Battle of Osan

Battle of Osan
Part of the Korean War
Two soldiers standing in brush, one aiming a bazooka
A US soldier, Robert L. Witzig, with a 2.36-inch bazooka prepares to take aim at a North Korean tank during the Battle of Pyongtaek which took place after the Battle of Osan. On his right is Kenneth R. Shadrick, who was later reported as the first American killed in the Korean War.
Date5 July 1950
Location37°11′6″N 127°3′10″E / 37.18500°N 127.05278°E / 37.18500; 127.05278 (Battle of Osan)
Result North Korean victory
Belligerents

 United Nations

 North Korea
Commanders and leaders
Charles Bradford Smith
Miller O. Perry
Lee Kwon-mu
Ryu Kyong-su
Units involved
1st Battalion, 21st Infantry
Battery A 52nd Field Artillery Battalion

4th Infantry Division

  • 16th Infantry Regiment
  • 18th Infantry Regiment

105th Armored Division

Strength
540 infantry and support 5,000 infantry
36 tanks
Casualties and losses
60 killed[1]
21 wounded[1]
82 captured[a]
1 howitzer destroyed
5 howitzers disabled
42 killed
85 wounded
1 tank destroyed
3 tanks disabled
Battle of Osan is located in Korea
Battle of Osan
Location within Korea

The Battle of Osan (Korean: 오산 전투) was the first engagement between the United States and North Korea during the Korean War. On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, an American task force of 540 infantry supported by an artillery battery, was moved to Osan, south of Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and was ordered to fight as a rearguard to delay the advancing North Korean forces while more US troops arrived to form a stronger defensive line to the south. The task force lacked both anti-tank guns and effective infantry anti-tank weapons and had been equipped with obsolete 2.36-inch (60 mm) rocket launchers and a few 57 mm recoilless rifles. Aside from a limited number of HEAT shells for the unit's 105 mm howitzers, crew-served weapons that could defeat T-34/85 tanks from the Soviet Union had not yet been distributed to the US Army forces in South Korea.

A North Korean tank column equipped with ex-Soviet T-34/85 tanks overran the task force in the first encounter and continued its advance south. After the North Korean tank column had breached US lines, the task force opened fire on a force of some 5,000 North Korean infantry that were approaching its position, which held up their advance. North Korean troops eventually flanked and overwhelmed the US positions, and the rest of the task force retreated in disorder.

  1. ^ a b Millett 2010, p. 138.


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