Thunder in the Morning Calm: The Royal Canadian Navy in Korea, 1950-1955

Sidney Allinson is the editor at the Royal Canadian Military Institute
and author of The Bantams: The Untold Story of World War I.

The delicately designated “Korean police action” is often called the
Forgotten War. Rightly so, perhaps, considering how little of that first
United Nations action is known or written about today. Certainly, the
Canadian army’s fine contribution in ground combat there is scarcely
acknowledged. Even less is known about our naval presence in seas around
the ancient peninsula known as Land of the Morning Calm.

This book fills in many of the details about the role of the Royal
Canadian Navy in Korea. As a man who creditably served there himself as
a sailor aboard RCN destroyers, Meyers approaches the topic with a
passion unusual in a work of history—a passion that is sometimes
underscored by an unfortunate inclination to disparage RCN officers and
various allied elements.

Meyers uses a mix of official records and personal anecdotes to
describe our fleet’s operations. Between 1950 and 1955, eight Canadian
naval destroyers served in Korean waters; their crews were awarded an
impressive number of decorations, and a gallant few were killed in
combat. We learn the RCN vessels were particularly effective
“train-busters,” sailing dangerously close inshore to bombard enemy
supply railways. They also formed good relationships with South Korean
guerrilla forces, supporting them in a savage little war-within-a-war
among the Chorusan Islands.

There’s an entertaining chapter on the stranger-than-fiction imposter
Ferdinand Demara, who masqueraded as a naval doctor. Though completely
without medical training, he managed to perform a few surgical
operations surprisingly well. However, Demara was eventually unmasked
and discharged amid publicity that greatly embarrassed naval
authorities.

The RCN’s performance throughout the Korean conflict was second to
none, and can speak for itself without need to denigrate its commanders
or allies. That unfortunate tone aside, Thunder in the Morning Calm
offers a long-overdue account of Canadian sailors who served faithfully,
fought well, and now are almost forgotten, except in the hearts of their
shipmates.