For Canadians who fought in the Korean War, the conflict meant a chance to battle aggressive communism. But for a Victoria historian and Korea veteran, the war marked a new independence in Canadian diplomacy.
Retired Chief Warrant Officer Edwin "Ted" Adye remembers the Korean War as a time when people saw communism as expansionist and dangerous. So when the Canadian government announced it was recruiting for the conflict, men lined the streets to enlist in Adye's home city of Toronto.
"Back in those days, there was a lot of talk about 'the communist threat,' " said Adye, 84, who lives in Fairfield. "I thought rather than fight them here, I might as well do it over there.
"We had just finished the Second World War only five years back," he added. "The spirit was still there to get in and do something."
Adye spent 10 months as a rifleman in Korea with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, from December 1950 to October 1951, when he was evacuated after being shot through the lung. When he recovered, he reenlisted in the Royal Canadian Engineers and finished a 25-year military career.
Volunteerism like Adye's was common at the time. Veterans of the Second World War showed up to go back into action, and men too young to fight before 1945 decided it was time to do their part.
William Johnston, historian with the federal Department of National Defence in Ottawa and author of a book on the Korean War, A War of Patrols, said Canada's participation also signalled a new, national confidence and independent thinking.
Johnston noted the war marked the first time Canada did not simply follow the lead of Great Britain into overseas armed conflict. Other military involvements, notably the First and Second World Wars, had been initiated by England.
But Canada become involved in the Korean War, which began June 25, 1950, after the United Nations condemned North Korea's invasion of South Korea. Two days later, the UN passed a resolution recommending that member states provide military assistance to South Korea.
Lester Pearson, Canada's then-secretary of state for external affairs, asserted publicly the need for a Canadian response on behalf of the United Nations and deferred to the U.S. for leadership of the effort.
"It was the first United Nations war," Johnston said. "So we weren't really just fighting to support Britain - we were fighting to preserve something a little bigger."
He believes this defence of the United Nations was seen as an early test for the UN. At the end of the Second World War, Canada had been a clear supporter and instigator in the formation of the UN, and people like Pearson were determined to see the new body work.
"The communists had attacked, so it was a clear case of aggression," said Johnston. "If you wanted to stand up for the United Nations, [sending military support] was what you had to do."
The Korean War, which ended July 27, 1953, would eventually see the deployment of more than 26,000 Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Of those, 515 would die. It was the third-worst overseas conflict ever to involve Canada.
Those numbers are small compared to the Second World War, where 1.1 million Canadians served and 45,000 died, or the First World War, where 650,000 served and 66,000 were killed.
(Canadian casualties in the Korean War are also tiny compared to South Korea's 137,899 dead, and North Korea's estimated 215,000 to 350,000 dead. Chinese causalities were estimated at 152,000, and the U.S.'s at 36,940.)
Johnston said the Korean conflict is often overlooked in Canada because of the comparatively small numbers of Canadians serving and dying. Some Canadian military historians even call the conflict "Canada's forgotten war" - as evidenced by John Melady's history book Korea: Canada's Forgotten War.
"The Second World War impacted everybody's life [in Canada]," said Johnston.
"But the Korean War, unless you knew somebody over there and chances of that were slim it didn't really impact your life other than reading about it in the newspaper."
But Canada's rapid and robust commitment to the conflict is a good indication of the country's firm commitment to the United Nations and a more individually Canadian approach to international diplomacy, he said.
Within two weeks of the UN resolution to assist South Korea, Canada had sent three naval vessels: the HMCS Cayuga, HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Sioux.
By Aug. 8, 1950, Liberal Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent had announced that the country would commit ground troops to the conflict. And by December of that year, a battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, still not fully trained, had landed in South Korea.
"For [Canada], taking part in a war in which you are not really attacked and are not really expecting it, that was, in fact, fairly quick," said Johnston.
The Korean conflict began with about a year of back-and-forth offensives and counter-offensives along the length of the Korean Peninsula.
Initially, the North Koreans came south and almost overran South Korea. The Americans responded with an ambitious amphibious assault and pushed the North Koreans back past the border. Then the Chinese entered the war, pushing back southwards, before everything settled into a kind of low-level stalemate while diplomats tried to iron out a resolution.
Johnston said the Canadian government initially geared up for what looked like a big commitment when it appeared North Korea was nearing victory. But after the Americans started pushing northwards, the urgency slackened off and the single battalion of half-trained Princess Patricias was sent.
While that battalion was en route, the Chinese entered the war and looked to be on the move southwards again. Canada again geared up, eventually sending a full brigade. That brigade would become part of the 1st Commonwealth Division formed with British, Australian and New Zealand troops.
John Radley, 90, of Esquimalt, served on HMCS Cayuga, from June 1951 to 1952, as a signalman. He had also served on various ships in the Second World War after joining up in 1940.
Radley said the quick turnout of the three ships - the Cayuga, Athabaskan and Sioux - within two weeks of the UN resolution was not surprising, since most had been kept in a state of readiness by a veteran crew, many of whom had served in the Second World War.
Nobody ever questioned the necessity of going back into conflict, he said.
"They just got going and 'bang,' that was it," he said. "Everything started to move. There was no screwing around and those ships were on the go right away."
