Battle at Hsin Ho, China, 05 Apr 1947

On the night of 4-5 April, 1947, a Chinese dissident raiding party with an estimated strength of 350 men made simultaneous attacks at three widely separated points on the dump perimeter. Four Marine sentries were killed in the initial exchange of fire, and the Communists broke into the ammunition storage area. Eight more Marines were wounded as the heavily outnumbered guard detachment attempted to contain and beat back the penetration.

In accordance with their carefully laid plan, the Communists brought up horse-drawn carts and pack animals to haul away captured ammunition and set up an ambush on the road to Tangku, anticipating the fact that the commanding officer of 1/5 would immediately dispatch reinforcements to Hsin Ho. The lead vehicle of the Company C rescue column was disabled by land mines, and heavy fire forced the Marines to dismount and engage the ambush party, which closed to grenade range before it was finally driven off. Using their preponderance of strength at the supply point and the time advantage gained by their ambush, the Communists were able to disengage and withdraw from the scene of action, covering their retreat by blowing up two of the ammunition stockpiles.

Although Company C pursued the raiders through the darkness for more than eight miles it was unable to reestablish contact, and dawn air searches revealed that the Communist force had disappeared into the maze of fields, villages, and brush, that dotted the countryside north of Tangku. The bodies of six uniformed Communists were found at Hsin Ho, and it was estimated that 20-30 wounded men had been carried away during the withdrawal. Marine casualties totaled 5 dead and 16 wounded in the worst incident in the history of strained relations between the Marines and the Communists.

DiNenna, Salvatore, PFC