COMMONWEALTH BRIGADES

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26409, 1 May 1951, Page 7

COMMONWEALTH BRIGADES

Fighting Qualities “Superb”

_ , , u TOKYO. April 30. Reports of how two Communist armies failed to break two British brigades began to filter through last night, states the New Zealand Press Association-Reuter correspondent on the Korean front. Tl> e American 9th Corps commander (Major-General William Hodge) told how the 27th Commonwealth Brigade was rushed into the 10-mile gap tn the front line caused by the collapse of an entire South Korean division. “They were superb. They fought against tremendous odds ana did not budge one inch,*' he said. He added that the Australians and Canadians, who bore the brunt of the Chinese onslaught, killed the Chinese equivalent of about two Commonwealth battalions. but the full weight of the Chinese attack down the corridor to Seoul was stopped by the 29th Brigade at the cost of very heavy casualties. The Australians and Canadians occupied positions which the Chinese particularly wanted. Behind the Australians were the New Zealand artillery, who also commanded seven batteries of American guns. The Chinese, undeterred by their heavy losses, mounted suicidal attacks on Anzac Day. The Australians used machine-guns, rifles, grenades, and bayonets, and at times even wrestled wfjh the Chinese who charged their positions until the Commn"W*» broke off the action.