Events That Have Changed Canada Forever

Canada has been historically modified in a variety of ways from the 20th century. I will present three topics that have changed Canada forever.

One major topic is Canada and its involvement with the Korean War.

On June 25, 1950 the forces of North Korea crossed the 38th Parallel into the Republic of Korea. The news was quickly heard by the U.N. During the afternoon the U.N had a meeting and resulted with the immediate withdrawal of North Koreans from the 38th Parallel. However the North Koreans refused and President Truman ordered the U.S Air Force and Navy to support the South Koreans.

The North Koreans were pushing rapidly forward through the valleys and rice paddies of the Korean peninsula. The South Korean capital, Seoul, was occupied on June 28, and by the first week of August the UN forces were held within the “Pusan Perimeter”, a small area in the southeast of the peninsula. They were still being hard pressed when, on September 15, a successful allied landing was made at Inchon, the port of Seoul. This assault changed the military situation overnight. The North Korean troops were soon in immediate retreat.

The UN forces moved rapidly northward, recaptured Seoul, crossed the 38th Parallel and advanced towards the border of Manchuria. Then Communist China interfered. At the end of November strong Chinese forces crossed the border and launched a massive assault which drove the UN and South Korean armies back across the 38th Parallel to positions south along the Imjin River. The Canadian Government, while agreeing with the moves made to stop aggression, did not immediately commit its forces to action in Korea. At the close of the Second World War the Canadian armed forces had been reduced to peacetime strength and were specially trained for the defense of Canada. The first Canadian aid to the UN forces came from the Royal Canadian Navy. On July 12, 1950 three Canadian destroyers, Cayuga, Athabaskan and Sioux, were dispatched to Korean waters to serve under United Nations Command. These ships supported the assault at Inchon and played an especially important role in the evacuation.

By June, 1951 Canada had recruited many specialized soldiers under the command of the U.N into the Korean borders.

Early in July, 1951, cease-fire negotiations had begun near Kaesong on the 38th Parallel. They were unsuccessful. As the negotiations dragged on, the bloody fighting continued along the front lines. As cease-fire negotiations were renewed, orders were given on November 27 that artillery action was to be restricted to defensive fire and there was to be no more patrolling. However, as the enemy continued to send out patrols these restrictions were gradually lifted. From the winter of 1951-52 a period of harsh warfare began. It became a war of raids, traps and mines, bombardments, deaths of casualties, and endless gunfire. As the fighting dragged on into 1953 under the name of the “Twilight War”, defenses on both sides grew stronger and deeper. Canadians engaged in gunfire and raids with the object of dominating “No Man’s Land” and securing prisoners