Korean War

[Ennath]

January 22, 1946
United States Truman signs a bill creating the Central Intelligence Group, with 100 employees reassigned from the State Department. It has been created by Congress, not the president, and has been designated as an independent agency with a director reporting directly to the president. It is to have access to intelligence collected by all other agencies.

January 22, 1949
China Peking falls to the Communists after a long siege.

January 22, 1951
Ground War I and IX Corps begin Operation Thunderbolt with reconnaissance in force probes to determine enemy positions and strength. Marine patrols in the Andong area flush out a group of Chinese soldiers and destroy them.

January 22, 1952
Partisans Mustang III is launched with 19 Korean operatives. The mission has the purposes of sabotage and making contact with non-Korean POW’s to establish means of escape. The jump is successful but radio contact with the group is lost within a few days. The unit is assumed to have been compromised.

January 22, 1953
Ground War US 40th Division replaces 24th Division on the line.
Air War The combat use of single-engined propeller-driven aircraft in Korea ends with the transfer of 18th Fighter Bomber Wing’s F-51 Mustangs. The Mustangs are replaced with F-86 Sabres.

[Ennath]

January 23, 1951
Ground War I, IX and X Corps are ordered to advance abreast toward the Han River. 1st Marine Division elements attack guerrilla concentrations near Andong.
Air War During an unusually heavy day for air battles, a battle over Sinuiju costs 3 MiG-15’s and 7 F-84’s. In the meantime 46 F-80’s suppress anti-aircraft guns around Pyongyang as 21 B-29’s crater the enemy capital’s airfield.
United Kingdom Atlee informs the House of Commons that Britain will not support the US desire to have China branded the aggressor. India takes the same position.

January 23, 1952
War at Sea Four LST’s complete the evacuation of refugees from the west coast islands.

January 23, 1968
War at Sea The intelligence ship USS Pueblo is attacked by North Korean torpedo boats in international waters off Wonsan and forced to surrender. It is the first US warship to be captured at sea in 153 years. The ship is taken into port and the crew removed to POW camps, where they are regularly abused. Commander Lloyd Bucher is put through a mock execution in an effort to make him confess to spying. When the North Koreans threaten to execute his men in front of him, the commander relents and writes and signs a confession. The North Koreans verify the meaning of his words but fail to catch his pun when he writes, “We paean the North Korean state. We paean their great leader Kim Il Sung.” (“Paean” sounds much like “pee on.”) A carrier battle group is deployed off Korea and reserves are called up and deployed to Korea. The crisis lasts into December.

[Ennath]

January 24, 1948
North Korea The Soviet commander in North Korea denies entry permission to members of the United Nations Temporary Commission. This action effectively prevents a Korea-wide election and leads to the eventual formation of separate governments.

January 24, 1951
Ground War As the advancing UN troops meet little resistance, Ridgeway flies over the lines trying to determine if the Chinese have, in fact, withdrawn or are setting a trap.

January 24, 1952
Ground War US 24th Division begins the use of scout dogs, but finds that they are not as efficient as expected.
Diplomacy General Ridgeway reports to Washington that the truce talks have reached a complete state of paralysis. President Truman’s anger is so great that he writes in his diary that this means an all-out war, the bombing of every major city, and the destruction of every factory in China and the Soviet Union.

January 24, 1953
Ground War Elements of the Ethiopian Battalion take portions of Old Baldy and repel a counterattack.
Partisans In Operation Green Dragon, a unit of 97 Korean partisans is parachuted into North Korea in the largest clandestine operation of the war. The goal is to foment a popular uprising. The group is reinforced on May 15 with an additional 57 men. During the next few months, the entire group is killed or captured.

January 24, 1968
DMZ An American soldier is killed by gunfire in the DMZ.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by Ennath

January 22, 1946
January 22, 1953
Ground War US 40th Division replaces 24th Division on the line.
Air War The combat use of single-engined propeller-driven aircraft in Korea ends with the transfer of 18th Fighter Bomber Wing’s F-51 Mustangs. The Mustangs are replaced with F-86 Sabres.

The Royal Navy operated Supermarine Seafires from the light carrier HMS Triumph between July and September 1950, mainly in ground attack roles and in cooperation with the US carrier Valley Forge. The Seafires were WW2 vintage and already near the end of their service life, and the type was a poor choice for carrier use anyway, partly due to its narrow undercarraige and partly due to its short range. It had flying characteristics which were very unsafe for carrier operations; it was being adapted from the Spitfire, which was never intended for naval use. To make matters worse, to unaccustomed eyes it resembled the Yak 9; one Seafire pilot was shot down by a B29 he was escorting, and had to be fished out of the drink by a US destroyer, so he didn't even get a glass of rum.

But the Seafires made airstrikes on targets across North Korea.

[tygrkhat40]

Baseball great Ted Williams was a Marine aviator in WWII and Korea. In Korea, one of his squadron mates was future astronaut and Senator, John Glenn.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

Baseball great Ted Williams was a Marine aviator in WWII and Korea. In Korea, one of his squadron mates was future astronaut and Senator, John Glenn.

Nial Armstrong flew 78 combat missions over Korea as an F9F Panther pilot aboard the USS Essex. He was shot down once.

[Ennath]

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

Baseball great Ted Williams was a Marine aviator in WWII and Korea. In Korea, one of his squadron mates was future astronaut and Senator, John Glenn.

Williams made a crash landing in February 1953 after his plane was hit during a ground attack mission. He was apparently disgusted with himself for letting it happen. Someone said that he looked like he'd just struck out with the bases loaded.

[squigg58]

Originally Posted by Ennath

January 22, 1953
Air War The combat use of single-engined propeller-driven aircraft in Korea ends with the transfer of 18th Fighter Bomber Wing’s F-51 Mustangs. The Mustangs are replaced with F-86 Sabres.

Surely the Skyraider continued in service as a front-line attack aircraft. After all, the venerable old Spad did sterling service in Vietnam.

[Ennath]

January 25, 1951
Ground War Operation Thunderbolt gets under way. I Corps is to take Inchon and Kimpo, X Corps is advance on Hoensong via Wonju and IX Corps is to move forward to Chipyong-ni. The purpose is to determine the enemy’s dispositions and to reestablish contact. US troops find Wonju deserted by enemy troops. Operation Wolfhound ends; it results in the belief that Chinese strength has been overestimated.

January 25, 1952
War at Sea A US warship lands ROK troops for a night demolition raid on enemy rail lines, tunnels and bridges on the east coast.

January 25, 1953
Ground War Elements of 31st Regiment attack Spud Hill in Operation SMACK, an experiment in air-tank-artillery offensive coordination. Because it is an experiment, it is attended by a large number of officers, who are provided with a brochure to explain the exercise. Unfortunately, the brochure uses the word scenario to describe the action, and in the reporting of the event an enterprising but misinformed reporter causes such an uproar that the accusation arises that troops have been used for a “demonstration”. The failure of the attack adds fuel to the fire.
Diplomacy UN Command restricts immunity to only one Communist convoy per week that makes the supply run from Pyongyang to Panmunjom. Evidence suggests that the Communists are using the immunity as cover for the movement of supplies and reinforcements to frontline troops without the threat of air attack.

[DTravel]

Originally Posted by squigg58

Surely the Skyraider continued in service as a front-line attack aircraft. After all, the venerable old Spad did sterling service in Vietnam.

The Skyraider was a ground-attack aircraft rather than an air-superiority fighter.