BATTLE OF HILL 187 The Canadian Army’s last major battle of the Korean War was fought on Hill 187. The 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment endured constant enemy shellfire and wave upon wave of assaults on their positions. During the night, C Company was overrun by Chinese soldiers, and Ed Hollyer, who commanded 7 Platoon, called artillery fire down on his own company’s positions. Hollyer was awarded the Military Cross for his actions. THE BEGINNING OF THE CEASEFIRE After months of stagnated fighting along the 38th parallel, the two sides came to an armistice agreement. They agreed to a ceasefire, the repatriation of prisoners of war, and the maintenance of a demilitarized zone (DMZ) running along the parallel, splitting the two Koreas. The agreement was signed by representatives of the Chinese Army and the DPRK Army on one side, and UN representatives on the other. This armistice agreement endures today. During the two years that followed the 1953 armistice, Canadians continued to serve in Korea. Many were troops who guarded and patrolled the ROK’s side of the DMZ, which separates North and South Korea to this day. RETURN TO CANADA Since there was little at stake for most of the Canadian public in the Korean War, it became easy for Canadians to forget their country was even at war once the initial drama of the conflict had settled into a stalemate. For many soldiers, the return to Canada was anticlimactic. There were no cheering crowds or parades to welcome them home as there had been in 1945. The Canadian military’s focus had largely been on West Germany in anticipation of a Soviet attack that never materialized. James Gunn Donovan Redknap Ralph Verge Harold Curley 2 MAY 1953 27 JULY 1953- KOREAN ARMISTICE AGREEMENT 7 THE END OF THE WAR Mark Jameson Smith, Chrismar Mapping Services Inc./Deadlock in Korea: Canadians at War, 1950-1953, Ted Barris. Peter Chisholm Harry Snaith Frank smyth Sheridan Patterson Harold Toth Andre Therrien
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