Battle of Wawon
Battle of Wawon | |||||||
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Part of Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, Korean War | |||||||
Map of the Chinese counterattack, November 28 – December 1, 1950. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Nations
| China | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Tahsin Yazıcı Lütfi Bilgin † | Zhai Zhongyu | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Turkish Brigade 2nd Infantry Division | 114th Division | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
200 killed 450 wounded 14 missing Chinese estimation: ~1,000 killed and wounded |
The Battle of Wawon(Korean: 군우리 전투; hanja: 軍隅里戰鬪; rr: Gunuri Jeontu; Turkish: Kunu-ri Muharebesi), also known as the Battle of Wayuan (Chinese: 瓦院战斗; pinyin: Wǎ Yuàn Zhàn Dòu), was a series of delay actions of the Korean War that took place from 27–29 November 1950 near Wawon in present-day North Korea. After the collapse of the US Eighth Army's right flank during the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) 38th Corps advanced rapidly towards the critical road junction at Kunu-ri in an effort to cut off United Nations forces' retreat route. In what was considered to be Turkey's first real combat action since the aftermath of World War I, the Turkish Brigade attempted to delay the Chinese advances at Wawon. Although during the battle the Turkish Brigade was crippled after being encircled by Chinese forces with superior numbers, they were still able to breach the Chinese trap and rejoin the US 2nd Infantry Division. Delay of the PVA advance after meeting with heavy Turkish resistance helped the other United Nations forces to withdraw without suffering many casualties and reassemble later in December.