ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 1946 23 October 1950
FIELD REPORT (ADVATIS - 1199) 19 October 1950
1. PERSONAL DETAILS:| PW NAME: | KIM, KWANG NO (金光露) (김광로) |
| RANK: | Jr Lt (少尉) |
| AGE: | 20 |
| DUTY: | Plat Ldr |
| UNIT: | 18th Div, 1st Regt, 2nd Bn, 3rd Co |
| EDUCATION: | Primary School (6 years) |
| OCCUPATION: | Farmer |
| PLACE OF CAPTURE: | P’OCH’ON (抱川) (1020-1680) |
| DATE OF CAPTURE: | 6 Oct 50 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH: | P’YONGANPUK-To, UICH’ON-Gun, PIHYON-Myon, MASAN-Dong #302 (平安北道義川郡批峴面馬山洞三o二番地) |
| HOME ADDRESS: | MANCHURIA, ANTUNG SHENG, K’UANTIEN, HSIEN, PILIUCH’U, KAN CH’UAN SHUNT’SUN (東北安東升寬甸縣第六区刊川沟村) |
| INTERROGATOR: | KAJIWARA (FEAF) |
PW frequently made contradictory statements. Not too intelligent. Reliability, poor.
3. TACTICAL INFORMATION:Chronology:
17 Aug 50 - Called in for “Volunteer” Youth Training Camp for students. Received about 2 1/2 months military training at this camp in P’YONGYANG.
25 Jun 50 - Inducted as Sgt into the NKA and assigned to the P’YONGYANG Constabulary Co.
11 Jul 50 - Transferred to the 18th Ind Brigade which was then organized in CH’ORWON. Commissioned Jr Lt. As Plat Ldr, PW trained new recruits which joined the 18th Brigade. The Brigade which then had 2,800 men, underwent about 2 months training.
20 Sep 50 - Brigade was enlarged by the addition of artillery units and mortar battalion. Brigade departed CH’ORWON for P’OCH’ON (抱川). Enroute the 18th Brigade was redesignated the 18th Div.
1 Oct 50 - Div arrived in P’OCH’ON, From here the Div deployed the 2nd & 3rd Regt to SEOUL and about 700 men of the 1st Regt remained in the vicinity of P’OCH’ON. Div hq was stationed in TONGDUCH’ON-Ni.
5 Oct 50 - Troops from the NKA 31st Brigade in UIJONGBU retreated into P’OCH’ON. They stated that the UN troops were 12 km to the south.
The members of the 31st Brigade retreated further north but PW’s 1st Regt received orders to hold their position. During the night Regt received an air attack and lost 50 men.
6 Oct 50 - UN troops surrounded the 1st Regt. PW and 35 men surrendered to UN troops.
The Div and Regt Hqs gave no last instructions to its subordinate units. The Regt was disorganized, but PW believes majority of troops were able to escape to NORTH KOREA.
Organization and Strength:
18th Div was originally composed of the following:
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regt’s with 1,800 men in the 1st Regt, and 1,500 men in the 2nd and 3rd Regt’s.
120-mm Mortar Bn with 300 men.
Signal Bn with 300 men.
Guard Plat with 20 man
Command Plat with 15 men
Supply unit with 100 men
Each of the Inf Regt’s had 3 battalions with about 500 to 550 men each, a Signal Plat, a Supply Plat, and an automatic Rifle Co.
The 120-mm Mortar Bn had 3 Co’s.
The original strength of the 18th Div was a little over 5,000 men.
Equipment:
Each Rifleman carried M1891/30 rifle and M1924/27 Carbines with 130 rounds of ammunition.
There was 1 x 7.62-mm LMG in each rifle squad, and 1 x 7.62-mm Maxim HMG in each platoon. All squad leaders carried a PPsh SMG.
In the 120-mm Mortar Bn there were 9 x 120-mm (M1938) Mortars. The Mortar Bn was divided into mortar companies with 3 mortars per company. These companies were deployed with the infantry Regt.
The automatic Rifle Co had 90 men and all carried 7.62-mm PPsh (M1941) SMG’s.
Disposition:
PW heard that the 1st Regt was to assemble in CH’ORWON (鐵原) after being dispersed in P’OCH’ON.
Other Unit:
As of 5 Oct 50, about 2,200 members of 31st Brigade were seen passing through P’OCH’ON (抱川). They said they were going N of 38o Parallel, but would not state their exact destination. They were armed with small arms and had no artillery pieces.
PW heard that the 25th Brigade had also been in UIJONGBU (議政府), but could not give their present position.
Supply:
While in P’OCH’ON, the food supply did not reach the Regt, often troops ate only once daily. No winter clothing was received.
Morale:
The troops’ morale was high and they had the will to fight before they were under fire. However, under the first attack troops were a raid and lacked the spirit of an efficient fighting team.
4. GENERAL:PW saw about 3,000 US PsW in the city of P’YONGYANG. Claims they were in groups of 14-15 and under guard. States these US troops were buying fruit in the market.
For the Commanding Officer:
WEELDREYER
Executive
