Allies of a Kind: Canadian Army-US Army Relations and the Korean War, 1950-1953

Abstract

Abstract : The international mobilization to save the Republic of Korea (ROK) in June 1950 brought the Canadian Army into its first major sustained contact with the US Army. The experience proved generally positive and laid the foundation for cooperation for hemispheric and European defense during the Cold War. The relationship of the 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade Group (CIBG) in Korea and its rear echelon in Japan to the US Army was, however, occasionally strained. The major clash of military cultures between Canadians and Americans occurred in the Japanese domain of the US Far East Command (FECOM) and US Army Forces Far East, not in the US Eighth Army. The result was grudging accommodation and wary compromises that kept alive the Canadian and American partnership. When the United Nations called for its member nations to provide ground forces to fight the North Korean Army, the US Department of Defense tried to set the terms by which FECOM would accept foreign troops for the Eighth Army. The basic criteria were reasonable enough. The forces should be of brigade or regimental size and of proven effectiveness. The forces should be supportable by their national armies and the US Army. The logistical support agreements should be negotiated for cost sharing, to be paid later. The existing military aid programs would remain in place. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) knew which armies met the criteria: Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Canada.