ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 3755 2 March 1951
FIELD REPORT (164 MISDI 1616) 28 February 1951
| PW NAME: | WANG Chieh Hein (王杰新) (CCF) |
| RANK: | Pvt |
| ORGN: | 1st Field Army, 20th Army Group, 66th Army, 197th Div, 591st Regt, 2nd Bn, 6th Co, 1st Plat, 3rd Sqd |
| DUTIES: | Rifleman |
| EDUCATION: | None |
| AGE: | 25 |
| OCCUPATION: | Laborer |
| ADDRESS: | HONAN SHENG, CH'UANG TE FU LIN HSIEN (河南省 章得府 林縣) |
| DATE & PLACE OF CAPTURE: | 242400 I Feb 51 at an unknown area by unknown troops. |
| INTERROGATOR: | TMO |
| INTERROGATED AT: | TAEGU |
PW was frank on all his statements. Information seems reliable.
a. Chronology:
PW was conscripted Feb 49, TAIYUAN (大原) and assigned to CNA Independent Automatic Weapons Bn. Between Feb 49 and April 49, underwent training as an automatic rifleman.
April 49, PW Bn was surrounded and captured by CCF 20th Army Group.
Between April 49 and June 49, was a prisoner of the CCF in TAIYUAN. While held prisoner, was given political training.
June 49, sent to TIENCHIN (天洋). Upon arriving at TIENCHIN, integrated into the 591st Regt of CCF 197th Div.
Between June 49 and Nov 50, the 591st Regt was engaged in working state farms.
Nov 50, 197th Div traveled by rail to ANTUNG. At ANTUNG, was joined by the 196th and 198th Divisions of the CCF 66th Army.
After resting at ANTUNG for a day, the 196th and 198th Divisions crossed YALU River into SINUIJU (XE 1893), followed by the 197th Division, Nov 50. It took approximately 10 hours for the 3 Divisions to cross the YALU into SINUIJU.
At SINUIJU, 3 Divisions were separated into groups, traveling in different directions.
197th Div marched to KUSONG (XE9335), remained at KUSONG for about 20 days prior to continuing its southward march.
From KUSONG, marched by Regt to KUMHWA (CT 6538). Spend approximately 20 days in the outskirts of KUMHWA resting.
From KUMHWA, the 591st Regt marched across 38th Parallel, passing through CH'UNCHON, arriving in the vicinity south of HONGCH'ON 21 Feb 51.
21 Feb 51, PW deserted his unit and walked south through the mountains to UN lines to surrender.
b. Location and Activities of Units
591st Regt 24 Feb 51, was in the vicinity south of HONGCH'ON (DS0372).
(If the location of capture were available the PW would have been able to give the disposition of the 589th, 590th Infantry Regiments and the 197th Div Hq. However, the PW was unfamiliar with Korean geography, and the capturing unit had failed to write out a PW Tag).
c. T/O & E and Strength:
1st Field Army: 20th Army Group and unknown Army Group.
20th Army Group: 66th Army and 2 unidentified Armies.
66th Army: 196th, 197th, 198th Divisions, Arty Bn and other unidentified units.
197th Rifle Div: 589th, 590th, 591st Rifle Regiments, Security Guard Co, Arty Co and other unknown units.
591st Rifle Regt: 3 Rifle Battalions, Rear Services Unit
2nd Battalion: 3 Rifle Companies and Heavy Weapons Co.
6th Company: 3 Rifle Platoons and 60mm Mortar Plat.
1st Platoon: 3 Rifle Squads
Squad: 7 to 8 troops
| 1st Platoon: | Original (Nov 50) | Present (23 Feb 51) |
| a. EM | 30 | Unknown |
| Officers | 2 | 〃 |
| Total | 32 | 20 |
| b. Equipment & ammo: | ||
| LMG (Jap) | 2 (1,000 rd ea) | 1 |
| SMG (US) | 1 (250 rd ea) | Unknown |
| Rifles (Jap M38) | 16 (100 rd per) | 〃 |
| Grenades | 6 per man | 〃 |
| 6th Company: | ||
| a. EM | 100 | Unknown |
| Officer | 8 | 〃 |
| Total | 108 | 70 |
| b. Equipment & ammo: | ||
| 60mm Mortars | 2 (40 rd ea) | 2 |
| Very Pistol | 1 | Unknown |
| Bugle | 1 | 1 |
| 2nd Battalion: | ||
| a. EM & Off | 500 | Approx 300 |
| b. Equipment & ammo: | ||
| HMG | 4 | Unknown |
| Bangalore torpedoes | 2 | 〃 |
| Field phone (Russ) | 1 | 1 |
| Telephone wire | Unknown | Unknown |
| Horses | 8 | 〃 |
| 591st Rifle Regiment: | ||
| a. EM & Off | 1,600 to 1,700 | 1,000 |
| b. Equipment & ammo: | ||
| Wagons (horse-drawn) | unknown | Unknown |
| 82mm Mortars | 6 | 〃 |
| Box type AT mines | Unknown | 〃 |
| Casualties: | ||
| KIA: 300 to 400, | Cause:Army shelling and small arms fire | |
| WIA: 200 | Cause: Arty and small arms fire | |
| Non-battle casualties: 100 | Cause: Unknown diseases | |
| Total: | 600 to 700 | |
d. Personalities:
HSU Erh Hu (許二虎)
Co CO, 2nd Bn, 591st Regt, 6th Co
WANG Pao Shang (王保生)
Plat Ldr, 1st Plat, 6th Co
e. Replacements:
PW had no knowledge of replacements.
f. Food, Ammo and Other Supplies:
21 Feb 51, 591st Regt food supplies were exhausted. Procured its food supplies from nearby villages and towns along their route of march.
PW Regt did not receive fresh ammo supplies other than that issued at ANTUNG Nov 50.
KUSONG (XE 9335) and KUMHWA (CT6538) are ammo supply centers for the CCF. When PW marched through both places, he saw ammo being unloaded for storage. (Locations unknown).
g. Signal:
Company to Battalion: Runners
Bn to Regiment: Telephones and runners
Regt to Division: Telephones and runners
Division to Army : Wireless
Bugles and whistles are used at company level only for retreat, assembly, etc. Use of flares unknown.
h. Morale and Battle Effectiveness:
Morale of the troops in the 591st Regt, as a whole, was low. Morale of the individual soldier depended on whether he was a:
a: Former-Nationalist soldier
Communist Party member
Non-party member
Officer or EM
In general, most of the troops either are ex-Nationalist troops or are non-party members. Troops in this group have the lowest morale.
The battle effectiveness of his Regt is poor because most of the troops are former-Nationalist and non-party members, further aggravated by suffering from the lack of food, clothing, and proper medical attention.
i. US, ROK and other UN PW:
Prior to crossing the 38th Parallel, the PW observed 3 US PW being taken to the rear near KUMHWA (CT 6538). When the PW asked the guards where they were taking the PW, he was told that they were to be interned at MUKDEN, MANCHURIA.
j. Medical:
Approximately 100 sick troops were observed in the 197th Div.
No measures have been taken to combat diseases.
Many troops were suffering from frostbite but no treatment was available.
k. Psychological Warfare:
PW deserted his unit and walked southward through the mountains for three days to surrender to UN Forces because he felt that if he surrendered, he would be given sufficient clothing, food, and medical attention with humane consideration.
Up to the date of interrogation (28 Feb 50), he has not received the promises made by UN Forces in their leaflets.
Remarks:
PW claims that he has not been fed for the past 36 hours. (This report was completed at 281800 I Feb 51 at the 4th Field hospital).
PW had seen leaflets which promised adequate food, clothing, medical treatment and fair treatment.
PW believed the leaflets, but after surrendering, he doubts whether he will be treated as stated in the propaganda leaflets.
PW has heard troops discuss the leaflets. At first, most of the troops felt that it was better to surrender, but there have been many instances where surrendering, unarmed troops were shot by UN Forces, and those that were able to escape returned to their respective units and spread the word that it was better to fight to the last man than surrender.
Most effective propaganda used by the political officers to the troops is in emphasizing actual cases where surrendering troops were shot by UN Forces.
For the AC of S, G-2:
HONG
