Airborne troops of the 187th Regimental Combat Team ("Rakkasans") board a C-119 "Flying Boxcar" of 314th Troop Carrier Group for their drop behind enemy lines north of Pyonyang, Korea.
It took place on 20th October, 1950 as part of an airborne assault on the North Korean towns of Sukchon and Sunchon which laid 48km north of Pyongyang. The mission objective was to cut off an estimated 30,000 retreating North Korean soldiers and rescue US Prisoners of War believed to be with those forces.
Departing from Kimpo Airfield near Seoul, this was the first operation in the history of the airborne that paratroopers would be dropped from C-119, and the first time heavy equipment would be dropped into enemy territory. During this operation 4,000 men, 600 tons of equipment and supplies were dropped. These included twelve 105 mm howitzers, 39 jeeps, 38 1/4-ton trailers, four 90 mm antiaircraft guns, four 3/4-ton trucks, as well as ammunition, fuel, water, rations, and other supplies.
Once airborne, the planes fell into formation over the Han River and began their journey towards the drop zones, supported by US fighter aircraft which rocketed and strafed the ground in preparation for the landings. Lt. Col. Ronald Speirs and the rest of the 3rd Battalion were parachuted into Drop Zone William – which laid southeast of Sukchon. Once on the ground the paratroopers moved south and took up defensive positions on the low hills south of Sukchon where they established roadblocks across the highway and railway.
Though the airborne drop itself was a success and the town of Sukchon seized, roads and railroads blocked, no prisoners were rescued. Many prisoners – carried in a train concealed in a tunnel as the 187th RCT jumped into the area, were shot by the North Korean soldiers guarding them. The American paratroopers were subsequently ordered to return to Pyongyang.
(
http://www.ronaldspeirs.com/military/korea/)
(Source - NARA FILE#: 111-SC-35149)
(Colourised by Royston Leonard from the UK)
