ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 2333 22 November 1950
FIELD REPORT (521 - MISD - 0260) 19 November 1950
1. PERSONAL DETAILS:| PW NAME: | WU Kwok Chun (吴國君) |
| PW NO: | 427 |
| RANK: | Pvt (soldier) |
| DUTY: | HMG Ammunition Carrier |
| UNIT: | 42nd Army, 124th Div, 370th Regt, 1st Bn, Hvy Weapons Co, 1st Plat, 1st Sq. |
| PLACE OF CAPTURE: | HWGICHON-MYON (下岐川面) Area |
| DATE AND BY WHOM CAPTURED: | 4 Nov 50 by UN Troops |
| PLACE OF BIRTH: | LIAOTUNG SUNG FUHIEN TAIYANG KYU NAKYA TUNG (All phonetic spelling) (遼東省 富縣 大陽区 那家屯) |
| HOME ADDRESS: | Same as above |
PW was cooperative and talked freely. However duo to his lack of education he was not too observant and the dates may not be reliable.
Age: 24
Reliability: Fair
Education: None (illiterate)
Physical Condition: Good
Length of Service: 3 yrs 4 mos
3. MILITARY HISTORY:Mid Jun: 47 - Volunteered into Chinese Nationalist Army (保安隊) at “FUHIEN” (富縣 phonetic) MANCHURIA. Here he received about 1 month of military training.
Late Sep 47 - Captured by CCF at “FUHIEN” MANCHURIA and inducted into 42nd Army, 124th Div, 370th Regt, 1st Bn. The 1st Bn was located in the nearby mountains and was engaged in mopping-up operations of Chinese Nationalist Forces. PW did not know whether or not the entire 124th Div was deployed in this area.
Nov 47 - The 1st Battalion departed “FUHIEN” Area and arrived at “TASHIKYO” (大石橋) (phonetic). Here the Battalion was engaged by (Chinese Nationalist Troops and was victorious. Here PW was wounded in the right leg and was sent to an army hospital in ANTUNG (安東).
o/a 16 Dec 47 - PW departed ANTUNG by train together with 10 patients from his battalion.
17 Dec 47 - The group arrived at “WAFWANGDIEN” (乭房店 phonetic) Kwantung Leased Territory and was admitted to an Army hospital.
Late Apr 48 - PW was discharged from the hospital and departed “WAFWANGDIEN,” KWANTUNG, together with the other 10 men and arrived near ANSHAN (鞍山) after 4 days of walking. The entire 370th Regt was deployed in the neighboring mountains. ANSHAN was occupied by Chinese Nationalist Troops at this time.
o/a 8 May 48 - After about 5 days of fighting the Chinese Nationalist Troops were defected and the 370th Regiment entered ANSHAN. The 1st Bn to which PW was assigned suffered about 100 casualties in this battle. PW did not know the number of casualties in the entire 370th Regiment.
o/a 15 May 48 - The 1st, and 2nd battalion of the 370th Regt departed ANSHAN on foot leaving the 3d Battalion at ANSHAN. The 1st and 2nd Battalions went in different directions.
16 May 48 - The 1st Bn arrived at “CHIN YUEN SHIEN (淸元縣) (Phonetic) on foot and was billeted in a small farming village nearby. Here the battalion engaged in infantry training and political indoctrination.
o/a 15 Aug 48 - The battalion departed "CHIN YUEN SHIEN" on foot and arrived at PEIPING (北京) CHINA late Dec 48. Enroute to PEIPING the 1st Battalion was joined by the 2d and 3d Battalions and thus the entire 370th Regt arrived at PEIPING, CHINA. PW believes that the entire 125th Div wont to North China but was not certain.
Late Dec 48 - PEIPING was occupied by Chinese Nationalist Forces at this time and various units of he CCF were surrounding the city.
Late Jan 49 - “FU So I” (傅作荑 phonetic) was commander of the Chinese National Forces in PEIPING and he surrendered to the CCF without fighting. PW did not know what CCF units were in the PEIPING area at this time.
Mid Feb 49 - The entire 370th Regt departed PEIPING on foot.
Mid Mar 49 - The Regt arrived at “LOYANG” (路陽 phonetic) CHINA after marching for about a month. The Regt was not joined by other units or engaged in any action. Here the Regt engaged in infantry training and political indoctrination.
Sep 49 - The entire 370th Regt departed “LOYANG” and arrived at “SUCHWAN” (四川) (Phonetic) CHINA, after marching for about 3 weeks. The Regt was scheduled to fight with Chinese National Troops at "SU CHWAN" but the city was secured without any fighting.
Jan 50 - The 370th Regt departed “SUCHWAN” on train and arrived at “HEILUNG GYAN” (黒竜江 Phonetic) MANCHURIA 8 days later. PW believes that other units departed “SUCHWAN”. CHINA at this time but and not know for sure. The 1st and 2nd Bns were engaged in logging at “HEILUNG GYAN” MANCHURIA and the 3d Bn on the 370th Regt was engaged in farming.
Mid Aug 50 - The entire 370th Regt departed “HEILUNG GYAN” by train and arrived at TUNG HWA (通化) MANCHURIA. The Regiment remained here for about 2 months and was engaged in infantry training and political indoctrination. During this 2 months period the 371st and 372nd Regiments arrived at TUNGHWA thus assembling the entire 124th Div at this place.
o/a 16 Oct 50 - The 370th Regiment departed TUNGHWA by train and arrived at CHIAN (輯安) MANCHURIA. Then the regiment crossed the YALU River and entered MANPOJIN, KOREA on the evening of this date. The 371st and 372nd Regiments were to follow the 370th Regiment into KOREA but PW has not seen these other regiments since departing TUNGHWA, MANCHURIA.
Late Oct 50 - The 370th Regiment arrived at HAGICHON (下岐川) area and after about a day’s rest the Regt was engaged by UN Troops. Due to an infected foot PW remained in the rear area during the fighting. The Company Commander told PW that since he was not fit to fight he must go back to MANCHURIA, and also that if he was captured by UN Troops he would be killed immediately. This encounter lasted for several days - the fighting for the most part was done at night.
4 Nov 50 - PW was informed by one of his fellow, soldiers that the unit was withdrawing and since it is a long walk to MANCHURIA, especially with an infected foot he did not evacuate but surrendered to advancing UN Troops.
4. PERSONALITIES:NAME: NYU Youn Ping (牛元平)
RANK: Bn Commander
AGE: About 27
POSITION: 370th Regt 1st Bn CO
REMARKS: Was assistant Bn CO until late Dec 48 on early Jan 49 When the Bn CO was killed.
NAME: CHOO Chuwen Do (朱全德)
RANK: Plat Ldr
AGE: About 27
POSITION: 1st Bn Hvy Weapons Co, 1st Plat Ldr
REMARKS: Communist Party member, but uneducated. Lost little finger on right hand.
5. FOREIGN ELEMENTS:There were some Japanese Medical officers and medical corpsmen and nurses in the 125th Div while in MANCHURIA and CHINA. However, these persons did not enter KOREA with the Div. The whereabouts of these persons is not known.
6. ORGANIZATIONThe 42nd Army consisted of the 124th, 125th, and 126th Infantry Divisions. PW was in the 124th Div which was believed to be the best division in the 42nd Army. Most of the officers in the 124th Div were communist party members and most of the men were veterans of many battles in CHINA and MANCHURIA.
The 124th consisted of the 370th, 371st and 372nd Infantry Regiments. In addition there was an independent Artillery Regiment. Each of these regiments had a strength of about 2700. When the division went into action the Arty Regt was broken down and integrated into the infantry units and when the division was not in action the Arty Regt became a separate unit.
Each Infantry Regiment consisted of 3 Infantry Bns and an Arty Bn. The Artillery Battalion was broken down and integrated into the 3 Infantry Battalions during combat.
Each infantry bn consisted of 3 infantry companys and one heavy weapons company. The heavy weapons company was broken down and integrated into the infantry companies when they went into action.
PW believed that the organization of the 125th and 126th Div was identical to that of the 124th Div.
Following is the organization of the 42nd Army:
PW heard from his comrades that there were the following weapons in the 124th Div.
15 submachine guns in a company
9 x 60mm Mortars in a battalion
9 LMGs in a company
6 HMGs in a battalion
3 x 82mm Mortars in a battalion
10 horse carts for hauling ammo in a regiment
1 telephone in a battalion
There were formerly about 10 light artillery pieces in the 124th Div but these were left in MANCHURIA. PW did not know whether the guns were to follow them into North Korea. About 6 horses were used in pulling one artillery piece.
The men were armed with Japanese rifles and provided with approximately 50 rounds of ammo and 3 hand grenades. The men carried their own meals. Each man had a cloth bag shaped like a tube, which was filled with maize. This bag of millet was supposed to last for 5 days but usually it was consumed in 4 days by eating 2 meals a day and on the 5th day the troops had to go without food.
MORALE:The men in the 1st Bn to which PW was assigned were told by the Bn commander that they were going to fight in KOREA. This speech by the Bn commander was made at TUNGHUA, MANCHURIA in Mid Oct 50. The men were asked what they thought of going to KOREA. Not one man said that he wanted to go but the Battalion Commander told them that they wore going anyway. They were not told who they were going to fight.
After hearing this speech many men in the battalion deserted.
The morale of the men was low due to insufficient food, and the exhausting marches.
There were no medical facilities or medical corpsman in PW’s Unit.
PW did not know how the men felt toward the NK Army, but he personally did not have any ill-feeling toward the NKA. He simply followed the orders of his superiors in coming to KOREA. PW felt that this was the case with most of the men in his unit.
PW felt that since they could not converse with each other the NK PW’s went about their own business and did not bother with the CCF PW's.
CCF Troops were not told not to associate with NK civilians.
PW did not recall any instances where his unit lived off the country or commandeered billets,
PW followed the orders of his superiors and did not concern himself with such things as foaling between officers and EM, attitude of civil populace towards CCF Troops, etc.
For the AC of S G-2:
SHORT
