Battle of Bloody Ridge

Coordinates: 38°15′18″N 128°02′16.8″E / 38.25500°N 128.038000°E / 38.25500; 128.038000

Battle of Bloody Ridge Part of the Korean War Date August 18 – September 5, 1951 Location Yanggu County, Gangwon Province, South Korea Result United Nations victory Belligerents  United Nations  United States  South Korea  Philippines  North Korea  People's Republic of China Strength 2nd Infantry Division 36th Regiment 15,000 Casualties and losses 2,700 [1] 8,000 dead 7,000 wounded [2]

Korean War North Korean Offensive Pokpoong Chuncheon 1st Seoul Gorangpo Kaesong-Munsan Korea Strait Ongjin Uijeongbu Suwon Airfield Air Campaign Andong Chumonchin Chan Osan Pyongtaek Chonan Chochiwon Taejon Sangju Yongdong Hwanggan Hadong Notch Pusan Perimeter Masan P'ohang-Dong Taegu 1st Naktong Bulge Bowling Alley Battle Mountain Kyongju Haman Nam River Ka-San Tabu-Dong Yongsan 2nd Naktong Bulge UN Command Counteroffensive Haeju Inchon 2nd Seoul Hill 282 12 October 1950 Sariwon Pyongyang Yongju Kujin Chongju Chinese Intervention Onjong Unsan Pakchon Ch'ongch'on River Wawon Chosin Reservoir Task Force Faith 3rd Seoul Uijeongbu Chaegunghyon 1st and 2nd Wonju Thunderbolt Twin Tunnels Hoengsong Chipyong-Ni 3rd Wonju Chuam-Ni Wonsan Killer Ripper Maehwa-San Courageous Tomahawk Rugged Dauntless Spring Offensive Imjin River Yultong Kapyong Soyang River Stalemate Bloody Ridge Minden Punchbowl Heartbreak Ridge Han River Commando 1st Maryang San Haktang-ni Polecharge 2nd Maryang San Sunchon Hill Eerie Sui-Ho Dam Old Baldy Blaze White Horse Triangle Hill 1st Hook 2nd Hook Chatkol Outpost Vegas Pork Chop Hill 3rd Hook Outpost Harry Kumsong Samichon River Korean Armistice Agreement Air operations MiG Alley Sunchon Strangle Sui-ho Dam Post Armistice D.M.Z. Conflict Blue House Raid EC-121 Incident Axe murder incident Gangneung Border Incidents Yosu 1st Yeonpyeong 2nd Yeonpyeong Daecheong Cheonan sinking 3rd Yeonpyeong North Korea crisis

The Battle of Bloody Ridge was a ground combat battle that took place during the Korean War from August 18 to September 5, 1951.

Located in hills north of the 38th parallel north in the central Korean mountain range, the battle was fought between the communist North Korean forces of the Korean People's Army (KPA) and United Nations forces consisting of Republic of Korea Army (ROK) units and the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division.

Background

By the summer of 1951, the Korean War had reached a stalemate as peace negotiations began at Kaesong. The opposing armies faced each other across a line which ran (with many twists and turns along the way) from east to west, through the middle of the Korean peninsula, a few miles north of the 38th parallel. UN and communist forces jockeyed for position along this line, clashing in several relatively small but intense and bloody battles.

Bloody Ridge began as an attempt by UN forces to seize a series of hills forming a ridge which they believed were being used as observation posts to call in artillery fire on a UN supply road.

Battle

The 36th ROK Regiment made the initial attack. It succeeded in capturing most, but not all, of the ridge after a week of fierce fighting that at times was hand to hand. It was a short-lived triumph, for the following day the North Koreans recaptured the mountain in a fierce counterattack.

The next UN assault was made by the 9th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division. The battle raged for ten days, as the North Koreans repulsed one assault after another by the increasingly exhausted and depleted U.S. forces. After repeatedly being driven back, the 9th succeeded in capturing one of the hill objectives after two days of heavy fighting. The weather then turned to almost constant rain, greatly slowing the attacks and making operations almost impossible because of the difficulty in bringing supplies through "rivers of mud" and up steep, slippery slopes.

Fighting continued, however, and casualties mounted. The 2nd Division's 23rd Infantry Regiment joined the attack on the main ridge while the division's other infantry regiment, the 38th Infantry Regiment, occupied positions immediately behind the main ridge which threatened to cut off any North Korean retreat. The combination of frontal attacks, flanking movements and incessant bombardment by artillery, tanks and airstrikes ultimately decided the battle. Over 14,000 artillery rounds were fired in a 24-hour period. Finally, on September 5, the North Koreans abandoned the ridge after UN forces succeeded in outflanking it.

After withdrawing from Bloody Ridge, the North Koreans set up new positions just 1,500 yards (1,400 m) away on a seven-mile (11 km) long (11 km) hill mass that was soon to earn the name Heartbreak Ridge.

Aftermath

The American soldiers called the piece of terrain they had taken "Bloody Ridge", which indeed it was: 2,700 UN and perhaps as many as 15,000 communists were casualties, almost all of them killed or wounded with few prisoners being taken by either side. The much higher communist casualties were probably caused by:

1. Discipline in the KPA was poor, and constraining orders so strict to the point where subordinate leaders were often not allowed to withdraw under any conditions, in which case the entire unit would be blooded. Even when permission was granted for a withdrawal, it often came only after the large majority of troops in the unit had been killed.
2. In most battles, UN forces had an overwhelming advantage in artillery and air support; indeed, the communists had no air support. An enormously destructive "rain of fire" could be brought by UN units against North Korean and Chinese forces which they could not answer in kind.

References

• Blair, Clay (1987). The Forgotten War. New York: Times Books. ISBN 5-550-68614-7.
• T. R. Fehrenbach (1964). This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-881113-5.
• (2002). Spencer C. Tucker (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History. New York: Checkmark Books. ISBN 0-8160-4682-4.

External links

• Korean War Map of N. end of Bloody Ridge: Heartbreak Ridge, Mungdung-ni Valley and Hill 1179

News

• Allies Capture 'Bloody Ridge' - Toledo Blade, Sep. 5, 1951
• Yankees Seize 'Bloody Ridge' On Korea Front - Ellensburg Daily Record, Sep. 5, 1951