Jousting with Their Main Guns: A Bizarre Tank Battle of the Korean War

Jousting with Their Main Guns: A Bizarre Tank Battle of the Korean War by Major Arthur W. Connor, Jr. When asked to describe a typical tank battle, most people talk of long range gunnery duels and massed formations of tanks rumbling through Europe or the desert.

During the war in Korea, however, there was no such thing as a typical tank battle. The terrain was restrictive, roads almost nonexistent, and the weather atrocious. Tanks were an integral part of the American effort in the war, but their battles did not follow the textbook examples taught at Fort Knox before the war began. The following vignette describes the experience of one American tanker as he and his crew fought for their lives in October of 1950.

The K o m War was barely two months old on 11 September 1950, when President Hany Truman approved ground operations north of the Thirty-eighth Parallel and into North Korean temtory. After the spectacular success of the Inchon landings of 16 September, Republic of Korea @OK) soldiers crossed the parallel on 30 September, with U.S. soldiers crossing on 7 October. Seoul had been recaptured by troops of X Corps only two I Corps, with the 1st Cavalry Division and 24th Infantry Division assigned, along with the 1st ROK Divi-days before.' sion and the 27th British Brigade, led the way into North Korea. Arriving in the vicinity of Kaesong on 8 October, the 1st Cavalry Division led the way across the parallel as it attacked Kumchon the next day? The tankers of the 70th Tank Battalion, assigned to the 1st Cav, played a crucial role in spearheading the drive into North Korea.

Resistance was fierce. A Company, 70th Tank Battalion could make little headway in its attacks with the 5th Cavalry on 9 October. On 13 October, B Company was supporting the 8th Cavalry when it ran into a company of North Korean tanks supported by infantry. Moving north out of Kaesong along the main road toward Kumchon, the M-26 Pershings of the tank company led the regimental attack to seize the village. On the outskirts of Kumchon, a group of four T-34s attacked the American Pershings. The lead platoon of B Company fired at the approaching enemy tanks, killing all four with their opening rounds. Two of the T-34s were destroyed when 90-mm hypervelocity mor piercing (HVAP) rounds penetrated the tanks, detonating the ammunition and blowing the turrets off. The third tank burned when hit, and the fourth tank was abandoned by its crew after being struck in the front slope. The North Korean crews were no match for the American tankers? Two more T-34s were destroyed in separate fire fights that day, but as darkness fell, the enemy counterattacked. A heavy ground fog settled over the tankers and 8th Cavalry positions as the B Company commander placed three tanks astride the road leading into Kumchon, tying in his perimeter defense for the night. In one of the most bizarre tank-versus-tank engagements of the war, four more T-34s rumbled out of the mist to contest once again the American supremacy of the battlefield.

The tank commander of the center tank, Sergeant Marshall D. Drewery, saw the first T-34 when it was less than 50 meters away from his position. He screamed at his gunner to ftre, and the American tank bucked under the recoil of the main gun. The tank had a high explosive round loaded in the chamber, and it struck the T-34 directly in its gun tube, splintering it. The North Korean tank was now helpless, but instead of panicking and abandoning the vehicle, the crew charged and rammed the American tank, preventing it from firing a Continued on Page 49 ~ ~ ARMOR - January-February 1993 17