| Ethiopia was quick to respond to the United Nations call
of assistance and assembled a force of 1,069 officers and men. The 1st
Kagnew ‘Conquerors’ Infantry Battalion was formed in August 1950 with
three rifle companies (1st, 2nd and 4th Cos.) drawn from the Emperors
elite Imperial Guard and it arrived in Korea on 7th May 1951. Before
embarking for Korea this force was specially reviewed by His Imperial
Majesty the Emperor Haile Selassie I. On arrival in Pusan they joined
the US 32nd Infantry Regiment (7th Division) on ‘Line Kansas’ and from
16th to 22nd September they were engaged in furious hand-to-hand fighting
at Sam-Hyon. The 3rd Kagnew Battalion drove off at bayonet-point a
Chinese attack at Tokan-ni on 20th May 1953 for which the 3rd Company was
awarded the Republic of Korea Presidential Citation. This Unit was
fighting on Pork Chop Hill at the time of the Armistice. In all 3,518
Ethiopian combat personnel served with the first three battalions during
the war. The Ethiopian battalions never lost an inch of ground, nor was a
single Ethiopian soldier captured by the enemy. They were well respected
by the Americans and received many awards for action including the
American Presidential Citation.
Ethiopia rotated its forces during the war as follows: -
| 1st Kagnew Battalion |
7. 5.51 - 29. 3.52 |
| 2nd Kagnew Battalion |
29. 3.52 - 16. 4.53 |
| 3rd Kagnew Battalion |
16. 4.53 - 4.54 |
| 4th Kagnew Battalion |
Arrived after the cease fire. |
The Ethiopian Red Cross also sent a cadre of nurses to treat Ethiopian
wounded recovering in the hospitals in Japan. 120 Ethiopian servicemen
lost their lives and 536 were wounded during the Korean War. The last
Ethiopian soldier left Korea on 3rd January 1965. |
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