The Importance Of Canada's Contribution To The Korean War

The Korean War was a war between communism and democracy of the two separated Koreas. In 1950, the Korean War, a war supported with allies from all over the world, began when North Korea invaded the South. Canada, one of the significant allies of South Korea, was of major importance when defending the South from the communist North. Many Canadians believe that Canada's contributions during the Korean War were forgotten, while others argue that Canada’s significance in the war is commemorated. The purpose of this essay is to answer the statement; “Examine Canada’s contribution to the Korean War”. One of the key elements of Canada’s contributions was its naval force that supported the South during the Korean War. Canada’s troops included approximately

Canada, at first, had a limited military strength composed of three parachute battalions, two armored regiments, a regular regiment of field artillery and supporting units. They also had signals and professional engineers. With the Canadian military having a limited strength, it would not be possible to support the South by providing forces without weakening the home defense. This shows to what extent Canada contributed to the democratic South in the Korean War. Although contributing forces to the war meant weakening home defense, Canada proved itself selfless and contributed a lot to South Korea to aid them during the war. Despite it not directly influencing Canada, numerous soldiers devoted their lives to this war. From the numerous soldiers that had volunteered to contribute their efforts towards the war, a large number of them lost their lives or were injured while fighting alongside South Korea. In 1950, Canada’s population totalled to 12 million people, out of which, 26,000 were volunteers that were sent to South Korea. The total number of Canadian casualties reached 11,558, including 516 deaths. This is evidence to the Canadian soldiers