Monument in Ottawa and the Wall of Remembrance in Brampton, ON. Nova Scotia Korea war dead are also commemorated on the Nova Scotia Korea War Memorial in Yarmouth. 1950 The first Nova Scotia serviceman to die in Korea was 2nd Lieutenant Ace Allen. He served as a platoon leader in Company G, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division of the US Army. Ace was a WW II veteran who was born in 1923, in Glace Bay, to Israel Nathan Aron and Emma Allen. 2/Lt Allen was killed in action on 19 August along the Naktong Bulge, near Yongsan, South Korea (a two-week battle that claimed the lives of over 600 US soldiers). He is buried in the Oak Hill Burial Park, Lakeland, Polk County, Florida, USA. Gerald Dean Laurie, Malcolm Richard Royles and Wilfred Douglas Clooney were early recruits to the new Special Force. Laurie and Royles were members of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment while Clooney was a member of the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Nova Scotian war dead and wounded of the Korean War Story by Gary Silliker Ace Allen continued ... Wilfred Douglas Clooney
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==