2016 20c Coin 'Anzac to Afghanistan' - KOREAN WAR

2016 20c Coin 'Anzac to Afghanistan' - KOREAN WAR

Australian forces were committed to the Korean War within a week of the North Korean invasion in June 1950. The next three years saw the RAN, RAAF and Army involved in a brutal war to maintain South Korea's sovereignty. Australian troops fought in many key clashes, including the battles of Kapyong and Maryang San, and remained on the frontline until July 1953 when the war ended with the signing of the armistice.

Following North Korea's invasion of South Korea, the Australian government was quick to commit two ships of the Royal Australian Navy to the war. In the air, 77 Squadron flew combat operations from the second week of the conflict until war's end in 1953, transitioning from the propeller-driven Mustang to the Meteor jet fighter in 1951. On the ground the new Australian Regular Army - that included Captain Reg Saunders, the first indigenous man to command a rifle company in combat - had its baptism of fire, fighting during the advance into North Korea. In 1951 they fought key battles at Kapyong and Maryang San and by the end of the war more than 17,000 Australians had served in Korea.