The Korean War, 70 Years Ago, The Public Opinion, Chambersburg PA
Korean War Weekly Front Pages
13 May – 19 May 1951
The Public Opinion, Chambersburg PA
The Red spring offensive arrives.
*****
At the start of the week Chinese troops expanded a threatening bridgehead across the Choyang river on the central Korean front despite the pounding of American guns. The forces northeast of Chunchon were thought to possibly spearhead a second spring offensive by the half-million-man Red army, which was expected in about ten days. Elsewhere along the 100-mile front UN patrols probed no-man’s-land with little opposition, although two sharp clashes broke out on the western edge. The front as a whole was quiet, the way it usually was before the Chinese struck. There were hints that the new onslaught would be backed by greater firepower, and possible aircraft. A new airfield was discovered 25 miles northeast of Pyongyang, but B-29 Superforts tore it up with 130 tons of bombs. Meanwhile, steady rains were turning Korean battlefields into a sea of mud, perfect for an offensive by Chinese foot soldiers.
On Thursday the offensive came. Waves of attacking Reds stormed US positions, but failed to break the defensive lines. The actions were hottest along the east-central front, where field dispatches said 96,000 Chinese were attacking in the 25-mile sector in the opening stages of the offensive. Another 25,000 Reds were reported gathering strength on the Pukhan valley invasion route of the west-central sector. Slithering Chinese had crept close to American lines at the junction of the Han and Pukhan rivers despite ceaseless artillery and aerial punishment. Far to the west erupting attacks and mounting pressure threatened a major advance toward Seoul might be tried later. The Communist version of the battle was broadcast by North Korean radio, which said that the Communists were “successfully punishing savage American and British aggressors all along the front.”
Communist troop masses were finally pushing back Allied lines across most of the warfront. In the west, Red spearheads thrust within ten miles of Seoul. On the central front, one American division was reported “in great trouble.” A smaller American unit was overrun, and two South Korean units were badly mauled. The sheer weight of numbers was forcing general UN withdrawals along the entire eastern sector and some across the central front. In the west, the Allied line north of Seoul held firm. But by Saturday, the front had quieted as the US Second Division had beaten off vicious attacks by thousands of Chinese on the bloody central front. Some officers said they believed four days of slaughter by UN forces had sapped the strength of Communists trying to crack the central front. One colonel said “We slaughtered so many their blood covers our boots because we have to walk over them to get into the new perimeter.”
The UN sanctions committee unanimously voted a worldwide ban on shipments of war goods to Communist China. The ban would now have to be debated by the political committee of the General Assembly. The Soviet bloc was expected to fight it to the last ditch, but all signs pointed toward passage.
Unconfirmed talk of possible enemy peace feelers in Korea spread among lawmakers as General Omar Bradley carried on the Administration’s military reply to General Douglas MacArthur. Before Bradley’s scheduled appearance in the Senate inquiry, one senator told a reporter that the feeling was growing among senators that the Red Chinese may give some early sign of willingness to negotiate. Bradley was dismissed until the following week as senators wrangled about the opposing side’s maneuvers. Meanwhile, MacArthur expressed astonishment at the statement by the President that he had considered dismissing MacArthur on and off for a year. The President also called for national unity in the face of the crisis in Korea as a Republican senator made a charge of “whitewashing” against the Democrats.
(Photo courtesy newspapers.com, Chambersburg Public Opinion)