https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/768e9714396d94d9ce93804e13740f42.pdf ae6211c2a84107f5c6d48da522af0bd3 PDF Text Text >•*/ • • Document disclosed under1 the Access to Information Act * Document divulgue en vertu.de la to/ sur I'acces a /'Information DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS , ‘ TO: * DES PATCH S e curity: CONFIDENTIAL THE S ECRETARY OF S TATE FOR EXTER N AL AFFAIR S, O TTAW A, CANADA. . FROM;: . .9AM D IAN .AM BASSADO R i) m ’i* No: ......... .......... i r« ••••!••• TO KYO , JAPAN . Enclos ure s : Air or S urfa ce Ma il:.... Re fere nce : S ubje ct: (DUPLICATE) CANADA. Vi si t.of Am bassador to Korea. ■; • • t • • P 9s t File No; Ottawa File No, .r Re fe re nce s 1 "•Accom panied by Lt-C ol. R .B. M cD ougall of the C anadian M i l i tary.M ission, Far East,.I vi si ted the Kure .area and.-.25 Brigade:i n Korea -betw een 7th and 13th of M ay 195*+." In general I am sure i tw as a valuable and . profi tabl e tour'and that the service personnel seem ed' to appreciate -being vi si ted by a C anadian. W hile i n the. Kure-H iro area,- I.paid cal l s on the M ayor of Kure.'and-.on the Procurator. G eneral-for Southern Japan. I w as pleased f o.have. these m eetings and to express .- our appreciation,to-these gentlem en for-thei r co- operation'-and help i n ci vi l i an .affai rs as they affected • C anadian.troops;i n thei r areas. I w ould l i ke to say ..that they al l spoke m ost, highly of the conduct and departm ent of C anadian.personnel and that.I feel tthat . C olonel J„B. Allan* w ho ,.com m ands C anadian Base U nits, has done an-excellent.job i n m aintaining fri endl y rel ations w ith the ci vi l i an authorities' . I tw as . apparent--to m e, w herever w e w ent, that he w as thought - . hi ghl y.of by the Japanese authorities and that he w as ‘ very m uch.a persona grata w ith them . Inte rna l ..' Circula tion .. Dis tribution to P os ts 2.- ' I• w ould l i ke to m ention, "parti cul arl y, my vi si t to; the, Atom ic Bom b C asualty C om m ission i n •Hi roshi m aThi s C om m ission w as,established by the Atom ic. Energy C om m ission i n the U nited, States f.or 'M e; ; . purpose of m aking'on the .ground survey of the casualties suffered in,H iroshim a as a result of the atom ic bom b and, on a long term basis, to endeavour to follow developm ents that m ight be attri buted to the bom b bn ! the people,of the ci ty*' The com m ission i s housed i n . excellent,m odern buildings, C onstructed by the U .S. • G overnm ent, and i s.ful l y- equipped w ith the m ost upto-date and 'com plete equipm ent possible..,.. I ti s very' obvious that a great deal of. m oney has been spent and that no effort-has been spared to ensure th,at ' > w hatever m ay be necessary, i s m ade, available so that the research and survey m ade by the C om m ission w i l l be com plete and.unlim ited. I w as m ost im pressed• h by the w ork that w as being carried on and by' the equip m ent,that w as- avai lable..-3. The Atom ic Bom b C asualty.C om m ission (ABC C ) i s staffed on an international basis though the bulk of personnel are of Am erican ori gi n. C ertain Am erican and: British-.Arm y m edical personnel are seconded to the 000398 • Ext.l80C'(nov.2/52) �' i’ Docume nt dis clos ed under the Access to Information Act • . V OocumentdKulgue envertude la io/s ur/'owe s d/'m/oraiot/on » -2- . . . . * ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... establishm ent and the ci vi l i an com ponent i s em ployed and paid for by the Atom ic .Energy .C om m ission.' Very careful relations have been established w ith'the Japanese-as,the ^success of . the endeavour-how depends entirely upon , the cooperation they receive from the people of H iroshim a and their subm itting them selves voluntarily for exam ination.1 Iniorder to ensure : that there i s no loss of prestige to the Japanese .m edical : profession and to m aintain good relations w ith them , no - ., treatm ent i s 'undertaken by the experts .at’ ABCC unless, an ; - :• em ergency and then only upon the specific .request of a Japanese doctor. ABCC personnel, how ever,, do m ake m ost exhaustive . . m edical exam inations on a clinical' basis and are-m ore than'-' w illi ng to place their findings at the disposal of the Japanese •. doctor concerned to-assist in his diagnosis. They are w illing to discuss , treatm ent w ith him ;but only at., his request. ’ T I ti s obvious that.' this organization and its..w ork . • is.-unique as, only i n H iroshim a can the long-term effept of the explosion on hum an.beings be studied. I'feel that the w ork - they ..are doing'is hum anitarian and m ust be. of. great value in . this atom ic age.-' As. I have; stated, the staff at ABCC are / ;. • ; . international'and, after,m y inform al m eeting w ith them , I- w ould . . recom m end" that serious consideration be given to having. C anadian representation at ABCC,. I. feel that to'have one or. tw o ’ C anadian doctors-.or;scientistsfw orking'in H iroshim a w ould lend a prestige to C anada,- w ould give. C anadian support to a w orthy project and'w ould contribute m aterially to C anadian . ' •.scientific know ledge 5. I visited al lC anadian m ilitary installations in the Kure-H iro area’ and found.all the m en and officers, to whom I . spoke, to be in good, heart and apparently of high m orale Though I do not claim to be an expert in such m atters, the high standard of conduct and deportm ent-and the excellent appearance of al l quarters'and establishm ents w ere m ost obvious and im pressive.i; In conversation w ith the soldiers concerned, I • : found that they appeared to be enjoying their,tour in Japan: and to'.-be.profitting-from i t .- I noted particularly a pride - in their w ork and in the equipm ent that had been supplied to ... them . Al l of this reflects m ost favourably,;’ not- only ,on the character of.the m en that are. being- sent,over.here,- but.on ’- ‘ the leadership being given .by' their officers and. C olonel J:.B. Allan who- com m ands the :.area.. ** - ’ V •• 6.O n 10th.M ay Iproceeded, by ai r to Korea and. speht that..day and m ost,of the 11th in Seoul.. I have attached. , hereto, as a separate annexure,: the notes that w ere prepared of m y discussions w ith various offi ci al s, including President • R hee during; that period .. I- have already advised you. by w ire concerning som e of the points- w hich arose during m y discussions, .particularly w ith President R hee and U .S..Am bassador D ean. 7In- the afternoon of l-ith.M ay, I proceeded to H ead quarters ,1 C orps w here. I paid a cal l on Lt-.G eh. Bryan, and w as briefed generally on the present operational picture,.. This is the U .S. C orps that.com m ands,1 C om m onw ealth D ivision and the C anadian Brigade. From this C orps H eadquarters, I.proceeded to H eadquarters, 25 C anadian infantry Brigade. '8V • O n the follow ing’ day, I had an opportunity of vi si ti ng •the Squadron of Lord C trathcona3 s H orse, The Q ueen's . O wn R ifles of C anada, the hih R egim ent of C anadian.G uards and the Black W atch R egim ent. O nce again,. I w as m ost im pressed in al lm y discussions'and .talks w ith officers and m en w ith the ..high,standard of m orale and the im pressive appearance of al l . 000399 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document dlvulgue en vettu de la Lol sue faeces a /‘Information • « - -3establishm ents. I tw as m ost apparent to m e that, as a resul t of the leadership of Brigadier J.V. Allard and his offi cers, w e have an excellent Brigade w hose m em bers evidence pride i n them selves and i n thei r equipm ent. As a resul t of m y obser vance and i n discussions w ith offi cers of other nations, I am content that the C anadian reputation i s being enhanced by the conduct and capabi l i ti es of our Brigade i n Korea. 9. As has been reported from thi s Em bassy, there . has been a gradual m ovem ent north of Korea ci vi l i ans into the arable land occupied by U .N . Forces. I w as very pleased to have an opportunity to observe thi s re-settlem ent program m e.by a vi si t to the vi l l age of' C hinm olchong i n the C anadian Brigade area. -'H ere I fouhd a group of Koreans w ho had been perm itted to cross the Im jin R iver and re-establish them selves i n the abandoned rice fi el ds that lay im m ediately north of i t . Already, i n a very short tim e, they have restored a num ber of them to cul ti vati on and I w as inform ed by the U .S. Arm y authori ty responsible for supervision that» by next year* they w ould have brought suffi ci ent land under cul ti vati on again to becom e an exporting vi l l age. 10. At the present the. vi l l agers are concentrating on restoring the fi el ds to production w ith the resul t that they l i ve i n considerable poverty and discom fort i n tents, huts, straw lean-tos, etc. I w as im pressed, how ever, that al l , including the young and the old, appeared cheerful, industrious and i n good health. I w as grati fi ed to be advised by Brigadier J.V. Al l ard, w ho has taken keen interest i n thi s developm ent, that the vi l l age i s being adopted by the C anadian Brigade; A voluntary cam paign i s underw ay to raise suffi ci ent funds to provide a school for the children of the vi l l age and Brigadier J.V. Allard tel l s m e that he i s getting w i l l i ng and generous support from the m en of the Brigade. H e also indicated that the Brigade hopes to be able to raise funds to purchase 10 oxen w hich w i l lbe given to the vi l l age to help them i n the developm ent of thei r land. At the present m om ent, the oxen are very expensive i n Korea and the vi l l agers cannot afford to augm ent thei r present inadequate holdings w ith the resul t that al ldevelopm ent i s done by the arduous and back-breaking efforts of m en, w om en and chil dren. I.feel sure that the generous- and hum anitarian atti tude of the Brigade w i l l further enhance our reputation i n Korea. i ,* 11. In respect to thi s m atter of reputation i n Korea I.m ust m ention the fact that, w herever I w ent i n offi ci al ci rcl es i n Seoul, specific m ention w as m ade of our shipm ent of cod fi sh. I tappears that not only w as our generosity .appreciated but that the nature of the shipm ent had appeared parti cul arl y .acceptable to the Korean people. G rateful m ention w as frequently m ade, generally, on our contribution to the Korean w ar and to the Korean rehabi l i tati on but i t appears that the selection of the sal t fi sh for despatch to Korea w as a parti cul arl y happy choice and had been notew orthy i n i t s w elcom e and acceptabi lity. 12. I do not consider that thi s report w ould be com plete w ithout a -reference to C olonel R .B. M cD ougall. This offi cer accom panied m e throughout m y tour of Kure and Korea and his. experience and assistance w ere invaluable. C olonel M cD ougall did not accom pany m e m erely as an-aide - although he perform ed those- duties i n a m ost cheerful and helpful m anner - but i n his capacity as l i ai son offi cer w ith the various units vi si ted he proved him self an extrem ely 000400 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la loisur faeces a /'information r a m • w -4- know ledgeable and effi ci ent officer w ith whom i tw as a pleasure to travel. I think that this tri p w as an outstanding success, due partly to the careful briefing I received from M r. Scott before leaving and to the careful recording of the various m inutes of our m eetings by Lt. C ol. M cD ougall and to his w riting of the report on his return. I w ish in closing to record m y appreciation of them both. (S gd.) R. W. Ma yhe w The Amba s s a dor. 000401 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDKW00727 Title A name given to the resource CDKW00727 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Korean War - Reaction by Canada," RG24-B-1-a, vol. 20811, 7-10-5, part 3, Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource Korean War Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en