Who were the West Australians killed in the Korean War?
Australians, including West Australians,
were very keen to volunteer for Korea. Over 2000 men and 200 women had
volunteered to go to Korea even before recruiting for the Australian volunteer
ground force for Korea (K force) was announced in early August 1950.[i] The first service men to be selected for
advanced training for Korea were 400 regular soldiers who the Army planned to
send to Japan by the end of September 1950 and make a combined force of these men
with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force troops already in Japan. At least four of the West Australians who died
in Korea are in this group.
The next volunteers were chosen from those
with previous army experience in infantry, armour, artillery, engineers or
signals, and it was expected that these volunteers could be ready for service
in Korea shortly after the first 400 regulars. These volunteers also had to be British
subjects, permanent residents in Australia, between 20 and 40 years of age, A1
medically and have had a satisfactory report re their service in the last war. [ii] Six of the West Australians who died in
Korea were ex WWII servicemen who enlisted for the K force in 1950. Two of these ex-World War II soldiers had
been held as Prisoners of War by the Japanese, but still volunteered for Korea.
The other sixteen West Australian soldiers
who died in Korea were young men in their late teens or early twenties who
joined the army to fight in Korea.
The K-force soldiers came from many parts
of Western Australia – Kalgoorlie, Katanning, Pemberton, Norseman as well as
Perth. Several soldiers were born in the UK and
came to Western Australia either as children or young men. Two of the K force soldiers
came to Western Australia as Child Migrants and lived at Fairbridge Farm as
children.
Three of these soldiers are still missing so
their bodies have never been found. One
soldier fell overboard on the way home from Korea. The rest of the soldiers who were killed in
action or died from their wounds in Korea are buried in the UN Memorial
Cemetery in Korea.
Nine of the WA Dead were airmen. Eight airmen were in the Royal Australian Air
Force (RAAF), and the oldest West Australian casualty (Captain Luscombe, who
was 46) was attached to the 1903 Independent Air Operations Flight of the Royal
Air Force. Only three of these airmen
are buried in the UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea. Three airmen are still
missing, one is buried at sea and the two (who died in aircraft accidents prior
to their arrival in Korea) are buried in the British Commonwealth War Graves
Cemetery in Yokohama, Japan.
This blog aims to tell the stories of the West Australians who didn’t return home from Korea, unlike their countrymen below.
[i] SPEEDING A GROUND FORCE TO KOREA (1950, August 5). The
West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved May 9, 2023,
from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47878852
[ii] SPEEDING A GROUND FORCE TO KOREA (1950, August 5). The
West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved May 9, 2023,
from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47878852
Australian soldiers returning from Korea, 1954.
Photo is now in the public domain. Australian War Memorial collection.
Comments
Post a Comment