19/04/2024
https://v.daum.net/v/20240419201506740
Chrysler Canada Private, who supported the wounded during the Battle of Gapyeong, visits Korea at age 94 for the first time in 73 years
Reporter Jeong Chung-shin2024. 4. 19. 20:15
Ministry of Veterans Affairs, 73rd Anniversary of the Battle of Gapyeong, event in which 21 bereaved families, including 6 Commonwealth veterans, returned to visit
Visit to Panmunjeom for 5 nights and 6 days from 21st to 26th, appreciation dinner, etc.
Canadian war veteran William Chrysler (right) carrying an injured comrade immediately after the Battle of Kapyeong. On the 21st, he will visit Korea as the oldest war veteran at 94 years old to attend the Commonwealth War veterans invitation event. Provided by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.
To commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the Battle of Kapyeong, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs held a return visit event for 21 bereaved families, including 6 veterans from 4 Commonwealth countries (United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), for 6 days and 5 nights from April 21st to 26th. It was announced on the 19th that it would proceed.
The Battle of Kapyeong was a battle in which about 2,000 warriors of the 27th Brigade of the Commonwealth Army overcame numerical inferiority and achieved a miraculous victory after a three-day fierce battle with Chinese forces that were more than five times the size of our forces in April 1951.
The oldest returning veteran is William Chrysler (94) of Canada. He entered the war as an army private in 1950 and was active in the Battle of Kapyeong. The faded photo of Chrysler, a veteran of the 2nd Battalion of the Canadian Light Infantry Regiment, moving while supporting an injured comrade immediately after the Battle of Kapyeong is a symbolic scene that clearly shows the horrors of war. The photo is currently in the British Imperial War Museum ( It is housed at the Imperial War Museum.
Canadian veteran William Chrysler is the oldest of the six Commonwealth veterans returning to Korea on the 21st. The faded photo of Private Chrysler, who belonged to the 2nd Battalion of the Canadian Light Infantry Regiment during the Battle of Kapyeong, is seen moving while supporting an injured comrade immediately after the battle is a symbolic scene that clearly shows the horrors of war. Provided by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs
Veterans who participated in the Battle of Hook Hill, where Commonwealth and U.S. forces fought fiercely against Chinese forces in the Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do area, will also visit Korea. British veteran Victor Swift and Canadian veteran Gerard Bethiniel participated in major battles, including the Battle of Hook Hill, as Army corporals in 1953. In particular, veteran Victor Swift received the National Medal of Merit from the government of the Republic of Korea in 2022 for his contributions to founding and working with the British Korean War Veterans Association (BKWVA).
Her surviving family members include Vicky Armor, the daughter of Australian veteran Eric Lauder, who was active in the Battle of Gapyeong, and is visiting Korea. George Strachan, the younger brother of Canadian veteran William Strachan, who participated in the Battle of Xili and is buried at the United Nations Memorial Park, will also visit Korea.
UN veterans and their bereaved families from the four Commonwealth countries will enter the country on the 21st, and will visit Panmunjom and the Imjin River Battle Memorial Ceremony on the 22nd, visit the United Nations Memorial Park on the 23rd, and attend the Commonwealth Battle of Kapyeong Memorial Ceremony on the 24th.
The official schedule will conclude with the Anzac Day commemoration ceremony honoring the Australian-New Zealand Allied Forces on the 25th and the UN Participating Nations Appreciation Dinner hosted by the Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, before leaving the country on the 26th.
Minister of Veterans Affairs Kang Jeong-ae said, “Our government and people will forever remember and repay the sacrifices and contributions of the 22 UN participating countries and veterans who risked their lives to protect the Commonwealth and the free Republic of Korea,” and added, “We invite the UN veterans to return.” “We will continue to pursue various international veterans projects, including exchanges of descendants of participating countries,” he said.
Senior Reporter Jeong Chung-shin
국가보훈부는 가평전투 73주년을 맞아 4월 21~26일 5박 6일 일정으로 영연방 4개국(영국, 캐나다, 호주, 뉴질랜드) 참전용사 6명을 포함해 유가족 21명을 초청하는 재방한 행사를 진행한다고 19일 밝혔다. 가평전투는 1951년 4월, 영연....
