Heroes of the Hook

1 Comment

• Jim McGillivray

  September 28, 2018 at 11:15 am

  Here is the story behind this lovely retreat march:
  The 1st Battalion Black Watch was dispatched to the Korean War in 1952. On the night of 18/19 November of that year it fought a fierce battle defending a prominent and vital hill feature known as The Hook. There were many Black Watch casualties amongst the trenches and dugouts of the position, but at dawn The Hook was still in Black Watch hands. The many gallantry awards earned during that night included an immediate Distinguished Service Order for the commander of A Company (Major Angus Irwin, MC), a Military Cross for both Lieutenant Richard Haw and 2nd Lieutenant Donald Black, a Distinguished Conduct Medal for Sergeant Brian Gait, Military Medals for Sergeants Alexander Hutchison and William Kerry and Lance Corporal Robert Manning, and mentions in dispatches for Corporal Strachan, Privates Walker and Coley (Royal Leicester), Lance Corporal McKay (Seaforths) and Corporal Allen (RAMC). During the battle the Battalion’s pipe major, Dick Erickson, lost a leg and the fingers of both hands after being hit by a mortar bomb.