The Diggers of Kapyong

The gripping account of Australia in the Korean War and how 3RAR battalion held back an entire Chinese army division to prevent Seoul being overrun.


'In the only war in which Australian soldiers ever faced off against the might of Mao, this is a revealing and spellbinding account of an extraordinary victory.' - Peter FitzSimons


We charged and we began to get shot down . . . there were so many bullets coming that it was like walking, running into a very stiff breeze. Most of the section had been knocked out and I'm within ten foot of the Chinese trench when bang, something hit me. It just blew the legs out from underneath me.


April 1951. After ten months of fighting, the Korean War hangs in the balance. A single Australian battalion, backed by Kiwi gunners and American tanks, is dug in on a hilltop overlooking the Kapyong Valley, north of Seoul. Together with a Canadian battalion on a nearby hill, they are all that stands between Mao's army and the South Korean capital.


Since pouring across the North Korean border to support Kim Il Sung's communist fighters, the Chinese have launched offensive after offensive in an attempt to drive General MacArthur's UN forces off the peninsula. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both sides have been killed or have frozen to death in the cruel Korean winter. On the barren hills above the Kapyong Valley, the heavily outnumbered Diggers of 3RAR wait in darkness for a battle that could decide the war's outcome.


Told through the eyes of the soldiers, The Diggers of Kapyong is the compelling account of the mateship, sacrifice and heroism that defined Australia's role in a bloody war whose bitter legacy still resonates today.


'Gilling puts things in Cold War historical perspective and, using the testimonies of soldiers looking back on those two days of intense, sometimes hand-to-hand fighting, creates a detailed and atmospheric picture of the day and nighttime battles, the mayhem and resistance against the odds.' - Sydney Morning Herald 


'Once in a while an astonishing book comes along. This is one such book.' - Newcastle Herald


'Gives real insight into one of the major battles of the Korean War. The individual stories of the various soldiers are fascinating . . . a compelling overview of the battle and its implications.' - Canberra Daily