Colonel James Power Carne VC, DSO

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Colonel James Power Carne VC DSO (11 April 1906 – 19 April 1986) was a British Army officer in the Second World War and the Korean War. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, for actions during the Battle of the Imjin River during which Carne led The Glorious Glosters in a famous stand against an overwhelming Chinese attack on Gloster Hill.

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n what became known as the Battle of the Imjin River, Carne's Glosters and the rest of the British brigade were met by an onslaught of over 27,000 Chinese troops attacking in massed waves. Carne's leadership was instrumental in allowing the Gloster's to hold their ground during the attack during which the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:

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On 22/23 April 1951 near the Imjin River, Korea, Colonel Carne's battalion was heavily and incessantly engaged by vastly superior numbers of the enemy. Throughout this time Colonel Carne moved among the whole battalion under very heavy mortar and machine-gun fire, inspiring the utmost confidence and the will to resist among his troops. On two separate occasions, armed with rifle and grenades, he personally led assault parties which drove back the enemy and saved important situations. His courage, coolness and leadership was felt not only in his own battalion but throughout the whole brigade.

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Carne fell into Chinese captivity after his 700-man battalion's astonishing resistance against an estimated 11,000 attackers was finally overcome. As the senior British officer among hundreds of prisoners kept in appalling conditions in camps in communist-held Korea, he was singled out for special treatment. While the other ranks were "re-educated" by the communist commissars at their camps, Carne was kept in solitary confinement.

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Carne was honoured by South Korea in 2015 when his image was featured on a South Korean stamp issued to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.

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Source: Wikipedia