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Battle of the Imjin River 1951

Battle of the Imjin River: Disabled Centurion tank at Imjin
Image: Phillip Oliver Hobson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date22 April 1951 – 25 April 1951Wikidata
Year1951Wikidata P580 (start time)
EraPost-1945 (1946 onwards)derived from year
LocationSouth KoreaNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentAsiaNatural Earth
War / conflictKorean WarWikidata P361
ParticipantsUnited KingdomWikidata P710
Coordinates37.9427, 126.9390Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Battle of the Imjin River, also known as the Battle of Solma-ri (Korean: 설마리 전투) or Battle of Gloster Hill (글로스터 고지 전투) in South Korea, or as Battle of Xuemali (Chinese: 雪马里战斗; pinyin: Xuě Mǎ Lǐ Zhàn Dòu) in China, took place 22–25 April 1951 during the Korean War. Troops from the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) attacked United Nations Command (UN) positions on the lower Imjin River in an attempt to achieve a breakthrough and recapture the South Korean capital Seoul. The attack was part of the Chinese Spring Offensive, the aim of which was to regain the initiative on the battlefield after a series of successful UN counter-offensives in January–March 1951 had allowed UN forces to establish themselves beyond the 38th Parallel at the Kansas Line.

The section of the UN line where the battle took place was defended primarily by British forces of the 29th Infantry Brigade, consisting of three British and one Belgian infantry battalions supported by tanks and artillery. Despite facing a greatly numerically superior enemy, the brigade held its general positions for three days.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Imjin River (revision 1376480748), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

37.9427, 126.9390 · South Korea

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