ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 4056 17 March 1951
FIELD REPORT (164 - MISDI – 1678) 10 March 1951
| PW NAME: | HSIEH, Wen Shan (薛文山) (CCF) |
| RANK: | Pvt |
| ORGN: | 38th Army, 114th Div, 340th Regt, 2d Bn, HMG Co, 1st Plat, 1st Sqd |
| DUTIES: | Ammo bearer |
| EDUCATION: | None |
| AGE: | 21 |
| OCCUPATION: | Farmer |
| ADDRESS: | JEHOL SHENG, PING CHUAN HSIEN, NANPO T’SUN, PAI TZU KOU (熱河省 平金縣 南波村 白子溝) |
| DATE & PLACE OF CAPTURE: | 071500 I March 51 at CS 538558 (Hill 182) by 1st Bn, 35th RCT |
| INTERROGATOR: | WTO |
2. ASSESSMNET
PW, although cooperative, lacked education and was very unfamiliar with the military service.
Information seems unreliable.
a. Chronology:
Conscripted in Jan 49 at JEHOL SHENG into the CCF 168th Division. He underwent 3 months of political and infantry training.
168th Division moved to LIAOHSI SHENG (遼西省) during Dec 49 and engaged in further training.
3d Regiment, 168th Division, departed for KAIYUAN (開原) in Jul 50 as replacements for the 38th Army. PW was assigned to present unit then, (1st and 2d Regiments, 168th Division, departed for PEIKING as replacements for other units).
340th Regt departed KAIYUAN by train in Sep 50 and arrived in KOREA via MANPOJIN (BA 7259) after a two day trip. Arrived in the SUKCH’ON (YD2564) area during Sep 50 and engaged in a 4 day battle, before proceeding to TOKCH’ON (BV 6903). Arrived TOKCH’ON and battled for 2 days.
Regt passed through unknown places and arrived at the 38th parallel, during Dec 50. Participated in the New Year’s offensive and battled southward until it arrived at the HAN River area, east of SEOUL.
38th Army was in the general area east of SEOUL when the PW was captured 7 Mar 51.
b. Location and Activities of Unit:
340th Regt was last seen 7 Mar 51 surrounded by UN forces at the PW place of capture.
c. TO/E and Strength:
38th Army: 112th, 113th, and 114th Divisions.
114th Div: 340th, 341st and 342d Regiments.
340th Regiment: 3 Rifle Battalions, 92mm Gun Co, and Heavy Mortar Company.
Each Rifle Bn: 3 Rifle Companies, and HMG Company.
Each Rifle Co: 3 Rifle Platoons, and Misc Platoon.
Each Rifle Plat: 3 Rifle Squads.
Each Rifle Squad: 9 – 10 men.
| HMG Co, 2d Bn, 340th Regt: | Original | Present |
| EM | 179 | 88 |
| Officer | 9 | 2 |
| Equipment & ammo: | ||
| HMG | 6 (2,000 rd ea) | 3 (2,000 rd ea) |
| 81mm Mortars (US) | 3 | Unk |
| Rifles, Model 38 | Unk | 〃 |
| Carbines, US | 3 (100 rd ea) | 〃 |
| Pistols | 7 (100 rd ea) | 〃 |
| Rocket launchers (2.36) | 2 (15 rd ea) | 〃 |
2d Battalion strength was estimated to be not more than 300 troops at present.
d. Replacements:
5 Mar 51, 340th Regt received a company of recruits for replacements.
e. Food, Ammo and Other Supplies:
Food was procured locally in sufficient amounts. Two meals were received daily.
3 Mar 51 HMG Company received ammo supplies. Each man was given 250 rounds of machine gun ammo to carry.
f. Morale:
Morale was high during the early stages of the war. It has dropped considerably since then because of the cold weather, poor equipment, and the losing battle.
g. Signal:
Runners were used by the HMG Company.
h. Psychological Warfare:
PW was captured when his regiment was surrounded by UN forces.
No leaflets or loudspeaker broadcasts had been seen or heard by the PW.
For the AC of S, G-2:
HONG
