What role did guerrilla tactics and irregular forces play in shaping the conflict on both sides? Were there any partisan units behind the UN lines, similar to partisans behind the German lines in WW2?
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The 8240th Army Unit was an American guerrilla commando unit that operated during the war that specialized in clandestine operation, commando style raids, gathering tactical field intelligence, irregular warfare, long-range penetration, and special operations behind enemy lines. It consisted of US Army advisors who mainly trained South Korean partisans for operations in North Korea. The 8240th AU, led by Captain Donald Seibert, focused on training South Korean troops and irregular warfare. Operations included dropping airborne guerilla commando forces far behind enemy lines, as well as training North Korean refugees to gather intelligence by posing as North Korean soldiers. The Eighth Army took the guerrilla fighters and organized them into the “Donkey” squads in early 1951. These squads were organized on islands that, luckily, was a strategic advantage. The islands were behind enemy lines but were protected by the UN naval blockade and ROK garrisons from any enemy attack.
There were also 22 “Donkey Units.” The Donkeys were a partisan force during the Korean War that consisted of anti-communist North Korean defectors who engaged in guerrilla warfare, long-range penetration, and search and rescue POWs. The fighters were formed under the United Nations Partisan Infantry Forces. Guerrillas had a huge impact on the United States effort in North Korea. In the end, these partisan forces conducted 4,445 actions in North Korea that led to the capture of 950 prisoners, 5,000 weapons, 2,700 destroyed vehicles, 80 bridges demolished, 69,000 casualties (dead and wounded), 3,189 guerrilla deaths, and only four American advisers were KIA. Furthermore, according to the 5th Air Force, of the 93 pilots who had been shot down and evaded capture between July 1950 and January 1952, guerrilla fighters rescued 29.
The UN Partisan Infantry Korea were also tasked with such operations. The details of the undercover operation were made public by the US Army in 1990. The unit worked deep inside North Korea to gathering military intelligence, conduct clandestine operation, commando style raids to cause chaos, irregular warfare, long-range penetration, recruit and lead guerrilla armies and create confusion in the enemy’s rear, search and rescue POWS, and special operations behind enemy lines.
There’s more info, but I hope this is a solid start!
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