NOTES
See below for note numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 9A.
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The "Lost Bastards" of Iron Ridge
During the
Battle of the Kumsong Salient
13 July to 21 July 1953
Compiled by
John R. Carpenter
Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved
The following sources and web pages that are used in this report are used under the Copyright Fair Use Act
or with the permission of the Copyright holders.
The above Copyright protects the sources and web pages noted below.
Each source and web page should be considered Copyrighted and
Remains the owner of each source and web page.
Please respect Copyright laws.
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NOTES
(1) The quad 50 had four M2 air cooled heavy barreled machine guns in an M-16 electric gun mount that allowed 400 to 550 rounds per minute to be fired per barrel. It fired a half inch in diameter 710 grain bob tailed bullet with 235 grains of powder pushing out of the muzzle at a velocity of 2930 fps (feet per second) or 853.4 mps (meters per second). These 128 pound (57.8 kg) machine guns came with 110 round metallic link belts and were effective out to a flat range of 2500 yards or 2287 meters. The quad 50 was developed during World War Two and in semi fixed positions it was magnificent.
Click on picture for larger view.
The M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage ("Quad .50"), mounted on a 10-ton half-tracked vehicle, was armed with a cluster of four, .50 caliber machine guns that could be fired simultaneously. Built upon the M3 Infantry Halftrack chassis and first produced in 1941, some 2,877 Quad 50s were manufactured during World War II as antiaircraft weapons.
Click on picture for larger view.
Halftracks were armored vehicles equipped with a pair of wheels in front and tracks in back. Common in World War II, the M16 variant was the only such vehicle used to any extent during the Korean War by either side.
Introduction of jet aircraft made the Quad 50 ineffective as an antiaircraft weapon, but it found a niche as a valuable antipersonnel weapon, and was routinely used to fire up to 100,000 rounds per day for a variety of purposes (e.g., direct fire against enemy infantry, infiltrating routes of nighttime movement, or systematically stitching hillsides with deadly fire).
(2) The 40 MM Twin or "Dual" Cannon had a maximum flat range of 4750 meters. The rimmed cases are 40 X 311 mm. The rounds had a 900 to 940 gram projectile that fired at about 850 meters per second.
Click
on picture for larger view.
The M19 40mm Multiple Gun Motor Carriage ("Dual 40") was towed or mounted. The M19 was also mounted on a fully-tracked vehicle consisting of an M26 tank chassis armed with a pair of Bofors 40mm automatic antiaircraft cannon. Like the Quad .50, the Dual 40 served largely as an infantry support weapon during the Korean War. This weapon system saw action before the end of World War II and was based on Swedish designs from the late 1930s. The M42 "Dual 40" mm) Duster was on a M1948 tank chassis. The "Dual 40" or "Twin 40" as it was called was also carriage mounted and also placed on different vehicles as needed. See also: M1 40mm Bofors and twin 40mm L/70 Bofors Guns.
(3) The .30 caliber machine gun weighed about 32.5 pounds with a tripod and fired the same one third inch 174 grain bullet with 50 grains of powder that the standard M-1 Garand rifle round fired. It was effective up to 800 yards and fired 400 to 550 rounds per minute with a muzzle velocity of 2800 fps (feet per second) or 853.4 mps (meters per second) in 250 round belts.
M1919A6. Click on picture for larger view.
(4) A good description, with pictures, of both Allied and Communist equipment is on the following web page.
http://www.koreanwar.net/weapons.htm
For example the American Artillery 155 mm "Long Tom" had a range of 14 miles and fired 60 rounds per hour The 8 inch (203.2 mm) Howitzer had a range of 10 miles and fired 30 rounds per hour.
Click on picture for more
details.
155 mm Long Tom - Big Bruiser - of the 937th Field Artillery on road 117A in the morning of 14 July 1953.
(5) BOOK: From Pusan to Panmunjom by General Paik Sun Yup, Republic of Korea Army, retired. Published in 1992 by Brassey's (US), Inc. ISBN 0-02-881002-3. This quote is from page 236.
(6) BOOK: The Korean War by Matthew B. Ridgway, General U.S. Army, retired. Hardback Published in 1967 by Doubleday & Company, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-11172. A paperback version published in 1986 has ISBN 0-306-80267-8. This quote is from page 224.
(7) BOOK: Korea: The First War We Lost by Bevin Alexander. Published first in 1986 and in 1993 by Hippocrene Books Paperback Edition. ISBN 0-7818-0065-X This quote is from page 481.
The quote continues: "In this last, sad series of battles, thousands of young men died or were maimed for mere yards of territory. UN casualties for June and July, 1953, were more than 52,000 men, mostly ROKs. Estimated causalities for communist troops in the same period were 108,000."
(8) Most of the "Lost Bastard" story is from the unpublished biography of Richard (Dick) L. Carpenter. Dick Carpenter retired from U.S. Army in 1966 and served in the Active Reserve for another twelve years. He later retired from the County of San Diego with twenty five years of service. He is currently living in San Diego, California with his second wife, Betty. His first wife, Kunigunda died in 1990 and gave him six children, five who are still alive. He has nine grand children and two great grandkids.
Corporal Carpenter March 1951. 
Second Lieutenant Carpenter 1960.
This was not the only "secret mission" he went on, but that as they say, is another story.
OCS graduation picture 1959. Click on picture for larger image.
(9) MAP: A 1945 era map that contains Iron Ridge is a 10 X 15 inch Army Map Service map in the L751 series and is designated sheet 6728 IV. This is a 1:50,000 scale map. Iron Ridge is in the far north west corner of this map. It is destinct due to its east-west running ridge line.
Map Details: Sanyang-ni (Sanyo-Ri), Korea - Kangwon-Do (Kogen-Do) N3810-E 12730. G7900s 50 AMS 751 6728 IV 1945.
A map that shows the ROK CAP (Capital) Division front in the IX Corp area of operations is: "The Eighth Army Front - The East Sector - 31 March 1953." Iron Ridge is not shown on this map but it is roughly located due east of the last letter on "Triangle Hill" and due south of the last letter on "Lightning Hill" on the map. This area is just east of the railroad and road that runs from Kimhwa to Kumsong. This map shows the Kumsong Buldge that was reduced by the Chinese in July of 1953. The map is located on the following web page:
http://www.koreanwar.org/html/maps/310353.jpg
The final MLR or front line for 27 July 1953 is shown on the next web page. Please note the ROK Capital Division is not present on this map. It had been mauled so bad that it had to be taken off the line.
http://www.koreanwar.org/html/maps/270753.jpg
(9A) April 2003 Update:
BOOK: The Korean War Vol. 3 by the Korean Institute of Military History. Republic of Korea (Korean text) Copyright 1999. English version printed by the University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE in 2001. ISBN 0-8032-7794-6.
Page 642 shows the ROK Capital Division on the left shoulder of the Kumsong Salient. A typographical error shows "13 Sep" (September) and "14 Sep" where 13 July and 14 July should be. This is corrected by bold print. Chapter 5 describes the Battle of the Kumsong Salient. Hill 433 (432 in 1953) or Iron Ridge is not mentioned. Mention of cut off or trapped ROK troops north of 117A is mentioned twice before the Capital Division is withdrawn from battle about the 15th of July.
MAP: A modern (1991) map that contains Iron Ridge (designated as 433) is a 10 X 15 inch Korean Army Map Corp map in the L754 series and is designated sheet 3222-1. This is a 1:50,000 scale map. Iron Ridge is in the north west corner of this map. Iron Ridge (433) is not as destinct as compared to the 1945 map due to the redrawn contour lines. The Military Demarcation Line is where road 117A was in 1953. Road 6 is now 5 in 1991. The northern and southern boundaries of the DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone) are shown. Map supplied by Joseph I. Hess of Tiburon, CA - Korean War Veteran of the 2nd Infantry Division in April 2003. Click here for the 2nd Infantry webpage.
Map Details: Kimwha, Korean Sheet 3222 1, Series L754, Edition 2-KAMC. DMA Stock No. L754X322221, Edition 002 1991
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