Book description
April 24th, 1951,was a lonely, moon-lit night in Korea. On a
godforsaken hill, a few hundred surrounded Canadian soldiers waited for
the fight of their lives to begin. Soon, Chinese communist troops in
their thousands, swarmed around them, plunging straight towards the
Korean capital, Seoul. These Canadians were all that blocked the way.
This is the story of the first battle by Canadas first soldiers in the
Korean War: the 2nd Battalion of Princess Patricias Canadian Light
Infantry. These volunteers were straight from Central Casting: truck
drivers, construction workers, kids just out of high school, and bored
farm boys. Outnumbered and outgunned, this peoples army of amateurs beat
off some of the toughest troops on earth. This battle thats become a
legend takes its name from a nearby peanut-sized village: Kapyong. Its
become a mythic Canadian story, except this is mythology that is true
and real. "Bjarnason mixes the official histories with a visit to
the site, which makes for a rounded description. The sights, the sounds
and the smells give an immediacy that official recountings
exclude." Dan Bjarnason was a television news and documentary
reporter for the National at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for
over 35 years. His world-wide assignments, including time as a foreign
correspondent, allowed him to indulge his passion for military history
and to visit dozens of battlefields from the Little Bighorn to the
Falklands. He lives in Toronto.
