In a world darkened by ethnic conflicts that tear nations apart, Canada stands as a model of how people of different cultures can live and work together in peace, prosperity, and mutual respect.
U.S. President Bill Clinton 

The story of Canada at War is a dramatic and heroic tale. This section deals with the history of warfare in Canada and Canadians at war or peacekeeping abroad.

The Invasion | UN Forces | PPCLI | Kap'Yong | The Brigade Arrives | Stalemate | Ceasefire | Maps

The first Peace Talks started in Kaesong in June 1951 but nothing came from this and fighting continued through the winter and a limited war continued until July 1953. The election of Eisenhower in October 1952 and the death of Stalin in March 1953 opened the way for a settlement. Eisenhower suggested to India diplomats that the use of the Atomic bomb to settle the issue was an option which was being considered by the new American administration. He asked them to pass this information onto the Chinese with the suggestion that the war should come to an end. Rhee still wanted re-unification of Korea and Sung wanted all his prisoners of war back.

The agreement which was concluded at the town of Panmunjom dictated that the Jamestown line would form the temporary boarder between North and South until a permanent peace treaty was signed. The two armies withdrew 2 kilometres from the front line and setup their new ceasefire lines. The Canadian troops were due to rotate out and in 1954 The Black Watch, The Canadian Guards and the Queens Own Rifles arrived in Korea. As faith in the ceasefire grew, it was decided that the Canadian forces in Korea would be reduced to one Infantry Battalion. These forces remained in place until 1957 when they were finally sent back to Canada and units of the ROK or Republic of Korean army took over the responsible for the Canadian sector of the front.

During the conflict the Canadian army had rotated 22,940 troops through the theatre and during the heaviest fighting in 1952 the Canadian contingent strength reached over 8,000. 309 Canadians were killed in action and 1202 were wounded. Although the numbers of killed and wounded were not high the enthusiasm for the war waned due to the fact that there was no clear cut victory and the nature of the cold war meant that the war was not over but would simple shift fronts to another area of the world.

In July 1953 an agreement was reached for a ceasefire along the 38^th parallel but no treaty was ever signed. They were back to square one.