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Colombian Battalion
Active 1951–1954 Country ColombiaAllegiance United NationsBranch Size
5,100 soldiers
300 sailors
Engagements
Korean War
Military unit
The Colombian Battalion was an
infantry battalion of the
Colombian Army that served under
United Nations Command during the
Korean War from 1951 to 1954. The first Colombian military unit to serve in Asia, the battalion was attached to the U.S.
7th Infantry Division and
25th Infantry Divisions .
[1]
[2]
Background
The election of President
Laureano Gómez in 1950 sparked renewed interest in building up
Colombia–United States relations . Gómez wanted greater U.S. economic support in exchange for direct involvement as an ally, and a means to erase any lingering impressions caused among U.S. policymakers of his previous attitude of anti–U.S. and pro–German sentiment during the World Wars.
[3]
Gómez emphasized the importance of the
United Nations security charter and the concept of collective security. As such, he pushed the military to form an expeditionary force that could be deployed on behalf of the United Nations. The overall strength of the battalion was between 4,314 or 5,100 infantry soldiers and 300 sailors on board the frigates
ARC Almirante Padilla ,
ARC Capitán Tono , and
ARC Almirante Brión .
[4] The battalion was the only Latin American army to join the Korean war; the Americans wanted
Mexico ,
Argentina , and
Brazil to collaborate and contribute a regiment, but they all declined to fight except for Colombia. Most of the equipment in the battalion was
WW2 American weapons such as the
M2 carbine and
1911 .
Korean War
Following the outbreak of the Korean War, the Colombian Battalion was deployed to
Busan on 15 June 1951 under the command of Colonel Jaime Polanía Puyo.
[1] The battalion participated in
Operation Thunderbolt , the
Battle of Old Baldy , the
Battle of Triangle Hill and the recapture of
Kumsong through
Operation Nomad-Polar .
[5]
[6]
[7]
The Battle of Old Baldy was particularly notable for the battalion, as the unit lost (killed or wounded) 20% of its deployed strength in the engagement.
[8]
Casualties
The Colombian Battalion suffered men 163 killed in action, 448 wounded, 60 missing, and 30
captured over the course of the conflict.
[2]
Commanders
See also
Gallery
Colombians in Hawaii
Colombian soldiers with a Chinese prisoner
bombardment by Colombian soldiers
chaplain along with battalion soldiers
soldiers in training
soldiers in training
Further reading
The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War-3 (Belgium, Colombia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Sweden) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1974 (E-BOOK)
Archived 2023-07-09 at the
Wayback Machine
The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War-3 (Belgium, Colombia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Sweden) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1974 (PDF)
Archived 2023-06-05 at the
Wayback Machine
The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War-6 (Summary) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1977 (E-BOOK)
Archived 2023-07-09 at the
Wayback Machine
The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War-6 (Summary) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1977 (PDF)
Archived 2023-06-28 at the
Wayback Machine
The Korean War and the UN Forces - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 2015 (E-BOOK)
Archived 2023-07-09 at the
Wayback Machine (in Korean)
The Korean War and the UN Forces - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 2015 (PDF)
Archived 2023-07-09 at the
Wayback Machine (in Korean)
The Statistics of the Korean War - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 2014 (E-BOOK)
Archived 2023-07-09 at the
Wayback Machine (in Korean)
The Statistics of the Korean War - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 2014 (PDF)
Archived 2021-01-11 at the
Wayback Machine (in Korean)
The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1998 (E-BOOK)
Archived 2023-07-09 at the
Wayback Machine (in Korean)
The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1998 (PDF)
Archived 2023-07-09 at the
Wayback Machine (in Korean)
The Summary of the Korean War - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1986 (PDF)
Archived 2023-07-09 at the
Wayback Machine (in Korean)
The History of the Korean War-10: The UN Forces (Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Netherlands) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1980 (E-BOOK)
Archived 2023-06-24 at the
Wayback Machine (in Korean)
The History of the Korean War-10: The UN Forces (Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Netherlands) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1980 (PDF)
Archived 2023-06-05 at the
Wayback Machine (in Korean)
References
^
a
b Saldaña, Juliana (2013-04-02).
"Colombia's legacy with Korea | The City Paper Bogotá" . The City Paper Bogotá . Retrieved 2017-02-15 .
^
a
b Coleman, B. L. (October 2005). "The Colombian Army in Korea, 1950–1954".
The Journal of Military History . 69 (4): 1137–1177.
doi :
10.1353/jmh.2005.0215 .
S2CID
159487629 .
^ Bushnell, Davis. The Making of Modern Colombia .
^
"Medal Hound" . themedalhound.com . Retrieved 2017-02-15 .
^
Operation Nomad-Polar - The 24th Infantry Division Association
^ United States Army Center of Military History, Korea 1951–1953, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1996, p. 278
^
Guerra en Corea El Batallón Colombia" (in Spanish). Archived from
the original on October 30, 2013
^ United States Army Center of Military History, Korea 1951–1953, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1996, p. 278