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The Korean War

New Zealand soldiers on battlefield in Korea.
A 25-pounder field gun of New Zealand artillery detachment opens fire in support of the 1st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
©Imperial War Museum BF365

In 1945 America declared the 38th parallel of latitude as the line of separation between American and Soviet influence in Korea. The Russians set up a communist state in the north and the Americans established the Republic of Korea in the south. In 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea, marking the start of the 'Forgotten War'.

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British forces arrive

The Battle of the Imjin River

Armistice and the demilitarised zone (DMZ)

Search using Republic of Korea Commonwealth Brigade Korean War

Further reading

  • Farrar-Hockley, A., The British Part in the Korean War. 2 vols. (London: HMSO, 1995)
  • Macdonald, C., Britain and the Korean War (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990)
  • Tarling, N., Britain, Southeast Asia and the Impact of the Korean War (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2005)

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