Key Facts
- Duration
- 3–12 October 1951 (10 days)
- Territorial gain
- 6 miles (9.7 km) advance
- PVA armies engaged
- 42nd, 47th, 64th and 65th Armies
- Follow-up operation
- Operation Polecharge
- UN corps involved
- US I Corps with six divisions
Strategic Narrative Overview
The attack launched on 3 October 1951 with US I Corps, comprising four US divisions, the 1st Commonwealth Division, and the ROK 1st Infantry Division. Advancing roughly six miles, UN forces destroyed elements of four PVA armies. The operation concluded on 12 October, though a few hills south of the Jamestown Line remained in PVA hands, necessitating the follow-up Operation Polecharge. Australian operations during this period became known as the First Battle of Maryang-san.
01 / The Origins
During the Korean War, UN Command sought to push its front line northward to secure supply routes near Seoul from interdiction by People's Volunteer Army forces. The existing Wyoming Line, extended during Operation Minden, served as the launching point. Capturing the Jamestown Line would shorten the front and protect logistical arteries critical to sustaining UN operations on the peninsula in late 1951.
03 / The Outcome
UN forces seized the Jamestown Line, and the badly damaged US 1st Cavalry Division was withdrawn to Japan for refitting. Operation Commando, together with Polecharge, was the last action in 16 months of mobile warfare. The front stabilized into a static war of fixed defences, trenches, bunkers, and minefields, closely resembling the Western Front of 1915–17, which persisted until the armistice.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
3 belligerents
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.