Veterans, politicians, and high school students were among those who took part in the commemoration of the Battle of Gapyeong at 91原创's Derek Doubleday Arboretum on Friday, April 25.
The arboretum hosts a memorial to the Battle of Gapyeong, with was fought between April 22 and 25 when a small group of Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand troops, backed by some American tanks, were attacked by a full division of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.
The United Nations forces were in disarray during the unexpected Chinese spring offensive, and the Commonwealth forces were told to hold off the Chinese advance at Gapyeong, protecting the South Korean capital of Seoul from being captured.
The three-day stand by the Commonwealth forces prevented the encirclement of a larger group of U.S. forces.
In 2019, Korean-Canadian businessman Michael Chang facilitated the placement of a Gapyeong stone in the arboretum 鈥� a huge piece of rock quarried in Gapyeong Country.
Several other stones have since been placed in other Canadian cities as memorials of the Canadian soldiers who were killed in the battle. A total of 12 men from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were killed, and 59 total from all the UN troops involved in the battle, including Australians, New Zealanders, and Americans.
Shaun Francis, of the Princess Patricia's spoke about the battle, while Woo Suk Lee, president of the Korean War Veterans Association, spoke about how the UN defence enabled Korea to become a modern, wealthy nation.
The surviving Korean War veterans in the audience were each recognized individually, including Canadian veterans of the conflict and South Korean veterans who have since immigrated to Canada.
All of them were given poppies, pinned on by students from 91原创 Secondary School.
The ceremony included a drum performance, singing of O Canada and the South Korean national anthem, Aegukga, speeches by a number of local politicians, and a raising of the Canadian, South Korean, and British Columbian flags.
