18th Fighter-Bomber Wing in Korea

The CHINJU BRIDGE - - A Tough Nut to Crack

Chinju, South Korea, Early August, 1950

By the end of July, 1950, the North Korean's end-around flanking attack along the southwest coast was causing our United Nations Command major concern. If allowed to go unchecked, they could run almost unimpeded all the way to Pusan and cut us off from our last remaining seaport at Pusan.

The North Koreans had taken the town of Chinju, on the swift Namgang River, with little trouble, and were busily streaming armaments and troops across a high, narrow wooden bridge over a nearby tributary, which the retreating South Koreans had failed to destroy.

If we could knock out that little Chinju Bridge, the rough mountainous terrain would slow the advance considerably. But the bridge was heavily defended, and in a very difficult location ...deep within a steep mountain canyon.

Once we finally realized the value of the little Chinju Bridge, we immediately sent a pair of our 12th Sqdn. Mustangs to try to knock it out. Low ceilings, steep canyons and high concentrations of enemy flak kept our pilots from getting good hits, and their bombs went off harmlessly in the river below. They lobbed their rockets in on a second pass, but couldn't tell if they'd done any damage or not. If any, the damage would have been slight.

We sent another pair of '51s down the same afternoon, after the weather had improved a bit. They were able to get a good run on the bridge, and salvoed their rockets on the same dive-bomb run ...they were sure they'd hit the bridge square in the middle, but when they circled to leave, the damned wooden bridge was still standing.

We sent a third pair of Mustangs down to Chinju early on the following morning; they found the bridge still in use. So, around they went, making the same, risky dive-bomb pattern down through the steep, flak-filled canyons that the others had been forced to use. It was no fun for our pilots. In fact, it was damned dangerous because, in addition to the proximity of the high cliffs, the 40 mm anti-aircraft gunners always knew just which direction to aim when they heard the sound of our fighters in the air. The latest flight chose to divide their attention between the guns and the bridge, with the first going after the gunners and the second going for the bridge. They got near misses with their bombs, and knocked out one of the flak batteries with their rockets on a highly risky second attack.

But the old wooden bridge at Chinju was still standing when they left.

During the next two days we sent six more flights of two ships ...twelve sorties, 24 bombs and 72 rockets... down to knock out that damned little wooden bridge at Chinju. We were fortunate in not having lost any pilots while attacking the bridge, but the damage to our aircraft was becoming a worry. Their gunners were hitting us, but luckily it had been minor skin damage thus far.

On the third day the bridge was still standing, and it was becoming an unpleasant challenge to our professional capabilities.

I was scheduled to fly the next early morning flight to try it once again... keeping in mind that a total of more than two dozen bombs had been dropped on or near the flimsy structure, and it was not only still standing, but was still in use. ...very carefully, no doubt, but still in use, nevertheless. We couldn't imagine what was holding up the old pile of kindling.

Dropping out of the early morning sun, my bomb bursts looked like they should have done some damage; they threw up a lot of dirt, water and debris from the river, but when I pulled up and looked back, the damned bridge was still standing, and to add insult to injury, a loaded horse-drawn cart was racing across without a driver.

The horse had apparently panicked and bolted. As I started to turn around to position myself for a rocket pass, I could see the horse swinging the cart from side to side. Then, just before it reached the far side, a large section of the bridge slowly crumbled sideways, throwing the horse, cart and all into the river below.

The Chinju Bridge was, finally down. But it wasn't defeated; it just got too tired to keep up the fight!

Duane E. 'Bud' Biteman,
Lt. Col, USAF, Ret
‘...One of those Old, Bold Fighter Pilots’
© restricted usage