Post by brigadepiron on May 15, 2012 13:00:30 GMT -5
Today:
60th Parachute Field Ambulance, India's contribution to Korea.
Indian 60th PFA formation patch
60th Parachute Field Ambulance, India's contribution to Korea.
The Indian army provided paramedical units to facilitate the withdrawal of the sick and wounded in the Korean War. With the communist invasion of South Korea in 1950, the UN sent out a call to the free world for assistance. India decided not to get involved militarily but contributed a medical unit, the 60 Parachute Field Ambulance which served in Korea for a total of three and a half years (Nov 1950- May 1953), the longest single tenure by any military unit under the UN flag.
They were involved in providing medical cover alternately to the US Army/ROK forces and the Commonwealth Division under the UN Command as well as the local civilians, and earned a very well-deserved title, "The Maroon Angels". The unit also looked after the North Korean POWs. The highlight of the tenure undoubtedly was when the unit provided an ADS and a surgical team (7 officers and 5 Other ranks) during Operation Tomahawk, an airborne operation launched on 21 March 1951 by the US Army’s 187 Airborne Regimental Combat Team.
Towards the end of the Korean War in 1953, a force of almost a divisional-strength known as the Custodian Force of India was deployed for the repatriation of the prisoners of war and was deployed for almost two years (1953-54).
They were involved in providing medical cover alternately to the US Army/ROK forces and the Commonwealth Division under the UN Command as well as the local civilians, and earned a very well-deserved title, "The Maroon Angels". The unit also looked after the North Korean POWs. The highlight of the tenure undoubtedly was when the unit provided an ADS and a surgical team (7 officers and 5 Other ranks) during Operation Tomahawk, an airborne operation launched on 21 March 1951 by the US Army’s 187 Airborne Regimental Combat Team.
Towards the end of the Korean War in 1953, a force of almost a divisional-strength known as the Custodian Force of India was deployed for the repatriation of the prisoners of war and was deployed for almost two years (1953-54).
Indian 60th PFA formation patch
Driver Nathu Singh, a Sikh member of the 60th Indian Field Ambulance Unit standing in front of the Indian and the Red Cross flags in Korea. [curtosy of Imperial War Museum]