The Korean War Veteran. The Canadian Medic who should have received the Victoria Cross

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 8 HooJung Jones From: Date: Subject: <Koreavetnews@aol.com> October :40 AM KOREAN JOURNEY GIVES CANADIAN FAMILIES CHANCE TO PAY RESPECTS TO LOST LOVED ONES The Korean War Veteran Internet Journal October 25, 2012 The Canadian Medic who should have received the Victoria Cross Three soldiers killed in same attack by B Company of the 2nd Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment, in Operation Commando, on October 4, Private Gerald Hugh Dury, 21, of Toronto, was killed by bullets or shrapnel to the chest, as was his comrade, Private Leonard Francis MacDougall, 22, of Halifax. They were both serving in Number 6 Platoon, commanded by Lieutenant W. D. Smallman. Serving in the same attack as radio operator for the Forward Artillery Observer was Gunner Jack Fraser Riddle, 21, of Vancouver. Gunner Riddle was wounded in the left leg. He died of wounds the next day at 25 Canadian Field Hospital. Not told in the article below that is reprinted from the Calgary Herald is the bravery of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corporal, Ernest W. Poole, who risked his life over and over again on October 4, 1951, to save wounded soldiers of B Company, the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. The soldiers were shot down when their platoons attacked enemy positions in Operation Commando. Number 4 platoon of the RCR s B Company had led the first phase of the attack and reached its objective. Then Number 6 Platoon, under command of Lieutenant W.D. Smallman followed through in the second phase and came under heavy

2 Page 2 of 8 machinegun, mortar and shell fire on thickly wooded steep slopes. Casualties were incurred immediately. Two who fell were Private Leonard MacDougall of Halifax and Private Gerald Hugh of Toronto. Both soldiers had been fatally wounded in the chest. Ernest Poole, after his return to Canada and promotion to Sergeant. Gunner Jack Riddle of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, the radio operator for the Forward Artillery Observer, was severely wounded. The observer, Lieutenant O Brennan was also wounded. Also wounded was the platoon commander, Lieutenant Smallwood. Corporal Poole rushed forward into the fire, searching for and treating wounded soldiers. The fire was heavy all around him and others implored him to stay back, but he refused. While treating one soldier, bullets came in and the wounded man was struck a second time. Several times he carried wounded soldiers on his back down the treacherous slope, though machinegun bullets and mortar bombs were raining in. Others tried to keep him back but he kept going back into the fire, searching for every wounded soldier who could be saved. When Number 5 Platoon passed through the position to continue the attack, two of its soldiers were wounded. Corporal Poole urged the platoon commander to continue forward, saying he would find and care for his wounded soldiers. Later that night, Corporal Poole rigged stretchers from tree branches and used other devices to help transport the wounded men. A corporal had been detached from Number 4 Platoon to guide them back to the Regimental Aid Post, through the open land in which enemy patrols were very active. The procession had just started out when the corporal himself was wounded. Corporal Poole, an unarmed medic, took command and moved the train of wounded soldiers back three quarters of a mile under fire and in danger of being ambushed by the enemy. When he reached the regimental aid post he continued to treat and care for all of the wounded. Captain H. C. Stevenson, the Regiment s medical officer stated in a citation that Corporal Poole had saved the lives of Lt. W. D. Smallman, Lance Corporal E. R. Soulier, Lance Corporal R. P. Turgeon and Private A. J. Davies. Corporal Ernest Poole was recommended for the Victoria Cross, the highest award for Gallantry in the Commonwealth, by the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Keane. The recommendation for the Victoria Cross was seconded by Brigadier John Rockingham, the commander of the 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade, the highest ranking Canadian officer in Korea.

3 Page 3 of 8 The award was downgraded to the next highest decoration for bravery in the face of the enemy, a Distinguished Conduct Medal, by Major General A. J. H. Cassels, a British officer, who commanded the Commonwealth Division. The wrong was never righted, even though Canada s highest ranking commander in Korea, directly in charge of the entire Canadian force on the ground, had approved by endorsement the recommendation of Corporal Ernest Poole for the Victoria Cross. One would hope that with the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War fast approaching, the war in which the three soldiers cited above died to save the People of the Republic of Korea, that Canada could right this and award to Ernest Poole, the Victoria Cross, still the highest ranking medal for bravery in Canada, in true appreciation for that unarmed medical soldier s unquestionable gallantry in the field, under extremely heavy fire and for saving the lives of several of his comrades. NOTE TO THE ARTICLE BELOW The article below does not specify that Korea s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has authority for operating the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, Korea, invites a limited number of bereaved family members to visit Korea each year, to visit the graves of loved ones who fell in the Korean War. The program is managed and funded by Korea s Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. It should be noted that while the cemetery name cites the United Nations, the United Nations does not bear the cost of operations or maintenance of the UN cemetery. The Korean Government pays for approximately 95 percent of all capital and maintenance costs, with five percent paid by the 11 nations whose servicemen are buried in the cemetery. The Korean Government paid completely to replace the cast cement grave marker plinths of all of the 2,200 graves with carved marble plinths, to install the granite Wall of Remembrance on which are engraved the names of 40,896 servicemen from 17 nations who lost their lives on Korean War Service and to install roads, benches, waterways, upgrade buildings and other major capital improvements. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA) pays for and manages revisits by Korean War Veterans from all of the participating nations, throughout every year, from April through November. The MPVA also organizes, funds and supervises commemorative events in all of the participating UN Allied Nations, and each year funds and manages the Youth Peace Camps in Korea. In this program grandchildren and other descendants of Korean War Veterans are invited to Korea to participate in a camp that acquaints them with the Korean War sacrifices of their forebears, and also shows them modern Korea, the result of their efforts and hardships, and of those who fell.

4 Page 4 of 8 Reg MacDougall, retired school teacher from Calgary, Alberta, holds memorial display to his brother Leonard Francis MacDougall, who was killed in action in Korea on October 4, 1951, at age 22. The display includes a shoulder flash of The Royal Canadian Regiment, the arm patches of the Commonwealth Division and the Canadian 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade and the VRI hat badge and collar dogs of the Regiment. Below the top display are photographs of Private Leonard Francis MacDougall, taken at Fort Lewis, Washington, and of the Memorial Cross that was presented to his mother after Private MacDougall was killed in action. There is a plaque and below the plaque are Private Leonard MacDougall s medals, the Korean War Medal, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea, and the United Nations Service Medal with Korea Bar. (Caption information added by the Korean War Veteran). Photograph by Ted Rhodes, the Calgary Herald. Korean journey gives Canadian families chance to pay respects to lost loved ones By Valerie Fortney, Calgary Herald CALGARY When Reg MacDougall thinks of his older brother Leonard, his mind goes back nearly seven decades to a frozen pond on the East Coast. I can still recall the efforts he made trying to perfect my skating, says the 75-year-old retired Calgary schoolteacher.

5 Page 5 of 8 After countless hours of drills, Leonard finally helped me achieve my goal I could skate backwards. On Sunday, MacDougall and his wife Patricia embarked on a journey to honour the sibling he remembers as a kind, compassionate and good-humoured young man. Together with three other Canadian families, they are travelling to Busan, South Korea. Although several days worth of activities are planned, the main event is a visit to the United Nations Memorial Cemetery, where Leonard is buried along with 378 other Canadians. The trip has been made possible through the generosity of the South Korean government. For several years it has sponsored families of the fallen to visit their loved ones graves. South Korea also has a Veterans Revisit Program, each year bringing veterans back that served in the Korean War. Last year, more 70 Canadian combat veterans made the trek back.

6 Page 6 of 8 Private Leonard Francis MacDonald of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (Special Force), taken at Fort Lewis, Washington, where the 25th Canadian Infantry brigade was sent for winter training in Records show that the Chief of the Defence Staff urged the brigade winter in an American base because there were not adequate quarters available to house an entire brigade in one location, and it would also be too expensive to keep the soldiers in Canada where they would require special winter gear to complete their training. The soldiers serving in the Brigade had been recruited in August and September, The American Flag is the backdrop at the photo shop where the photograph was taken.

7 Page 7 of 8 It appears in many photographs of Canadian soldiers who were posted to Fort Lewis. (Information added by the Korean War Veteran). When Leonard died, all we got was a telegram, a piece of paper, says MacDougall, who moved out west from Halifax 46 years ago, of that horrible day in early October His parents, Frank and Josephine, would die never knowing the details of their son s death, nor would they have an opportunity to visit his grave. In late summer of 1950, Leonard Francis MacDougall was a 21-year-old looking for adventure when he boarded a ship along with other members of the Royal Canadian Regiment. Two months earlier, tensions between communist North Korea and democratic South Korea came to a head when the former s military forces marched into the south. The newly formed United Nations, comprised then of 16 member nations, sent in just under half a million troops to protect the south. By war s end three years later, 516 of the more than 1,500 Canadian air, navy and army forces members who volunteered for the war effort would have their names inscribed in the Korean Book of Remembrance. The bodies of 21 Canadians would never be recovered, while the majority, 378, would be laid to rest at the United Nations War Memorial Cemetery in Busan. Last year, a Canadian veteran bumped the number up to 379, when his ashes were buried in the grave of his brother, who died in South Korea. He was only 22 years old when he died, says MacDougall, the baby of the family, of the brother who was the fourth-eldest of his six siblings. I can clearly remember the day we got the telegram my parents were just devastated. Even after losing one child tragically the third eldest, Donald, had been killed in a truck accident five years earlier Josephine and Frank didn t oppose Leonard s decision to go overseas. After all, their eldest son, Gerald, had fought in both Italy and Holland during the Second World War, and had returned home. Living mere steps away from a Canadian naval base they moved the family to Halifax from P.E.I. when Leonard was 12 they were also accustomed to seeing young men readying for battle. It was a big part of life here, MacDougall says of those servicemen that would drop by his home for an evening of music, their singing backed up by Leonard s organ and fiddle playing. Sadly, Leonard would not make it back home like Gerald. When he was 15, he got a job delivering telegrams, he says of his brother, whose own death announcement would come in that form. He had to deliver one of those telegrams to another family, and after the one time he said he never wanted to do that again. Not long ago, MacDougall received detailed information on Leonard s last battle, from the precise location of the daylight machine gun attack a place known as the notorious Hill 355 because it was the scene of more Canadian casualties than any other Korean

8 Page 8 of 8 battlefield to the name of the army medic that tended to the young private. He also learned that his brother s grave lies between those of two other soldiers who also died alongside him. Going to South Korea for the first time, he says, will be a healing experience on many levels. My son, who is teaching there, tells me the cemetery and park are beautifully tended, says the father of four and grandfather of five as he shows me photographs of Koi ponds and floral gardens. It will be good to see South Korea, too 60 years ago it was in rough shape, he says of the republic that now ranks 15th out of 187 countries in the United Nation s Human Development Index, which evaluates quality of life in a variety of sectors. More importantly, he will see, for the first time, the gravesite of his fun-loving, adventurous big brother. I hate the word closure, says MacDougall, his eyes tearing up as he remembers the young man who spent hours with him on an icy pond. But it will bring some resolution. I will finally get to pay my respects.