B A T T L E F I E L D    K O R E A

...I have never been in a better-planned and executed operation than Commando, either before or since. It was faultless. Although many great men died or were wounded in those six days, it was a great success by a mighty battalion ... I was proud to be one of them.
Jack Morrison-Korean veteran

THE STATIC WAR

Blaze (1 RAR), Fauna (1 RAR), Songgok (1 and 3 RAR), Buffalo (3 RAR), patrols (RAR), The Hook (2 and 3 RAR).

The battalions ... [1 RAR, 2 RAR and 3 RAR] ... then entered the early stages of the static war, which lasted for some two years. This was a hard monotonous period of trench warfare of a First World War nature. It was a life of patrolling and raids, wiring, mining and of being constantly shelled and mortared and fighting off local enemy attacks which persisted to the very end of hostilities in July 1953. There was a steady build-up of casualties. It was dangerous, onerous and lacked the excitement of significant achievement. I thought this a more exacting period, particularly for junior leaders, than the more mobile phase of the first year of the war.
General Sir Francis Hassett-Korean veteran

I too have memories of those far off days in Korea. I remember the dust, the heat, the enervating humidity, the bitter cold of winter when men slept with their boots on and weapons cradled lest they should be found frozen in an emergency, the soldiers on listening post, lying silently on the frozen ground trying desperately to remain alert, knowing they were responsible for the safety of their comrades. The sounds of battle in the valley below-units involved in life and death situations, awaiting news of success or failure and the inevitable cost...
General Sir Thomas Daly-Korean veteran

Little is remembered by the general public of Korea and its battles or of the immense esteem and respect in which the Allied Forces held the Australian troops and their Commanders. As a correspondent in Korea I attended a number of Allied operational briefings. The US Corps Commander, gutsy 'Mike' O'Daniel, under whom 1 Com Div served, 'proposed a spectacular raid' to bust the Chinese Line next to the Panmunjon truce talks zone to scare the Chinese to hasten a truce decision. 3 RAR was to take a leading role. GOC 1ComDiv, Major General Jim Cassells delegated exposition of the case to CO 3 RAR Frank Hassett who lucidly expounded the operation to C in C US General James Van Fleet at the crucial command conference. Hassett concluded: "We can go in, wreck the target area, take casualties and fight our way out. The front will still be where it is by political agreement." Van Fleet vetoed the raid and declared "If Lt Col Hassett would like to command a Corps he can have one of mine anytime."
John Ulm-war correspondent