'THE GLORIOUS GLOSTERS'. A British Korean War Story

‘Gloster Hill,’ five weeks after the battle, and after the Chinese offensive had finally been repulsed.

It may come as a surprise to some readers to learn that British soldiers fought during the Korean War (1950-1953) as part of the United Nations forces. Not far from where I live is a memorial commemorating  one of their most heroic actions.

Between the 22nd and 25th April 1951 troops of the 1st Battalion the Gloucestershire Regiment  and C Troop of the 170 Light (Mortar) Battery of the Royal Artillery were involved in holding off a hugely numerically superior force of Chinese. They had just been posted to guard the Imjin River, and their arrival coincided with a massive offensive, which soon swept them and other UN forces aside on its way south.  But not until after a few days of  heroic resistance. The fighting became known as the Battle of Solma-ri, and most of it happened at night, as was the Chinese army’s custom.

The first time I visited the memorial commemorating the battle,  next to what became known as ‘Gloster Hill’,  there was a small garden with a flagpole at the centre flying the Union Jack, and a bridge decorated with Union Jacks leading to two  plaques laid into the rock face, one of which ends with the stirring phrase, ‘Fought valiantly for four days in defense of freedom.’  Last time I went to visit the site, I discovered the memorial been significantly augmented by a giant stone Gloucestershire Regiment beret (which is unique in having insignia badges both front and back), a documentary wall charting British involvement in the War through images, and a group of life size metal ‘Glorious Gloster’ soldiers, modeled to look as if they are moving cautiously forward on patrol. To me, they seemed rather too like giant versions of the Airfix model soldiers I used to play with as a boy.

The author with the Gloucestershire’s Memorial