Fifty years ago 600 soldiers of the British Army took on a force of 30,000 Chinese troops crossing the Imjin River in Korea.

Reporting to his American superior, Brigadier Tom Brodie of the Gloucestershire Regiment admitted the situation was "a bit sticky".

Such classic British understatement failed to secure the "Glorious Glosters" reinforcements or permission to fall back.

At the end of the battle 10,000 Chinese troops had fallen. British losses stood at just 59, but only 39 of the survivors evaded capture.

Two Victoria Crosses, Britain's highest military honour, were awarded for the action. But despite such heroism, Britain's role in the conflict has largely been forgotten by the public.

What caused the war?

When the Japanese forces occupying Korea were defeated in 1945, the country was "temporarily" split at the 38th Parallel - with US troops liberating the south and the Russians moving into the north.

Cold War wranglings postponed the re-unification of the country. On 25 June 1950, soldiers of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched an attack on their neighbours to the south.

The United Nations Security Council (led by the US and in Russia's absence) passed a resolution to begin a "police action" to help the south.

Why did Britain join the conflict?

In 1950, the UK was still licking the wounds of World War II. The British Empire was in sharp decline and Clement Attlee's government (with a Commons majority of just five) was facing its own military woes in Malaya.

When Korea was first divided in 1945, the Labour cabinet suspected it might one day be forced to dispatch combat troops there, something it viewed as a "most undesirable commitment".

However, the UK was a full member of the Security Council, somewhat indebted to the US and still adjusting to its reduced global importance.

Reminded by a colleague that Korea was not a priority interest for Britain, Clement Attlee mused: "Distant, yes, but nonetheless an obligation."

How many British troops fought?

More than 90,000 Britons served in Korea, among them Fusilier Maurice Micklewhite (better known as Sir Michael Caine) and Captain Anthony Farrar-Hockley (who was promoted to general and later commanded Nato).



