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보/고/서

ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 620　19 August 1950

FIELD REPORT (ADVATIS - FEAF LN TEAM NO. 0118)　14 August 1950

In March 1946 PW volunteered for th North Korean Army. In the summer of 1948, PW’s unit was incorporated into the Chinese 8th Route Army, 15th Division, Artillery Regiment, 1st Battalion, 3rd Company. While PW was in the North Koreans volunteer army, he was in the ammunition Supply Platoon; while in the Chinese Red Army, he was a cook for his company. On or about 1 May 1950, about 7,000 men of the Chinese Red Army, 15th Division, all Koreans except for 3 Russians, left KWANTUNG Province, EIKEI-GUN, for SINUIJU, North KOREA in the NW tip of KOREA. The Battalion Commanding Officer told the Company Commander, who in turn told the PW that there were 7,100 men who came to North KOREA. At SINUIJU, the 15th Division met 7,500 other Koreans from the Chinese Communist Army. All of the men received a month and a half of Soviet style basic training at SINUIJU. Close order drill and manual of arms were included in the training, precise details unknown as the PW was always a cook.

In the beginning of June 1950, the 15th Division became incorporated into the North Korean Peoples Army as the 5th Division. PW’s regiment, battalion number all remained the same. On or about 12 June, the Division moved to WONSAN, North KOREA by train, the trip taking 3 days. From mid-June until early July, the unit received some training and rested a few days. Then the division moved south on trucks. The “front” was reached in three nights. Thereafter, the roads traversed, the towns passed through were completely unknown.

While on the southward march, whenever possible, two meals were eaten per day at 0600 and 1700 hours. During the day the men rested. “Hot” meals cooked in the company mess, consisted of rice mixed with wheat, millet, some pickled and soup. The food was taken to each platoon for further distribution. At the front, on days when mess could not be cooked for the men, each man was given five small dried fish, a piece of hardtack baked in SEOUL, and five cigarettes made in South KOREA. During the southward march, in PW’s company, the men were given the dried fish and hardtack on four different days. As emergency rations each man carried about 2 pounds of rice, some dried fish and seaweed, sufficient to last one day.

At time when there were inadequate supplies of food from the rear, the soldiers went scavenging in deserted homes and farmyards for food, or go to farm houses to procure rice and livestock (PW’s company obtained twenty pigs and five cows on the southward march). Whenever, some rice or livestock was gotten, a M/Sgt made out a receipt and gave it to the owner if the owner could be reached.

As to the source of food supply, PW could give no information, except that two truck-loads (six-bys) of food, consisting of rice, fish, tobacco, sugar, salt were brought to the company once a week.

The trucks unloaded the food and went away. If the food was not completely consumed It was loaded onto seven wagons, four drawn by cows and three by horses.

PW’s was a big caf whose mental ability was in no way increased by treatment after capture. His speech was very difficult to understand by Korean interpreters; his memory and intelligence very poor. He was a slow thinker and very vague, in many instances he contradicted himself.