The First Team: The First Cavalry Division in Korea 18 July 1950 - 18 January 1952; First n Manila, First in Tokyo, First American Division Across the 38th, First in Pyongyang
Atlanta, GA: Albert Love Enterprises, c1952. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. The format is approximately 9 inches by 12 inches. Dornbusch 411. Unpaginated. Endpaper map. Illustrations. Maps. Cover worn and soiled. Edges and corners rubbed. No dust jacket present. Large volume, somewhat shaken. If sent outside of the U. S. this would require additional shipping charges. Includes a section on the History of the First Team prior to Korea, going back to its precursor lineage units, its formal organization in 1921, and its spectacular achievements during World War II. After a substantial text and pictorial section on the combat operations and military activities the volume ends with information on The Division Patch, information on the Headquarters and Headquarters Company 1st Cavalry Division, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 7th Cavalry Regiment (of Custer fame and Garry Owen), 8th Cavalry Regiment; Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 1st Cavalry Division Artillery, 61st Field Artillery Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Battalion, 99th Field Artillery Battalion, 29th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 92d Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 8th Engineer Combat Battalion, 13th Signal Company, 15th Quartermaster Company, 15th Medical Battalion, 15th Replacement Company, 16th Reconnaissance Company, 27th Ordnance Maintenance Company, 70th Heavy Tank Battalion, 71st Heavy Tank Battalion, 191st Counter-Intelligence Corps Detachment, 545th Military Police Company, and 1st Cavalry Division Band. This is followed by the Roster First Cavalry Division, which gives unit, name, street address and home town and state. The 1st Cavalry Division, initially organized in September 1921 at Fort Bliss, Texas, was serving on occupation duty in Japan when the Korean War began in the summer of 1950. On 18 July 1950 elements of the division went ashore at P'ohang-dong, South Korea, moving quickly westward to block the enemy along the main Taejon-Taegu corridor, which led back to the ports on the Sea of Japan. With unrelenting pressure from the enemy, the division withdrew to Kumch'on and later east of the Naktong River, where it held part of the front near Taegu on the Pusan perimeter. During the month of August "The First Team" successfully countered five major North Korean attacks in that section. In early September the division launched an attack against the "Walled City," a series of high mountain ridges along the perimeter, which the enemy repelled. On 15 September, however, the United Nations began a new offensive with an amphibious landing at Inch'on, near Seoul; with the opening of the second front, the 1st Cavalry Division began a drive northwest of Taegu. Six days later the division broke out of the perimeter, and North Korean pressure in the south ended. Pursuit of the enemy followed, and on 27 September the division met the 7th Infantry Division at Osan. From there the 1st Cavalry Division shifted north to the Kaesong area near the 38th Parallel, the dividing line between North and South Korea. On 9 October the 1st Cavalry Division was ordered to take Kumch'on in North Korea, which fell on 14 October. Shortly thereafter the division reached P'yongyang, the North Korean capital. Elements of the division linked up with the 187th Airborne Infantry at Sunch'on, and other elements turned southwest to Chinnamp'o, the main port of North Korea. Oon 1 November a new, more savage conflict began. Waves of enemy forces swept over the 1st Cavalry Division area near Unsan, and the division fell back to a line between the coast and the Taedong River valley. By 12 December the division had withdrawn to only six miles north of Seoul, and in January 1951 it occupied positions south of Seoul in the Ch'ungju area. Seoul had been captured, but the enemy did not cross the Han River. When the enemy failed to follow up its recapture of Seoul, the 1st Cavalry Division undertook a reconnaissance in force, resulting in a limited offensive, north and west of the capital. By the end of February "The First Team" had reached the Hongch'on area in the central front, midway between Seoul and the Sea of Japan. In February the 1st Cavalry Division pushed to the Hwach'on Reservoir north of the 38th Parallel and then went into reserve. On 22 April the Chinese Communists began a new offensive to dislodge the UN forces, and the division was given the mission of defending Seoul and the area north of the city. The division pushed northward, and by the end of May it was again in North Korea. The 1st Cavalry Division's next assignment was to attack the "Iron Triangle," an area from P'yonggang southeast to Ch'orwon and southwest to Kumhwa, which served as a marshalling zone for the enemy. In December 1951 the 45th Infantry Division replaced the 1st Cavalry Division, which then began redeploying to Hokkaido, Japan. The last element of the 1st arrived in Japan in mid-January 1952. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Korean War, First Cavalry, Pusan, Naktong, Tong-Nae, Melvin Brown, Combat Operations, Republic of Korea, Taegu, Sachon, Osan, Robert H. Young, Samuel Coursen, Prisoners of War, Refugees, Hill 578, Hill 312, Rocket-Launcher, NAPALM, Hobart Gay, Lloyd
[Book #87562]
Price: $275.00