One
of the Chosin Few
Author:
Dave Brady
ISBN:
0954719301
Publishers:
Neat Books
Price £7.99
Publication
Date: 2003
This book is the graphic story of men at war. Not told by a historian or a general, but a Royal Marine with a rifle in his hand, fighting for his life behind enemy lines in the Korean War. The author, Dave Brady, is an intelligent and articulate man who tells his vivid and heroic account with the humour and camaraderie that can only exist between well trained, fit young men of an elite fighting unit, turned loose on the world; from the fleshpots of Tokyo to the vicious hand to hand battle of the Chosin Resevoir and beyond.
Brady
states his motto is, 'He who fights and runs away, lives to run away another
day.' But this belies the man. I was fortunate to serve with Brady, as he is
universally known, in the Metropolitan Police at Hornsey Police Station in
North London. He was awarded no fewer than twelve Commissioner's Commendations,
the Queen's Award for Bravery and is the holder of the Queen's Gallantry Medal.
A hero twice over!
Even
those who do not know Brady and have no interest in the Korean War will be
enthralled by this incredible book and will be unable to put it down. James Neat Publisher
Foreword
In
1950 Dave Brady was serving as an Assault Engineer (expert in demolitions,
mines and defence works) in the Royal Marines when volunteers were called for
to form a commando unit for service in Korea. Initially employed on raiding the
North Korean coast, after the breakout following the Inchon landings, 41 Independent
Commando joined the United States Marine Division in the drive for the Yalu
River through the inhospitable 7,000 ft. mountains where the screaming North
wind from the Russian Steppes reduced the temperatures to a numbing minus 56
degrees.
Dave
Brady tells how he was isolated after an ambush when the Chinese hit the Ist.
Mar. Div; of his encounter in the snow with a Chinese soldier and of how he
made his way through enemy territory to the relative safety of a U.S. Marine
Corp outpost. This is one Britisher's story of the great fighting withdrawal
of the fine Marine Corp's Division from the mountains to the sea.
Subsequently
the book recounts how 41 Commando operated from bases inside the Communist
held harbour of Wonsan some sixty miles behind the main battle line.
Throughout, the story is spiced with tales of friendly rivalry between the
British and American soldiers and of brushes with authority of both nations.
Brady
quickly establishes himself as the unit `wag', always ready with an apt remark,
usually at an inappropriate moment. This account of his service with a
remarkable force which maintained high morale despite heavy casualties is told
in an amusing, self deprecatory style with none of the false heroics often
associated with books of this kind.
After
leaving the Royal Marines, Brady joined the Metropolitan Police and was
presented by the Sovereign with the Queen's Gallantry Medal for his part, while
unarmed, in the arrest of armed robbers. His book `Yankee One and George'
recounts some of his experiences in 25 years of police work was published in
1984. (Plans for second edition by Neat Books)
Colonel
Peter Thomas 41 Independent Commando The Royal Marines
Preface
Prior
to the second World War, Korea was an integral part of Japan. It was intended
that after the defeat of Japan, Korea would be established as an independent
state. Russia entered the war towards the end of the conflict. As Communist
forces moved south from Russia, American forces travelled north up the
peninsular. The opposing armies met on the 38th parallel which passed across
the land at about halfway. Here a line was established as a temporary border,
which, as the years passed, hardened into a permanent line between the two
politically different halves of the state. The north became the People's
Democratic Republic and the south the Republic of Korea. The Russians retained
a strong presence in the north and the Americans maintained token occupation
forces south of the parallel.
There
was considerable antagonism between north and south as their political stances
hardened. The north had a huge Russian-equipped army under the command of its
president, an army officer, General Kim 11 Sung. The army of the south was
pitifully armed in comparison.
On
25th June 1950, after a number of `Border Incidents', the North Korean army
launched a massive invasion led by a strong force of T34 tanks of Russian
manufacture. They quickly brushed aside weak opposition. The United States sent
to Korea its occupation army from Japan. This army had grown soft through years
of easy duty in occupation and were no match for the hard-bitten Communist
troops, and were eventually pushed into a small enclave in the south-east of
the country around the city of Pusan.
The
Russians, were, at this time, boycotting the United Nations and in their
absence a resolution was passed which allowed the members of the United Nations
to come to the assistance of the South Koreans. The Russians could not veto the
resolution because of their absence from the Security Council.
Korea
is, in the far north, mountainous and inhospitable, with no major roads through
the mountains. The main line of communication and supply between Vladivostock,
in Russia and the communist front line was a single-line railway track which
hugged the east coast. This very important supply line consisted of many long
tunnels through the coastal mountains and was not vulnerable to air strike or
bombardment from the sea. It was obvious that it would require attrition by
forces landed from the sea to curb the war supply situation of the communist
forces. Further, to guard the coast against raids by aggressive commandos would
require many thousands of North Korean troops who could more usefully, from the
enemy point of view, be employed elsewhere.
The
Royal Navy was committed to the war, and they were the only organisation
amongst the United Nations forces troops capable and trained to fulfil attacks
from the sea on the all important east coast railway line. These forces were
the Royal Marine Commando units. There was a brigade of these elite marines
already in action, in Malaya against communist forces there. The Malayan War
was being won by the British Army supported by the Commando Brigade.
When
the request was received for the raiding unit to go to Korea it was decided not
to weaken 3 Brigade and therefore a small highly trained group of 200 commandos
were formed from various Royal Marine Commando units in the United Kingdom and
elsewhere.
They
grouped at Plymouth and were eventually flown to Japan where for reasons of
supply, they were equipped with American gear. The United States troop-carrying
submarine Perch and two assault personnel destroyers, Wantuck and Bass were
placed at the disposal of the new unit. Thus was born, the 41st Independent Commando
Royal Marines.
The
unit was smaller than a normal Commando and contained a higher than usual
quota of specialists due to the tasks they were to be asked to perform. The
vast majority of the unit were operational troops; the disadvantage of this policy
became apparent when in November 1950 the unit suffered 50 per cent casualties
and no reinforcements were available for some time. By chance, these casualties
decimated the specialist sections of the unit which curtailed raiding
activities for many months.
The
specialists consisted of
• Assault engineers: They were highly trained
in demolition techniques under commando raid conditions. Generally it was to
get these specialists ashore that the whole organisation of the raiding unit
was tuned.
•
Heavy weapons: The term `heavy weapons' was a misnomer because the heaviest
weapons used had to be capable of being carried on the back of a marine: 81mm
mortars and light and heavy machine guns were the prime weapons used to support
the unit during the raid. Whilst in a static role on the Wonsan Islands they
used 75mm recoilless rifles to harass the mainland Chinese.
•
Signallers: Both short range and long-range signal capabilities were required
for contact between individual sections and with supporting ships at sea. As
most operations were at night and visual signals could not be used, the
efficiency of communications was essential for success.
•
Swimmer-canoeists: Highly specialised and trained commandos used for
reconnaissance. Lonely work requiring
considerable initiative and personal courage.
As a person who has
family and personal connections with the Royal Marines I found this an exciting
read.
As a boy in Southsea I
lived for a time with my paternal grandparents who had lost a Royal Marine son
in WW2. My Granny encouraged me to join
the Royal Marine cadets at Eastney Barracks, where apparently my Great
Grandfather had lived when serving in the RMA.
He also served in HMS Warrior.
This story of the Korean
War is told with a lot of humour, and if I may say so, with the sort of vivid
language one would expect from a Royal thinking back to such dangerous times,
eg ‘shit and derision I may have been the last away, but I was definitely the
first to emerge from the tunnel going like a long dog’! So be prepared for some strong language.
I have to confess I do
not know a great deal about the Korean War.
It was a war fought by my friends’ elder brothers, as was the Malayan
Emergency.
In 1950 Dave Brady was
serving as an assault engineer in the Royal Marines when volunteers were called
for to form a commando unit in Korea.
Never volunteer I hear you say.
Dave ‘volunteered’ in the service sense, ‘you, you and you’. If you have ever served in any of the forces
you will know what I mean. ‘Hands up those that can ride a bicycle’; ‘you can,
right grab that broom and sweep up’.
Dave ‘volunteered’ because it was a charge of attempted ducking of an
Egyptian Officer or volunteer.
This is an interesting
and honest account of the 41st Independent Commandoes Royal Marines
fighting in Korea. Thirty-one did not
return and a further twenty-six were taken Prisoner of War of which nine are
included in the thirty-one who died – almost 50%, a very high price to
pay.
Dave’s description of
screaming hoards of Chinese running towards them blowing bugles must have
helped him later in life, a demonstration in London must have seemed like a
picnic to him. Dave became a London Policeman and is the holder of the Queen’s
Gallantry Medal. Demonstrators aren’t
normally intent on killing you, but at times it seems like it.
Dave tells how he was
isolated after an ambush and how he made his way through enemy territory to the
relative safety of a US Marine Corp outpost.
Dave says that he found
the arrogance of RN officers towards the lower deck almost offensive – he talks
about the Royal Marine discipline as being more severe in some respects but
administered in a different way because their governors shared their
hardships. I agree to a certain extent,
however I wouldn’t tar all RN officers with the same brush. The RN has been around a long time and
whilst there were some who were arrogant and looked down on you, there were
many officers who I served with who I had the greatest respect for, and I
personally never had a bad Captain, indeed I would describe some as
gentlemen.
The good test for a book
is that you cannot put it down, this book passed that test, and what’s more, I
now know more about the Korean War and the part played by the Royal Marines.
Rob Jerrard