It was not an uncommon sight to come across Korean civilians, farming plots of land within the area of hostilities, close by, or even on occasions, between the enemy and ourselves. On the few instances this was observed in the vicinity of positions we occupied, the individuals concerned, were dressed in white cotton tunic and trousers, for the purpose, it was logically presumed, to convey their neutrality.
A particular group, consisting of an elderly man, two women and a child of about four of five years old, quite regularly worked on a plot of land, on the lower forward sloped of a range of hills occupied by the enemy, some two or three hundred yards forward of his position and about five hundred yards from ours, in 'The Hook' area. They appeared to live in a thatched roofed shack situated on the plot, emerging each day, when things were quiet, to hoe, rake and sow and generally unconcernedly go about the sort of activities reminiscent of tending an allotment, that we were familiar with back home.
Some of the following is based on supposition, hearsay and a smattering of ( official ), at the time, explanatory justifying criteria, for what was to be done to remove these people.
Leading down to this small plot of land, from the direction of the Chinese positions, were a couple of recent and well trodden tracks, that were deduced as being signs of some sort of liaison between the Chinese military and the Korean civilians, that could be detrimental to our best interests.
We at the time ( that's our troops who overlooked this particular scenario ) thought it more likely the tracks were made by a procession of Chinese squaddies, illicitly making their way after dark, down to the shack for a nice hot 'cuppa', or the rare opportunity of some female company, but, being that we were only fighting the war and not running it, our assessment was of no account.
The tactical decision was, to call upon the services of New Zealand Artillery, (or it could have been the Australian, we didn't actually see them, we only heard the sound their activity) with a Baseplate of three inch mortars, to put a couple of dozen bombs onto the shack and surrounding area, which they promptly did, with the desired result.
The outcome was, the building burnt to the ground, an old man killed and the child carried away by one of the women, also apparently dead. The site was henceforth deserted.
In isolation this will be seen as an unnecessary act of barbarity, an extreme measure for such a low threat presence, assuming there was any foundation to the deduction, that the signs of night time activity along the tracks observed was of intended military advantage.
However, seen in context, compared with the atrocities hitherto perpetrated by the Korean military, North on South and vice versa, where literally millions of civilians were killed, some accidentally, but most intentionally and wilfully murdered, it is of minor consequence.
Incidents and activities of this nature, that have occurred in previous wars and in wars and conflicts throughout the World since, of a military, civil, political, nationalistic, or religious nature, must indicate the presence of flaw in the Man's make-up.
WILL WE EVER LEARN ?.