Outpost Kelly: A Tanker's Story (Alabama Fire Ant) - Softcover

Siewert, Jack R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0817353410 ISBN 13: 9780817353414

Verlag: UNIV OF ALABAMA PR, 2006

Inhaltsangabe

In the second year of the Korean War, Jack Siewert commanded a platoon of five M-46 tanks. Temporarily assigned to provide fire support for an infantry battalion on the front, he eventually found himself in the midst of intense fighting for a relatively unknown and unimportant hill, code named Outpost Kelly. Those four days of battle against Chinese forces form the heart of this memoir, which is unique in its focus on the hill fighting that dominated much of the Korean War. Trained to take advantage of his tanks' mobility, his orders - to provide direct fire support for advancing infantry - along with the mountainous terrain and the torrential monsoon rains that created shin-deep fields of impenetrable mud, forced him to abandon doctrine and improvise. Siewert's platoon played a key role in allowing members of the 15th Infantry to retake Outpost Kelly, and he offers an excellent analysis of how theory and experience come together in a point-of-the-spear military situation. ""Outpost Kelly"" also paints a fascinating picture of the type of fighting, often overlooked, that characterized the second and third years of the Korean War. With truce talks proceeding in Panmunjom, both sides fought to claim incremental pieces of real estate along the demarcation line between North and South. In the grand scheme of the war, the battle for Outpost Kelly might not have meant much. But for the 3rd Infantry Division, and the men, like Jack Siewert, who fought there, it was the entire focal point of the war during the last four days of July, 1952.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jack R. Siewert, LTC USA (Ret.) is a retired career U.S. Army officer.

 

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Outpost Kelly

A Tanker's StoryBy JACK R. SIEWERT

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS

Copyright © 2006 The University of Alabama Press
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8173-5341-4

Contents

List of Illustrations..............................ixForeword by Paul M. Edwards........................xiPreface............................................xvAcknowledgments....................................xix1. Reconnaissance Up Front.........................12. Close and Join..................................123. Hill 199........................................284. Stuck in the Mud................................635. Outpost Kelly Is Lost...........................766. The Fight for Outpost Kelly.....................927. Return to Home Station..........................136Epilogue...........................................143Notes..............................................147Glossary...........................................151Bibliography.......................................155

Chapter One

Reconnaissance Up Front

Korean terrain presents unique problems for the passage of tracked vehicles, particularly in the mountains. Narrow defiles, steep slopes, bottomless rice paddies, ice-covered trails and roads, streams and rivers that cannot be forded, traffic congestion, and a host of other hostile conditions catalog the problems of moving a tank in Korea. A tank platoon leader quickly learns that it is prudent to make a route reconnaissance, time and circumstances permitting, prior to committing his tanks to a motor march. In my case I commanded a platoon of M-46 tanks. At forty-eight tons the M-46, the finest tank in the world, was a formidable machine of war. It was twenty-eight feet long, twelve feet wide, and nine feet high. Much of the weight could be attributed to the armor protection; the front of the hull and the turret each had a thickness of four inches of steel. The Continental V-12, 810-horsepower engine used gasoline in prodigious quantities-three gallons of gas to the mile. The 233-gallon fuel tank gave the M-46 a radius of action of seventy miles before refueling. The tank could climb a thirty-one degree slope and could ford four feet of water. On level terrain it could move at thirty miles per hour. Seventy rounds of ammunition were stowed in the fighting compartment for the 90m/m cannon. The small arms mounted on the tank included a caliber .50 machine gun and two caliber .30 machine guns. The M-46 required a lot of care and attention; a five-man crew operated the tank.

It was 13 July 1952, and Captain Jim Barrett, commanding officer (CO), C (Charlie) Company, 64th Tank Battalion, had given me my marching orders. A map reconnaissance was the first order of business. Jointly, Barrett and I completed a map study of the area my platoon and I were to report to the following day.

The task my platoon had been given was relatively simple, almost routine. I was to report to the CO, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, to be attached under operational control for the purpose of relieving disabled tanks of the 7th Tank Company. The term "operational control" meant that my platoon would become a combat element of the 7th Infantry Regiment; administratively, the platoon would still be carried on the "Morning Report" of Charlie Company. The disabled tanks were to be repaired and returned in a few days, at which time my platoon would be released from operational control and we would return to Charlie Company. The area I was going into was the west flank of the 3rd Infantry Division, held by the 7th Infantry Regiment. Next to our flank was the British 1st Commonwealth Division. The opposing forces were the Chinese.

My goal today was twofold: to examine the route the tanks would follow, with emphasis on potential problem areas, and to coordinate the transfer procedures for my platoon to replace a platoon of the 7th Tank Company, 7th Infantry Regiment. My map study indicated that I had been in this area back in November 1951. There had been heavy fighting then for control of Hill 355, Little Gibraltar, and Charlie Company, 64th Tank Battalion, had been placed in a blocking position at a nearby ford on the Imjin River from 23 to 26 November 1951. In the event the enemy penetrated to that point in our lines, Charlie Company was to deny them the use of the ford. The route I planned to take tomorrow was a distance of about six miles between the Charlie Company bivouac area and the headquarters of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment. There the details would be firmed up for my platoon of five tanks to move forward and occupy the positions to be vacated by the tanks of the 7th Tank Company.

Much had changed since last November. I did not recognize any features of the current road. Eight months earlier this road had been a narrow mountain trail scarcely capable of handling quarter-ton truck (jeep) traffic. Today the road was wide enough for trucks to pass in opposite directions; it was well graded, had good culverts, and was even ditched in the appropriate places. The Army Corps of Engineers had created a very good road.

As the quarter-ton rose to the top of a long grade, I could see a large billboardlike sign at the side of the road. I told Sergeant Davis, my driver, to slow down so we could read the sign. The sign stated: danger. You are under enemy observation for the next 500 yards. Danger. A huge canopy of camouflage netting covered the down-sloping road; it was draped and supported high enough to clear a tank with the radio antennas down. It extended almost to the bottom of the hill. The netting looked awfully thin; I could look right through it and see the surrounding terrain with no problem (figure 1). Did this netting really conceal our movement from the enemy? My eyes focused on the commanding terrain feature to the north, Hill 317. I estimated it to be about two and one-half miles away. It was occupied, and held, by the enemy.

Up to now Sergeant Davis and I had been involved in a relatively quiet ride in the Korean countryside on a warm, cloudless day. Now we were abruptly back in the war. I considered this new hazard for a moment.

"Davis, if a round lands behind us, uphill, I want you to 'How-Able' [phonetic alphabet for H-A, which was an abbreviation for 'haul-ass'] down this hill as fast as this quarter-ton will take us. If the round is in front, drive into the ditch to the right, and we'll take cover. Understand?"

Davis responded with a nod of his head and a snappy, "Yes, sir!"

Frankly, I did not know whether this was the best plan or whether our maneuver should have been reversed. The point was that the hazard had been recognized and a contingency plan made to accommodate it.

We reached the bottom of the hill without event. A small roadside sign pointed the way to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment. Even without the sign, the jumble of hastily laid telephone wire, both on poles and lying along the side of the road, pointed to the command post (CP). I made a mental note to remember that the movement of my tanks through here would have to be done carefully to avoid tearing up the telephone wire.

The administrative area of the battalion was in a small valley surrounded by ridges. The CP was in a medium-sized utility tent with the sides rolled up for ventilation, light, and access to the numerous slit trenches surrounding the tent. I was received by the battalion executive officer, Major Lovis Caudell. He said he was expecting me and explained that the battalion commander was at a regimental...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: UNIV OF ALABAMA PR
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2006
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0817353410
• ISBN 13: 9780817353414
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 156
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Mare Nostrum Group B.V.; gpsr@mare-nostrum.co.uk; ; Doelen 72; Breda; 4831 GR; Niederlande