Canada at War: Part Three, Korean and the Gulf war

The Korean War

The Korean War is another Canadian War fought on Foreign Soil. In Fact Canada wasn't a battlefield since the War of 1812 (although there was a revolution in 1837). In 1950, The Communist North Korea attacks democratic South Korea (Sounds like the War in Vietnam, eh?). The UN asked North Korean Forces to get out of South Korea. The North Koreans refused and the UN asked member countries to push North Koreans out of South Korea. Canada was one of the countries to go to Korea.

Canada made many plans before sending men to Korea. Louis St. Laurent decided that Canada would go to Korea after many people wanted to see Canada play a role in the Conflict. 5,000 men were gathered and trained. But soldiers were killed before setting foot in Korea. A train carrying soldiers collided with a British Colombian train. 17 Canadian Soldiers were killed in the collision and 70 were injured.

In April 1951, Canada was in a major Battle. The Battle was that of Kap' yong when Chinese and North Koreans attacked the South Koreans. Behind them was the "British Commonwealth Brigade" including the Canadian Battalion. The Australians withdrew from Battle but Canada kept their position.

More Canadian Soldiers arrived in the next month. Canada attempted to attack Chail-li. They

In October of 1952, Chinese Soldiers attacked Canadian-Held position at Hill 355 an important UN stronghold. But after destroying Fortifications, the Chinese withdrew and Canada kept its position. The Conflict ended in 1953 when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27th. Both Countries still exist. Most Canadians left Korea at that point. All Canadian Troops had left by 1955. Canada had sent 26,791 men. Canadian forces suffered 1,558 casualties.

The Gulf War

The 1st of August 1990, Iraq attacked Kuwait. In less than a day, Iraq controlled the whole country. The United Nations reacted very quickly to this. The US tried to get Saddam Hussein (dictator of Iraq) out of Kuwait. Instead Saddam Hussein reinforced his defence. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney decided that Canada would participate in the UN coalition. On August 11th, Canada started of by contributing two destroyers and a supply ship. These Ships were old and needed fixing up.

The UN allowed the countries taking part in the coalition to use military force if Iraq wasn't out of Kuwait before a dead line. The coalition forces attacked the Iraqis the night after the deadline.

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