Friendly Fire at Hill 355

Heroes Remember

Friendly Fire at Hill 355

Transcript

The hill that I was on, and I'm not sure of the number anymore, I think it was 166 or 167, but 355 is a hill that's well known as Little Gibraltar by the Americans. The Royal Canadian Regiment were on that and they were attacked just before sunset. The Chinese overran them. And I was on the next hill, so we were actually calling fire down right on top of them because the RCRs were in their trenches. The Chinese were running above the ground. So whether we kill any of our own people or not I don't know, but we certainly did raise enough heck with the Chinese that they retreated, left. But there was, I didn't know what it was all about. I heard this screaming and hollering and bugles blowing and it was kind of scary, even sitting on the next hill. So I could imagine what the RCRs felt when they were attacked that night.

Description

Mr. McKinney describes watching, from an adjacent position, the Royal Canadian Regiment being overrun on Hill 355, and having to call in artillery fire on the Canadian position. He describes his fear despite not being under direct attack.

James McKinney

James McKinney was born on August 17, 1932 in Winnipegosis, Manitoba. Eventually his family settled in Gladstone, where he finished high school. Along with a brother and two friends, he enlisted in the army at Winnipeg. Mr. McKinney joined the artillery, took a jumper's course, and transferred to the airborne artillery. He also studied logarithms at night school during his basic training, and went to Korea as a Tech Able with the 1st Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Heavy Artillery. In this capacity, he ranged guns on enemy positions and acted as an observer in the observation post trench.

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