The Korean War, which began with an unprovoked attack by North\nKorea in 1950, went on for three long years. Over 100,000 soldiers\nof the United Nations forces, including those of the Republic of\nKorea, were killed and three times that number wounded. United\nKingdom casualties amounted to some 300 Officers and 4,000 Other\nRanks.The Royal Engineers deployed a Field Squadron to Korea in the\nAutumn of 1950 and this was expanded to a Regiment the following\nyear. Involved in fierce fighting, The Sappers suffered grievous\ncasualties including 42 killed and several hundred wounded. Their\ngallantry was rewarded by numerous gallantry awards, including two\nDSOs, thirteen MCs, (one by the author), eight MMs And The most\ndistinguished of all, a Distinguished Conduct Medal, second only To\nThe Victoria Cross.It was a vicious war whose intensity never\nslackened and in the last two months alone the Communist artillery\nfired over 700,000 rounds against 4.7 million fired back by the\nUnited Nations. The Royal Engineers were involved at all levels,\nfrom patrols and minefields, To defence works and, providing\nsupport to all manner of operations such as transportation,\nbridging And The important provision of postal services, So vital\nfor morale.Inevitably, though, The focus in that of a war like\nKorea is often on sapper participation in the forward area where\nthey were often involved in close-quarter fighting with the enemy.\nSappers certainly lived up To The title of this book: Fight, Dig\nand Live.

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