ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 2388 27 November 1950
FIELD REPORT (ADVATIS Special Report No. 0169) 20 November 1950
1. PERSONAL DETAILS:| PW NAME: | CH’AE, Kyu Son (蔡奎善) (채규선) |
| PW NUMBER: | 63NK65270 |
| RANK: | Pvt (戰士) |
| DUTY: | RR Repairman |
| UNIT: | 584 Regt, 2 Bn, 1 Co, 2 Plat, 2 Sqd (RR Repair Unit) |
| EDUCATION: | None |
| OCCUPATION: | Lumber worker |
| PLACE OF CAPTURE: | WONSAN (元山) |
| DATE OF CAPTURE: | 16 Oct 50 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH: | KOREA, HAMGYONG NAMDO, TANCH’ON-GUN, KWANGCH’ONMYON, YONGJAM-NI (咸鏡南道 端川郡 廣泉面 龍삼里) |
| HOME ADDRESS: | Same as above |
| INTERROGATOR: | F.E. HAMILTON (FEAF) |
Intelligent, though uneducated. Seems well informed and reliable. Was a confirmed Communist but seems to distrust communism now,
Reliability - Fair.
3. CHRONOLOGY:Apr 48 - Entered Chinese Army at NINGAN (寧安).
Jul 43 - Sep 48 - SHANCHAHO (三出河). RR work.
Sep 48 - Oct 48 - TULAICHAO (土耒趙). RR bridge work.
Oct 48 - Nov 48 - HSIN-CHING (新葉). RR work.
Nov 48 - Feb 49 - SSUPING (四平). RR work.
Feb 49 - Apr 49 - HUAPEI (葉北). RR work.
Apr 49 - Jun 49 - PUNGPU (棚浦). RR work.
Jun 49 - Jul 49 - NANCHING (南京). RR work.
Jul 49 - CHENGCHOU (鄭州). RR work.
Jul 49 - Oct 49 - HEISHIHKUAN (黑石官). RR bridge work.
Oct 49 - Mar 50 - KUANGHSI (廣西). RR bridge work.
Mar 50 - Jun 50 - CHENGCHOU (鄭州). RR work.
1 - 25 - Jun 50 - SHIHCHIACHUANG (石家莊). Reorganization.
29 Jun 50 - P'YONGYANG (平壤). Got uniforms. Organized as 584th Regt.
3 Jul 50 - SEOUL (서울)
20 Jul 50 - ANDONG (安東). RR and bridge work.
24 Sep 50 - CHECH'ON (堤川). RR and bridge work.
26 Sep 50 - WONJU (原州).
16 Oct 50 - Surrendered at WONSAN (元山).
4. ARMED FORCES:Organization of Third Ind Regt CCF:
Composed of both Chinese (approx 3,200 men) and Koreans (approx 800 men).
PW was in the Ind Arty Co, 2nd Plat, 2nd Sqd, 2nd Sub-sqd.
PW states there were 200 men in his Co, and that the Ind 3rd Regt had approx 4,000 men (hearsay).
PW saw 4 Bns of 3rd Regt during training. Each Bn had 3 Co's and 1 HMG Co.
Organization of Third Ind Regt CCF
Hearsay: 3 Sq per Platoon
3 Sub-Sq per Sq
(4-6 men)
Leaders:
The sub-squad leader was elected by the men. Leaders of higher units were appointed. Normally there were 36 men in a platoon. Platoons - two leaders. However, while PW was training there were approx 60 men in his platoon.
There was one Political leader for the Co named FANG (房).
Armament of the Ind 3rd Arty Co:
4 Jap field guns approx 57 mm and 3 mortars (Jap) approx 122 mm.
Only two Sqds of the 3rd Plat had rifles (Jap) called Sampalsi (model 38).
Only the Co CO and the Political leader had pistols (Jap).
Clothing Within the 3rd Ind Arty Regt:
Padded cotton uniforms in winter.
They had raincoats made of cotton, treated with oil.
Their shoes were made of at least 3 layers of canvas with heavy canvas soles.
In summer, a cloth cap was worn and in. winter, a sheep skin or dog skin cap with flaps over the ears was worn.
General:
In Jul 48, all Koreans in the 3rd Ind Regt were taken out of the Regt and put into the RR Corps.
Their duties were repairing tracks and bridges.
The engineers in charge of bridge repair were from RUSSIA. Part of the construction material was imported from RUSSIA,
5. ORGANIZATIONAL BREAKDOWN OF RR CORPS:The RR Corps consisted of 3 Div.
The 3rd Div consisted of 3 Regts (23 RR Repair Regt and 2 unidentified Regts).
The 23rd RR Repair Regt had 3 Bns of 3 Cos of 3 Plats and a mess Plat.
Each Plat had 3 Sqds which were subdivided into 3 sub-sqds each.
Aside from the main units, the following units were attached to each Hq from Corps down to Bn:
(1) Signal
(2) Medical
(3) Supply
(4) Propaganda
6. COMPOSITION OF UNITS:1st and 2nd Div were entirely Chinese. The 3rd Div had 2 Chinese Regts and 1 Regt in which each of 3 Bns had 2 Korean Co's and 1 Chinese Co,
7. PERSONALITIES:FENG Tok Hwae (팽득홰) - 1st Field Army
YU Paek Sung (유백승) - 2nd Field Army
LIN Piao (林彪) - 4th Field Army
8. ATTITUDE OF CIVILIAN POPULACE TOWARD ARMY:CHINA and MANCHURIA: Good
NORTH KOREA: Bad
Reason: In CHINA and MANCHURIA, the army paid for supplies taken from the populace, treated the population courteously and helped with farming. They did neither of these things in NORTH KOREA.
For the Commanding Officer:
SHAPPELL
