Korean war ...

not until reinforcements and new weapons arrive, all the american troops could do was to do delaying actions, and as you noted before the allied powers had better air power so what they did was to harass the NK troops and interdict supply line this was very effective and it was first noted after they managed to establish the pusan perimeter and they start to counterattack the NK, the NK keep all the captured supply and ammo so they could use it until they could get more of their owns

 

its a lucky thing we still had lots of obsolete prop planes left over from ww2 ( which were bound for the scrap yard ) otherwise we couldnt have even held on to pusan ...all our wonderful new jets were as useless as tits on a boar hog when it came to ground attack ..

 

The NK tanks mostly fell victim to air power. Also, Korea isn't the most tank friendly terrain anyway.

 

Actually, the F4U Corsair was still in production during the Korean War, while the Mustang was still in service with the USAF. As for the jets, the Navy's F9F Panther was used exclusively for ground attack, as were the F-80 Shooting Stars and F-84 Thunderjets after the inital phases of the war.

 

Ted Williams, the famous major league baseball-player, flew F9F Panthers in the Korean War. He served in the USMC with VMF-311.

Tim

 

the jets were fine for attacking static targets or traffic well behind enemy lines . for close air support in a fluid frontline ,they were found lees than satisfactory ...to fast to identifie targets and almost always forced to leave the fight early for lack of remaining fuel .. jets really suck...gas

 

pure question only.

With some US GI's over a foot taller to there Chinese counterparts was that a big advantage or disadvantage? I would suspect in hand-to-hand it would help but in fire fights it wouldn't.

 

Hmmm. No mention of Douglas AD-1 Skyraider?
They served with distinction with both the USN and USMC during the Korean War.
"In Korea the Skyraider's contribution was sufficient to win a US Navy accolade of "the best and most effective close support airplane in the world"'.
--daveswarbirds.com

Tim

 

http://www.battlefield.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=13&id=82&Itemid=123


Not about korea war,but there in bulk of the articles one of Russian scout say: I was good with my knife and oftenly i dreamed how i get excelent performance in hand to hand combat. It newer heapened,and if u see it in some movie it just does not heapen.

I think that similar apply to Korean war too.

 

success with bayonette has much to do with training and mind set ,the brittish trrops of old were fond of cold steel ,trained well and were feared for good reason ...the m16 in vietnam iirc did not even have a bayonette lug attached , only recently has the us army reinvigorated basic bayonette training . a larger man should in theory have a good edge in hand to hand combat but without proper field training and even more important ,proper mental hygene ,japanese and north korean troops were always more than happy to close with larger comonwealth and amercan boys who greatly outweighed them .... the really close combat victory will go to those with inner confidence in cold steel and the proper mindset .

...tim ,the skyraider is a purpose built prop plane which supports my contention about jets being inferiour for close air support ,especially in korea ...

 

The 27th Infantry Regiment performed a very valiant bayonet charge in Korea.

From their website,
http://www.kolchak.org/

From late January to mid February, the fighting in Korea was characterized by attacks and counterattacks. Colonel (then Captain) Lewis Millett, today's honorary Colonel of the regiment, earned the Medal of Honor when he led Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry in a bayonet assault against a fortified Chinese hilltop. It was described by an Army historian as ". . . the greatest bayonet attack by US soldiers since Cold Harbor in the Civil War." Colonel Michaelis was promoted to Brigadier General and the 27th Regiment's command passed to Colonel Gilbert Check, who had commanded the 1st Battalion since the beginning of the war.

 

I've never seen an M-16 without a bayonet lug. Not sure about the Army but all Marines were issued M-16s with bayonets.

While there were Marines and soldiers killed by Japanese using edged weapons (bayonets or swords) in WW II the numbers were exceptionally small and there were as many or more Japanese killed the same way if personal accounts of the fighting are taken into account. As far as confidence and the mindset towards close combat goes I can assure you (from personal experience also) that the USMC stresses it and posseses it, in spades.

 

woody:
Yup, just trying to reinforce your point. Loiter-time and load-out makes much more sense in close air support than flash and dash.

JCal:
Great link sir. I've enjoyed the readings there.

I'm re-reading "Pusan Perimeter" by Edwin P. Hoyt. The first air-kill of the Korean War was by an F-82 on a North Korean Yak-7. First air-support missions were flown by A/B-26 aircraft.
MOST interesting is the action of a South Korean patrol boat (PC-701 commanded by Nam Choi-yong) who intercepted a North Korean armed freighter looking to disembark 600 NK troops at Pusan Harbor... and cut the last lifeline to South Korea.
With the sinking the ship and the loss of all 600 troops, this single 183ft patrol boat saved the port, and South Korea.
The last ditch defense of South Korea at Pusan would not have been possible had the armed freighter and it's troops captured Pusan Harbor. Wars and battles are full of such ironies...

Tim

 

Every M-16 I have every seen while in the Army had a bayonet lug.