To the Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951

by Andrew Salmon (Author), Andrew Salmon (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2009

  $12.23

  In 1950 the Cold War turned hot with the Communist invasion of South Korea. But by November, when Britain's 29th Infantry Brigade landed in Korea, it seemed that the war was all but over. United Nations forces - principally South Koreans and Americans - had decimated the invading North Koreans and were thrusting north towards the Chinese border. Then - catastrophe. China entered the war and panicked UN forces began a 250-mile retreat in sub-zero temperatures. By April 1951, the war hung in the balance.The Chinese had been halted. On the Imjin River, the critical hinge in the line was manned by the British brigade. Then, on the night of 22 April, the largest communist offensive of the Korean War was unleashed. An entire Chinese army assaulted 29th Brigade's scattered strong-points. One by one, the British units were swamped in the 'human waves' of attacking Chinese. For three days hand-to-hand combat raged. At one stage the artillery was firing point-blank, over open sights. Against all odds, 29th Brigade held, but by the third morning it was cut off. The order was given to break out. In a death ride down a valley swarming with enemy, the infantry and tanks battled south. But for one battalion, it was too late. Surrounded on a smoking hilltop, the Glosters fought until their ammunition was exhausted. Of 700 men, less than 50 escaped the trap. The author has interviewed veterans of every unit engaged, to produce an hour-by-hour account of the action as they experienced it in their foxholes. Dramatic, traumatic, moving and inspirational, this is the true story of the band of men who remained at their posts, held an army and astonished the world. Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based journalist.

• New

  Paperback
  2010

  $17.96

  NEW PAPERBACK EDITION 'Salmon's vivid use of recollections and dramatic quotes brings alive an unjustly forgotten conflict' Time Out With even World War II now just on the edges of living memory, and with British forces now engaged in a lengthy, brutal and attritional old-fashioned war in Afghanistan, historical attention is starting to turn to the Korean War of the early 1950s. And remarkably, the most notorious and celebrated battle in that conflict, from a British point of view, has never previously been written about at length. Andrew Salmon's book, which has garnered excellent reviews and sold out two hardback printings already, has filled that gap. This is the story of the Battle of the Imjin River, when the British 29th Infantry Brigade, and above all the Glorious Glosters of the Gloster Regiment, fought an epic last stand against the largest communist offensive of the war. It lasted three days, of bitter hand-to-hand combat. By the end of it one battalion of the Glosters - some 750 men - had been reduced to just 50 survivors. Andrew Salmon's definitive history, which gained excellent reviews in hardback and sold very steadily, is very much in the Antony Beevor mould: accessible, pacy, narrative, and painting a moving and exciting picture through the extensive use of eyewitness accounts of veterans, of whom he has tracked down and interviewed dozens. Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based journalist who writes for The Times, The Washington Times, and Forbes magazine. He first became fascinated by the battle in 2001 when he met British veterans returning to the Imjin River to mark the 50th anniversary.