(AFP) GAPYEONG, South Korea — Commonwealth veterans Friday gathered to commemorate a key Korean War battle 59 years ago in which they successfully fended off superior Chinese forces supporting the communist North.
The aging former soldiers, some of them carrying canes, snapped to attention and then marched towards the Canadian Korean War memorial in Gapyeong, the scene of the four-day Battle of Kapyong in April 1951.
Wearing purple or green berets and sporting blue grey or green uniforms decked with medals, some 30 Canadian veterans saluted solemnly in front of the monument engraved with a Canadian flag.
Scores of other Korean War veterans from Australia, New Zealand and Britain joined them in a moment of silence as a bugler played reveille for the lost souls.
"That was the biggest battle we were involved in," Canadian Kim Reynolds, 83, said of the fighting in the rugged area 55 kilometres (35 miles) northeast of Seoul.
His platoon was on a ridge as another Canadian platoon on the next ridge came under attack from Chinese troops after sundown.
"We could not do very much because we were too far over on the next ridge... We could see all the show and there was a lot of whistles blowing. They (Chinese troops) blew horns or something when they attacked," he told AFP.
The attack lasted until about 2:00 am.
Geoffrey McLeod, 83, was in the Royal Australian Navy when he took part in the war in 1950.
"When our squadrons went in and helped in the battle in Incheon, we were all very thrilled with the success of that," McLeod said, referring to the successful landing at the port of Incheon near Seoul in September 1950.
"And I think that led the way for the (United Nations) forces to win the battle for South Korea," he said.
McLeod said he was visiting South Korea for the first time since 1952.
"And I'm very impressed. The people here have done a wonderful job. We're very proud to have been part of your liberation," he said.
The battle at Gapyeong was part of the Chinese Spring Offensive which began in April 1951.
Although heavily outnumbered, the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade set up blocking positions in the Gapyeong Valley, on a key invasion route south to the capital, and successfully fended off flank attacks by Chinese.
The four Commonwealth countries sent a total of 94,000 soldiers to the Korean War, with 1,752 killed and 5,181 others wounded.
Since 1975, South Korea has invited foreign Korean War veterans as a way to thank them for their contribution to the war effort.
This year, around 2,400 people, including veterans and their relatives from 21 countries, will be invited to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the war.
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