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Inch'on 1950: The last great amphibious assault (Campaign)

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Osprey has finally started doing a few titles on the Korean War and Gordon L. Rottman's Inch' on 1950 is a fine addition to the Campaign series. This volume is well-researched and although a bit dry at times, is well-written. This campaign is intriguing as one of the few occasions in post-WW2 history where US military power was able to achieve decisive operational results in a conventional battle. Inch' on 1950 is an excellent concise history of an important campaign that shaped the Cold War.

Rottman begins Inch' on with a rather lengthy 14-page introductory section that outlines the events that led up to the campaign, including the North Korean invasion and the defense of the Pusan Perimeter. The author's description of the rapid formation and dispatch of the 1st Marine Division - which he rightly says was "a phenomenal feat" - is a good example of the latent military power inherent in a great power. The section on opposing commanders is decent, but overly-US heavy; the author might have looked to POW interrogation reports for names of some of the enemy local commanders. The next two sections on opposing forces and opposing plans are both very good. Rottman mentions that 32 LSTs were manned by Japanese crews, which is rarely mentioned in most histories. In opposing plans, Rottman details the formulation of the Operation Chromite plan without unduly lionizing Macarthur (although he might have mentioned that Macarthur had significant experience with the operational use of amphibious assaults, including the Hollandia campaign in 1944). Rottman also notes that US intelligence preparation of the battlefield was very poor, with little knowledge on the height of the seawalls or enemy dispositions. Nevertheless, despite lack of adequate training and preparation, D-Day at Inch' on was a great success and Rottman notes that excellent US logistics and close air support made the difference. The aftermath sections covers the battle for Seoul. The volume includes four 2-D maps (strategic situation; Inch' on-Seoul area; Inch' on landing; the drive to Seoul), three 3-D maps (D-Day at Inch' on; Han River Crossing; the Battle of Seoul) and three battle scenes (Beach Red Seawall, 15 September; tank ambush at Ascom City, 17 September; Dog Company pinned down outside Seoul, 26 September). The artwork by Peter Dennis is superb.

The war between North and South Korea has been going on for six decades. The armistice has been in effect for over 53 years, despite numerous violations by North Korea. North Korea's economic collapse and its claim to posses both atomic bombs and missiles capable of reaching the United States or any part of South Korea and Japan make understanding the events of 1950 to 1953 relevant today. Gordon Rottman's "Inch'on 1950" is an excellent starting point.

The Inchon operation was a surprise for a number of reasons: the Americans were "too soft to fight," the day of the amphibious assault was over, Inchon was the wrong place to conduct an amphibious assault because of the extreme tides, and the post-World War Two drawdown had left the United States with insufficient amphibious ships and Marines to conduct an amphibious operation.

On pages 22 and 23, "Inch'on 1950" gives some idea of how rapidly the United States responded. On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. On August 23, after North Korea repeatedly defeated United Nations forces, the decision was made to commit a US Marine and a US Army division and other UN forces to the Inchon operation. That operation was barely three weeks from decision to execution. On September 15, 1950, Marines stormed ashore at Inchon. Anybody familiar with military bureaucracy would be astonished at going from complete surprise to counter-invasion in less than 90 days. The units were transferred by ocean vessels at the blinding speed of about 12 knots (about 15 miles per hour) AFTER the ground units had been rebuilt from a skeleton cadre to combat strength. The amphibious fleet for Operation Chromite didn't exist on June 25, 1950, when North Korean tanks poured across the border and plunged into Seoul, South Korea's capitol city.

The alternative to Operation Chromite was a frontal assault through the formidable North Korean positions. With the 20/20 hindsight of history, perhaps that wouldn't have been the disaster perceived at the time--the North Korean forces were exhausted, their supply lines hammered by UN air power, and no reinforcements were available. In contrast, the UN forces had Japan as a sanctuary, protected by undisputed control of the sea and air in the Korean area.

Peter Dennis brings this campaign to life through maps and vivid action paintings. Rottman provides order of battle tables, a chronology, and descriptions of the commanders and forces on each side. The North Korean side isn't fleshed out well, but that's because North Korea is still at war--they haven't opened up their unit histories to outsiders, yet! Period photographs and the blow-by-blow description of the preparation, assault, and breakthrough to Seoul make this as real as it gets without winding up with wet feet. I was in South Korea during 1977--the one-page description of the battlefield as it stands today is accurate, but sparse. Today, South Korea has forests!

Inchon was one chapter in the long Korean War saga, a story that is still on-going. Gordon Rottman's "Inch'on 1950" is a good starting point.

One of Mr Rottman's hallmarks to this series of books is his meaningfull introductions. In one of the lengthiest of the series, 15 pages, the author describes the history of the Korean Peninsula since WWII and the impact the USSR and US has had on the respective halves. In addition the origins and evolution and state of readiness of the NKPA and ROKA in 1950 are described as well as the small garrison of US troops stationed there. We also learn that in the States, the US Army was whittled down to only 10 divisions since the end of WWII. We also learn the NKPA was better equipped, better trained and twice the size of the ROKA. The chapter also has a brief description of the terrain of the harbor and city sector including Seoul. Also included is a brief summary of the first couple months of the war where the UN Forces are pushed back to the Pusan Perimeter.

The next three chapters are Opposing Commanders, Forces and Plans. The American side has excellent coverage, especially the commander section. It gives one of the best bios of the leaders in the whole series. It includes MacArthur, Strubble, Almond, O.P. Smith and Barr. There is little known about the NKPA commanders and plans for the defense of Inch'on. The author spends 11 pages of the planning of the amphibious landing on how X Corps will take Wolmi-do island before landing two groups at Inch'on. It also mention the commanders making up the 1st MarDiv and 7th ID. The NKPA's units were 226th MarReg and the 25th Rifle Brigade among other patch quilt units to defend Inch'on.

In the main chapter, Operation Chromite is discussed on how relatively easy Inch'on was captured. The UN forces quickly proceed northeasterly, cross the Han River capturing Seoul before setting up positions to block the retreat of the NKPA back to North Korea.
Before the landings, the Navy and practically everybody else tried to persuade MacArthur not to do it because it was too risky but MacArthur ignored everybody and went ahead and succeeded with the operaion. Its also of interest that Operation Chromite had already been planned before the actual NKPA invasion as a what if scenario.

There are four 2-D maps and three 3-D maps and all of them are excellent. The first 2-D map is the strategic situation just prior to the landings. Then there is the Inch'on - Seoul area, followed by Inch'on landing and finishing with the drive to Seoul. The 3-D maps are the Inch'on landings, Han River crossing and the Battle for Seoul.
Besides the maps there are 3 double page color battle scenes and a lot of good photos. There is also a Order of Battle list of the US forces. The book ends with a Bibliography and Index.
This book was done very well and is recommended to both newcomer and old pro.

This volume starts off with an excellent overview of the antagonist's armed forces, from the highest commanders to middle and low level officers as well as how troop quality and training varied among privates as well as the tactics used by both sides. Then the volume moves on to provide a description of the strategic situation at the time of the Inch'on and what the dilemmas were for both sides militarily. This discussion not only gives an excellent overview of the military situation but what Inch'on was expected to accomplish from the perspective of the U.N.

Then a discussion is provided of the strategy of both sides with respect to attack and defense and the forces (quality and quantity) that were involved. This does an excellent job at showing how high risk the battle was and how much would be gained if it suceeded (i.e., the outflanking of the North Korean lines). Then there is description of how the invasion played out (basically the accomplishment of total surprise and quick follow up that was responsible for the military success). The maps provided do an excellent side at showing how the battle succeeded as well as well as the difficulties (quite formidable) that had to be overcome. Last but not least there is a short discussion of the impact of the campaign. This was basically that the North Korean's whole front was unhinged by their being outflanked. This lead to a North Korean retreat and enabled the U.N. forces to push the North Koreans out of South Korea.

All and all an excellent survey of the campaign for anyone who has only an hour or so to get up to speed.

Two months after the North Korean invasion, United Nation's forces find themselves cornered and barely holding onto a corner of the Korean Peninsula. Douglas MacArthur pulls together ad-hoc units to re-form two new divisions. Poorly trained and unprepared, these troops launch a bold amphibious operation behind enemy lines. Their attack catches the North Koreans by surprise and soon their enemies are racing them to the Chinese border. This is the stuff of great military history.

Unfortunately, Gordon Rottman is not the best writer to tell this interesting story. As so often happens with Osprey Campaign histories, the book soon becomes bogged down in too much detail and the drama is lost. Typical is the following paragraph:

"In the evening on Wolmi-do DUKW amphibian trucks landed 1/11 and 2/11 Marines's howitzers to support RCT-5 and RCT-1, retrospectively. In addition, 4/11 landed on Beach Red in support of RCT-5 on D+1 and they were followed by the 96th Field Artillery on D+2 to support RCT-1; both were armed with 155mm artillery."

I am sure that Gordon Rottman really knows his stuff but his level of microscopic detail is better suited to a Staff College account of the Campaign rather than to a book geared towards the general reading public. If you are looking for a more readable account of the battle, I suggest that you would be better served by reading a general account of the Korean War. David Halberstam has a new book out on the Korean War and that is where I will be looking.