ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 2368 25 November 1950
FIELD REPORT (521 - MISD - 0284) 22 November 1950
1. PERSONAL DETAILS:| PW NAME: | CHAE, CHOL HA (崔澈河) (최철하) |
| PW NO: | #567 |
| RANK: | 2nd Lt |
| DUTY: | Plat Leader |
| UNIT: | 42nd Div, 82mm Arty Regt, 2nd Bn, 3rd Co |
| PLACE OF CAPTURE: | SANG TONG NI (上通里) |
| DATE OF CAPTURE: | 15 Nov 50 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH: | HANGYON NAMDO, HAMJU GUN, HAGI CHON MYON, TONFUN RI #42 (咸南 咸州郡 下岐川面 东興里) |
| HOME ADDRESS: | Same as above |
| INTERROGATOR: | Cpl IMAGAWA |
PW was cooperative. Average intelligence.
Reliability: Fair
Education: Primary School (6 yrs)
3. TMILITARY HIST0RY:20 Jul 50 - Inducted at HAMHUNG (咸興) and assigned to the 578th Unit. 5th Bn, 82mm Arty Co at HAMHUNG.
19 Aug 50 - 300 men from the 578th Unit and 300 men from the 579th Unit also stationed in HAMHUNG were sent to military officers school in PYONGYANG.
27 Aug 50 - 600 men arrived PYONGYANG. PW received instruction in 82mm arty for 15 days.
30 Sep 50 - Graduated military officers school and was promoted to 2nd Lt.
1 Oct 50 - Assigned to the 42nd Div, 82mm Arty Regt, 2nd Bn, 3rd Co in WONSAN (元山).
Approx 70 men also assigned to the 42nd Div started to march toward WONSAN, At TOGWON (德源) they met retreating troops of the 42nd Div andf other units from WONSAN, and heard they were all heading toward MAENG SAN (孟山). PW decided to desert and started for his home in TON HUNG NI (東興里) approx 40km N of HAMHUNG.
14 Oct 50 - Arrived at TON HUNG NI and remained in hiding until his capture on 15 Nov 50 by the 5th Marines.
4. ORGANIZATION:The 578th Unit comprised 6 Inf Bns. Each Bn was composed of 3 Inf Cos, 1 x 82mm Arty Co, 1 HMG Co, 1 supply Plat, 1 Commo Plat, 1 Med Plat, 1 x 45mm Arty Plat and 1 AT Plat. PW knew of no other designation for this unit.
5. STRENGTH:Bn strength was estimated to be approx 570 men.
6. WEAPONS:1/3 of the men were equipped with rifles (Japanese). In addition the unit also had 1 HMG, 2 x 82mm Arty pieces, and 1 x 45mm Arty piece in each Bn.
7. GUERRILLA MOVEMENT:11 Oct 50 on the way home from TOGWON, PW observed many groups of NK guerrillas moving toward MAENG SAN (孟山) approx 95km NE of PYONGYANG (平壤) from the mountains near CHONGPYONG (定平) approx 20km SW of HAMHUNG. One of these told him t hat approx 10,000 of them had already moved to MAENG SAN from the SASU SAN (泗水山) area. About half of men were equipped with rifles. All guerrillas in that area were ordered to go to MAENG SAN.
For the AC of S G-2:
SHORT
