The Korean War Veteran Internet Journal May 5, 2013 The Canadian soldier who died of wounds on his way home to Canada and is buried in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Private Arthur Allison King was seriously wounded in action on April 23, 1952 and died of his wounds at age 19 on December 24 while being evacuated to Canada. It is rare indeed and perhaps there is only one instance of it, but one of the Canadians who lost his life to enemy fire in the Korean War is buried in a cemetery in his hometown in Canada. Private Arthur Allison King of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, enlisted in the 1st Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment at age 17, on May 2, 1951, just two weeks before his 18th birthday. According to comrades, Private King was a member of an eight-man patrol that went into no-man s-land and was calling shell references to an officer who directed artillery fire onto enemy positions. When the patrol was detected, it came under intense mortar and artillery fire, with three soldiers being killed and the other five wounded, including Private King. Private King was using the wireless to call in the shell reports. Despite very serious wounds in both legs, he continued to make the reports until his wireless set was destroyed by shrapnel. Killed by the enemy fire were Lance Corporal Bernard George David Rice, 21, of Ottawa, Private Mervyn Edward Latham, 19, of Severn Bridge, Muskoka, Ontario and Private Charles Lorne Stowe, 25, of Miniota, Manitoba and Edmonton, Alberta. All eight members of the patrol were listed in the Department of National Defence casualty report number 142, issued on October 16, 1952. The report lists the three soldiers from The Royal Canadian Regiment who were killed in action and 16 soldiers from their Regiment who were wounded in action.
Soldiers killed in action on the February 23 patrol in which Private Arthur Allison King was wounded included Lance Corporal Mervyn Latham, 19 (left) and Private Charles Lorne Stowe. Also killed in action on the patrol was Lance Corporal Bernard George David Rice who is commemorated on a memorial marker in the City of Ottawa. Private King was evacuated through various medical establishments, was treated for his serious injuries in Korea and Japan and was being evacuated to Canada for further treatment, when he succumbed to his wounds. Private King s documentation says that he died in Tacoma, Washington, sadly indeed, on Christmas Eve in 1952, at age 19. It is said by some veterans in Prince Edward Island that he died aboard an American hospital ship, but that is very unlikely as wounded servicemen were air evacuated back to America and Canada. Several nurses from the Royal Canadian Air Force served with the U.S. Air Force on evacuation flights. During the war some 600 wounded Canadian servicemen were flown back to Canada for treatment by the U.S. Air Force 1453 Medical Evacuation Squadron. The medical evacuation flights typically flew from Haneda air field near Tokyo to Travis Air Force Base in California. Canada arranged for U.S. Air Force aircraft to further evacuate the wounded soldiers to McChord Air Force Base, just outside of Tacoma, Washington. From Tacoma, the wounded soldiers were usually picked up by planes from the Royal Canadian Air Force 435 Squadron, based in Edmonton, and transferred to various cities where major veteran hospitals were located.
Sometimes RCAF Squadron 412 from the Rockcliffe base near Ottawa and planes from RCAF Thunderbird Squadron 426 also airlifted wounded soldiers from McChord field to Canadian cities. Private King s parents, Arthur Allison and Margaret May King had their son buried at the Charlottetown People s Cemetery in January, 1953. The sad story of Private Arthur Allison King was brought to light by Korean War Veteran Don Landry, who served in Korea with the 1st Battalion of Princess Patricia s Canadian Light Infantry. Don at one time was president of the Korea Veterans Association Atlantic Provinces of Prince Edward Island. When Don Landry s members learned the details of Private King s death, some 40 years after he died of his wounds, they erected a large memorial headstone at his grave site, with appropriate details of his service engraved on it.
Letter written by a comrade of Private Arthur Allison King that gives some details of the action in which he was seriously wounded. The letter was forwarded to Private King s sister, Laura King. Pro Patria