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KOREAN WAR TIMELINE |
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| July 24, 1945 | Potsdam Conference, President Truman asked USSR help against Japan | |||||||||||
| Aug 6, 1945 | Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima | |||||||||||
| Aug 8, 1945 | 120,000 Russian troops invaded Manchuria and Korea | |||||||||||
| Sept 9, 1945 | US accepts Japanese surrender in Korea, South of 38th parallel | |||||||||||
| Nov 14, 1947 | U.N. Resolution to remove troops from Korea after national elections. | |||||||||||
| Feb 8, 1948 | North Korean People's Army (NK) officially activated | |||||||||||
| April 8, 1948 | President Truman orders withdrawal of US troops from Korea | |||||||||||
| Aug 15, 1948 | The Republic of Korea was proclaimed. Syngman Rhee was elected first president, (by a legislature formed by popular elections conducted in May). | |||||||||||
| Sept 9, 1948 | Democratic People's Republic of Korea claims jurisdiction over all Korea | |||||||||||
| June 29, 1949 |
Last US troops leave South Korea Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG, 200 men) formed |
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1950 |
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| January 12 | Truman's Secretary of State Dean Acheson confirms Korea and Taiwan are outside American Far East security cordon | |||||||||||
| June 1 | NK strength at 135,000, with seven assault divisions and 150 T34 tanks | |||||||||||
| June 25 Korean time | NK invades Republic of South Korea (ROK) without warning | |||||||||||
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June 25 New York time |
UN Security Council demands NK stop its attack and return to its borders | |||||||||||
| June 28 | B-26 aircraft of the 13th and 8th Bomb Squadron suffer casualties at Han | |||||||||||
| June 29 | ROK Capitol Seoul falls, bridges across Han river destroyed. Most of ROK army's best, with their equipment, trapped on northern side | |||||||||||
| June 30 | NK 3rd Division (NK-3) crosses Han River; NK drives down Peninsula | |||||||||||
| June 30 | President Truman commits US Troops to enforce UN demand | |||||||||||
| July 3 | ROK forces mistakenly attacked by US and Australian Air Units | |||||||||||
| July 5 | Task Force Smith, 1st Btn, 21st Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, supported by Battery A, 52nd FA Btn, crushed by NK 4th Division | |||||||||||
| July 6 | Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit in Taejon, with 12 Army Nurses. | |||||||||||
| July 7 | United Nations Command created, under General Douglas MacArthur | |||||||||||
| July 8 | 3rd Batt, 34th Regiment (3-34-24), crushed by NK-4 at Chonan | |||||||||||
| July 10 |
Fifth Air Force destroys many North Korean tanks and troops at Pyongtaek US troops retreat along the Seoul-Taejon road. |
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| July 12 | US Eighth Army takes command of ground operations in Korea | |||||||||||
| July 13 |
Lt. General Walton Walker takes command of ground forces in Korea US & ROKs form line from Kum river through Chongju to coastal Pyonghae-ri NK begin general assault along the Kum river section around Taejon |
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| July 12-23 | NK-3 and NK-4 easily route US 24th Infantry Division, capture most of their equipment, capture Taejon, and take as prisoner Major General William F. Dean, 24id Commanding. | |||||||||||
| July 18 | 8th Cavalry Regiment lands, leading unit of 1st Cavalry Division | |||||||||||
| July 20 - 30 | ROK 3rd Division, in desperate fighting, make only successful holding operation on Peninsula to that time | |||||||||||
| July 24-25 |
NK-3 defeats 8th and 5th Cavalry Regiments, and captures Yongdong,
but halts its attack after taking 2,000 casualties, mostly from artillery NK-2 defeats 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Division, in their first action |
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July 13 - July26 |
NK-6 drives unnoticed down the West Coast, capturing Chonju, murdering ROK civil servants wherever they found them, and begins an assault on Chinju, having outflanked the Eighth Army. NK-6 is positioned to drive to Pusan and cut off all UN forces in Korea | |||||||||||
| July 26 | Eighth Army orders withdrawal to prepared positions | |||||||||||
| July 25-31 | NK-6 defeats 19th Regiment, 24th Division and captures Chinju | |||||||||||
| July 29 | General Walker issues 'Stand or Die' order | |||||||||||
| July 31 | 9th Infantry Regiment 2nd Infantry Division, lands at Pusan | |||||||||||
| August 2 | 1st Provisional Marine Brigade lands, is attached to 25th Infantry Division, and moved up as reserves at Masan. | |||||||||||
| August 1-3 | US and ROK troops fall further back, but establish a 'Pusan Perimeter' defense line anchored in the west along the Naktong river. | |||||||||||
| August 8 | 6th (M46 Pattons), 70th (M26 Pershings and M4A3 Shermans) and 73rd (M26) medium tank battalions land at Pusan, followed on August 16 by 72nd med tank bn. and two 2id tank companies. The tank battalions average 69 tanks each. By now UN forces outnumber the NK in tanks, troops, and artillery, and still have unchallenged air supremacy. | |||||||||||
| August 7-14 | Task Force Kean - 25th Infantry Division makes first US counter attack. Though opposed only by NK-6, about 7,500 troops, and given crucial support by the Marine Brigade, the attack eventually fails. 25id does get needed combat experience and, except for its 24th Regiment, performs well in rest of Perimeter battles | |||||||||||
| August 5-19 | First Battle of the Naktong Bulge. NK-4 forces three crossings of the Naktong against the 24th Division and ROK 17th Regiment. Heavily outnumbered, NK-4 still almost breaks through, but US and ROKs hold. The Marine Brigade is again brought into action, closely supported by two Carrier-based Corsair Squadrons from MAG33. They throw NK-4 back across the Naktong, eliminating them as a fighting force. NK-4 did not re-group until after the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) enter the war. | |||||||||||
| August 17 | Massacre of prisoners at Hill 303. | |||||||||||
| August 18-22 | In savage fighting, ROK 3rd and 8th Divisions stopped three NK divisions, NK-8, NK-12 and NK-5. in their assault down the eastern Kyonju Corridor to Pusan. | |||||||||||
| August 29 | British Commonwealth 27th Brigade lands at Pusan | |||||||||||
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August 27 - Sept 15 |
Continuous Fighting around Pusan Perimeter | |||||||||||
| Sept 1-5 | NK makes 5 simultaneous assaults along the Naktong | |||||||||||
| Sept 3 | US attacks around Yongsan | |||||||||||
| Sept 4 | 5th Marines withdrawn to mount out for end-run at Inchon | |||||||||||
| Sept 15 | Inchon Landings | |||||||||||
| Sept 16-19 | UN breaks the Pusan Perimeter cordon | |||||||||||
| Sept 19-29 | Yongdungpo and embattled Seoul recaptured in the north, savage infantry fighting, heavy Marine casualties. Mop-up starts in the south as surviving NK forces flee just ahead of ROKs, along un-blocked east coast roads. | |||||||||||
| Sept 27 | MacArthur given permission to cross the 38th Parallel into North Korea | |||||||||||
| Sept 29 | General MacArthur and ROK President Syngman Rhee enter Seoul | |||||||||||
| Sept 30 | ROK troops cross 38th Parallel | |||||||||||
| October 9 | 1st Cavalry Division leads UN-sanctioned general assault across 38th Parallel to re-unify all of Korea | |||||||||||
| October 14 | Lead Elements of CCF 38th Field Army crosses Yalu at Andong to begin China's support of North Korea | |||||||||||
| October 15 | Truman and triumphant MacArthur meet on Wake Island | |||||||||||
| October 19 | NK capitol Pyongyang falls | |||||||||||
| October 20 | 187th ARCT airborne assault north of Pyongyang | |||||||||||
| October 25 | ROK 6th Division first UN troops smashed by elements of CCF 42nd Field Army around Chosan | |||||||||||
| October 26 | 1st Marine Division and X Corps land on east coast at Wonsan | |||||||||||
| October 29 | Advanced ROK units routed by elements of CCF 38th and 40th Field Armies. | |||||||||||
| Nov 1-6 | CCF 39th Army, around 30,000 lightly armed troops, opens China's First Phase offensive, by defeating 1st Cav and the ROKs, driving UN forces back to the Chongchon river. In the east, the 7th Marine Regiment destroys the CCF 124th Division in the only UN success | |||||||||||
| Nov 4 | MacArthur intensifies bombing of communications routes to the Yalu | |||||||||||
| Nov 8 | F-80 of 51st FIW downs MiG-15 in first all jet dogfight | |||||||||||
| Nov 21 | US 17th Regiment reaches the Yalu | |||||||||||
| November 25 | UN offensive begins from the Chongchon river to end the war by Christmas | |||||||||||
| Nov 26-30 | US 2nd and 25th Divisions are defeated and begin general Eighth Army retreat in the west | |||||||||||
| Nov 27-30 | Four CCF Armies attack 1st Marine Division and 7th Infantry Division at the Chosin Reservoir. | |||||||||||
| Nov 30 | President Truman threatens use of atomic bomb against CCF | |||||||||||
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Nov 30 - Dec 11 |
1st Marine Division fights through encircling CCF forces to reach our 3rd Infantry Division lines. The 10 CCF divisions attacking in Chosin were so wasted they never again saw action in the KW | |||||||||||
| December 11 | UN Naval forces begin evacuation at Hungnam | |||||||||||
| December 14 | UN passes a Cease Fire resolution | |||||||||||
| December 23 | General Walker is killed in a jeep accident, and General Matthew Ridgway assumes command of Eighth Army | |||||||||||
| December 24 | Last of X Corps evacuated from Hungnam, and North Korea | |||||||||||
| December 30 | MiG-15 jets begin attacking UN airplanes over North Korea | |||||||||||
1951 |
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| January 3 | CCF and NK renew their offensive. Seoul is again abandoned. | |||||||||||
| January 14 | Ridgway stabilizes UN lines along the 37th parallel | |||||||||||
| January 25 | UN counterattacks in the 'Ridgway' offensive, Operation Thunderbolt, over a carpet of dead CCF. Twin Tunnels Ambush | |||||||||||
| February 1 | UN resolution to end the Korean War | |||||||||||
| Feb 11-12 | CCF counterattacks at Hoengsong, destroys ROK 8th Div. | |||||||||||
| February 14 | 23rd RCT and French Infantry Battalion stop CCF at Chipyong-ni. Ridgway says the successful defense of the Wonju line is a 'turning point' | |||||||||||
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February 18 - March 17 |
Ridgway's Operation Killer. IX Corps has limited success clearing CCF from Chipyong-ni and mountains to east. | |||||||||||
| March 6-31 | Eighth Army (1st Cav, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions and 1st Marine Division) re-crosses the Han in Operation Ripper. Chunchon recaptured and line Idaho reached against weak opposition, as CCF regroups. | |||||||||||
| March 18 | UN forces take Seoul once again | |||||||||||
| April 1-22 | Operations Rugged and Dauntless drive 15 miles north of Line Kansas | |||||||||||
| April 11 | Truman relieves General MacArthur. General Ridgway takes FECOM | |||||||||||
| April 15 | General James Van Fleet assumes command of Eighth Army | |||||||||||
| April 19 | General MacArthur at Congressional hearings on his dismissal | |||||||||||
| April 22 | CCF begins spring offensive with 27 Divisions of 250,000 foot infantry, smash Line Kansas, drive through 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions towards Seoul | |||||||||||
| April 24-25 | Second Batt, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Third Batt Royal Australian Regiment and A Company 72nd US Medium Tank Batt, heavily outnumbered, stop CCF at Kapyong Valley. | |||||||||||
| April 30 | CCF and NK pull back to re-group | |||||||||||
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May 10 - June 5 |
Second CCF Spring Offensive begins, with the 'May Massacre' | |||||||||||
| May 20 | CCF offensive stopped, after penetrating 30 miles on the east-central region | |||||||||||
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May 23 - June 1 |
UN resumes attack north, regains both Line Kansas and the Wyoming bulge by mid-June. CCF 180th Division totally destroyed. | |||||||||||
| June 10 - 16 | Punchbowl, near the Hwachon Reservoir. 1st Marine Division reaches northen ridges against North Koreans in brutal fighting | |||||||||||
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June 13, 1951 to July 27, 1953 |
Washington orders Van Fleet to halt the attack and wait for
armistice negotiations. UN forms a Main Line of Resistance
(MLR) The Communists use respite from our relentless assault to recoup their heavy losses, and build up positions opposite to MLR. Toward the end of the KW, both sides often cannonade one another with artillery barrages exceeding those of WWI or WWII |
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| June 13 | Fighting lapses to patrolling and small-unit actions. | |||||||||||
| June 23 | USSR UN Delegate Jacob Malik proposes truce | |||||||||||
| July 10 | Truce talks begin at Kaesong | |||||||||||
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August 1 - October 31 |
Limited UN attacks in vicious small-unit actions, to consolidate positions | |||||||||||
| August 23 | Communists break off talks | |||||||||||
| Aug 17 - Sept 6 | Battle of Bloody Ridge | |||||||||||
| Sept 5 - 23 | Battle for Heartbreak Ridge | |||||||||||
| Oct 3-23 | Operation Commando. Five UN Divisions, including the British Commonwealth Division (RAR, Maryang-san), attack elements of Four CCF Armies, to correct a sag along I Corps and X Corps boundaries. In the successful but savage fighting, I Corps estimates 21,000 CCF casualties, and over 4,000 UN casualties. | |||||||||||
| October 25 | Peace talks resume at Kaesong | |||||||||||
| Nov 27 | Truce talks continue at Panmunjom and a cease-fire line agreed on | |||||||||||
| Nov 1951 - April 1952 | Stalemate on the MLR. Talks at Panmunjom go on and on | |||||||||||
| Dec 18 | Exchange of POW lists | |||||||||||
1952 |
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| January 2 | UN POW Exchange Proposal | |||||||||||
| January 3 | POW Exchange Proposal rejected by Communists | |||||||||||
| February 18 | Riots in Koje-do prison camp | |||||||||||
| March 13 | Another major riot at Koje-do | |||||||||||
| March 21 | Outpost Eerie, K/179/45id, a typical post midway between the two opposing MLRs, pays part of the ongoing price for impeding enemy attacks and gaining information. | |||||||||||
| May 7 | General Dodd captured by Koje-do POWs. | |||||||||||
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May12 - June 12 |
General Haydon Boatner replaces General Colson at Koje-do and ends rioting. General Mark Clark assumes FECOM from General Ridgway. | |||||||||||
| May 27 | Syngman Rhee declares martial law at Pusan | |||||||||||
| June 23 | General Clark orders bombing of NK power plants | |||||||||||
| July 23 | Air strikes knock out North Korea's hydroelectric power sources for over two weeks | |||||||||||
| June - Oct | Vicious, bitter localized fighting along MLR as truce talks drag on. | |||||||||||
| Aug 12-25 | Marines capture hill 122 east of Panmunjom, and hold it with a reinforced company against repeated battalion-level CCF attacks. They won it a proud nickname, Bunker Hill | |||||||||||
| August 29 | Largest air strike of war, 1400 aircraft hit Pyongyang | |||||||||||
| Sept 17-24 | In spite of a brave effort the largely Puerto Rican 65/3id lost Outpost Kelly to the determined and more experienced CCF 384th Regiment. | |||||||||||
| Oct 8 - Nov 18 | Truce talks halted. General Clark initiates Operation Showdown | |||||||||||
| Oct 6-15 | Battle of White Horse Hill - ROK 9th Division inflicts 10,000 casualties on CCF while repelling repeated ferocious assaults, helped largely by information from Chinese deserters. | |||||||||||
| Oct 26-28 | 1st Battalion of the Black Watch and Commonwealth Division tanks and reinforcements fight off the CCF in the Battle of The Hook | |||||||||||
| Nov 3 | 2/160/40id fight for Heartbreak Ridge, Hill 851 | |||||||||||
| Nov 15-27 | Communist hold "1952 POW Olympics" at Camp 5, Pyuktong | |||||||||||
| Dec 25 | 38/2id fights off savage CCF assault at T-Bone Hill | |||||||||||
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December - January |
Stalemate continues, President-Elect Eisenhower visits, deadly small-unit battles continue | |||||||||||
1953 |
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| Jan 25 | 31/7id assaults Spud Hill, enemy strongpoint at T-Bone, in Operation Smack. In spite of heavy tank and air support the 31st was repulsed with heavy casualties, and a newly arrived member of the press falsely castigated the assault as unnecessary loss of life in a battle staged for visiting brass. Foretaste of media sensationalism in Vietnam. | |||||||||||
| February 11 | General Maxwell Taylor takes command of Eigth Army | |||||||||||
| March 5 | New USSR Premier Georgi Malenkov speaks of peaceful coexistence | |||||||||||
| March 28 | NK Premier Kim Il Sung and CCF Peng Teh-huai agree to POW exchange | |||||||||||
| March 30 | Truce talks resume at Panmunjom | |||||||||||
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March - April |
More savage fighting around Old Baldy, T-bone, outpost Eerie and Pork Chop. CCF-141 and CCF-67 take the Old Baldy - Pork Chop region from 7th Infantry Division and their Colombian Battalion, and hold it in a vicious struggle. Exchanging hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, the CCF took the Vegas and Reno outputs from the 5th Marines on March 26, but the Marines re-took Vegas and held it against determined attacks until the CCF broke off the action. | |||||||||||
| March 17 | 9/2id loses and retakes portions of Little Gibraltar | |||||||||||
| March - April | More savage fighting as UN forces lose Old Baldy and Eerie rather than inordinate sacrifice of life for ground during final stages of truce talks | |||||||||||
| April 16-18 | 17th and 31st Infantry Regiments suffer heavy casualties at Pork Chop Hill | |||||||||||
| April 20-26 | Exchange of sick and wounded POWs | |||||||||||
| April 23 | Panmunjom talks resume | |||||||||||
| June 6-10 | 7th Infantry Division suffer more heavy casualties at Pork Chop Hill and are withdrawn | |||||||||||
| June 14 | Communist attack drives back ROK positions | |||||||||||
| June 18 | ROKs release 27,000 NK POWs who refuse repatriation. Communists again break off truce talks | |||||||||||
| June 25 | CCF sends 3 armies, almost 100,000 troops, against 5 ROK divisions totaling half their number, driving the ROKs back several thousand yards. The CCF drive stops under staggering UN artillery barrages, about 2.7 million rounds in June alone. | |||||||||||
| July 10 | Truce talks resume after UN assures ROK acceptance of cease-fire terms | |||||||||||
| July 24-25 | Chinese launch heavy attacks on 'The Hook'. U.S.Marines and adjoining 2RAR withstand and hold. | |||||||||||
| July 27 | Cease-fire signed. | |||||||||||
| September 4 | Repatriation of POWs starts at Freedom Village, Panmunjom | |||||||||||
June 25, 1950 - July 27, 1953Though most attention has focused on the Korean War's first year, bloody fighting persisted throughout the entire war. Half of our dead were killed after the truce talks began, while people talked and postured, at Panmunjom. Artillery concentrations on the small outposts and contested hills of the MLR exceeded anything in WWI or WWII; typically a thousand rounds exploding in 10 minutes or so, followed by battalion- and regiment-scale assaults against positions scarcely large enough to hold a company. The Marines fought for Bunker Hill, Reno, Carson and Vegas; the ROKs for Sniper Ridge, Triangle Hill and Big Nori; our 2nd Division fought for Old Baldy, Arrowhead and Pork Chop, as did our 7th Division in their turn. Dozens of other obscure, torn landscapes soaked the blood of other valliant infantrymen. Some of the most dangerous and important sections of the MLR were held valliantly by the ROKs and our UN allies. Casualty List |
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© Kortegaard Engineering ©Document: Last Update: |