Glosters C Company Position

Gloster's C Company Position
Originally uploaded by Haksaeng

LTC Carne deployed three of his four companies in a line centered on hilltops near the town of Chŏksŏng, with A Company on the left, D Company in the center, B Company on the right, C Company in reserve, and the HQ and C Troop, 170th Mortar Battery in the rear near Solma-ri. Company A until dawn on 23 April turned back repeated Chinese assaults but finally lost the dominant platoon position that anchored the company’s defense when the remaining 58 men no longer could hold it. D Company managed to retain its position, but like A Company, suffered high casualties. The Chinese largely left B Company untouched and it survived the night intact. LTC Carne decided to pull to remains of the forward companies back, the remains of A and D Companies took positions near C Company, and B Company took position just east of C Company.

Continued Chinese pressure on the UN line forced a retreat to the Kansas Line. There were several attempts to push an armor unit up to help relieve the Glosters, but those attempts failed, leaving the Glosters surrounded. The Chinese on the night of 23 April resumed their attack on the Glosters, hitting the British along B and C Company positions, eventually forcing their way to the high ground within C Company’s defensive position. This left the Chinese in a position to threaten the HQ unit, located across the road from C Company (I took this picture from the HQ position) and the small valley where the mortar troop was located. LTC Carne worried that the Chinese would move quickly to exploit their position, so he ordered C Company and the mortar troop to withdraw to positions near the HQ area, near Companies A and D. This left B Company isolated along the right flank, but LTC Carne think it could make its way in the dark to where the rest of the battalion was located without getting scattered so he decided to wait until daybreak to pull B Company back. B Company throughout the night came under assaults from all positions, but managed to hold its ground. When the B Company positions were no longer tenable, they attempted to break out and move to where the rest of the battalion were positioned, but only 20 men managed to make it through the Chinese.