Existing comment:
Bowling Alley:
In mid-August 1950, the North Korean 1st, 13th, and 15th Divisions, reinforced with 21 new T-34/85 tanks, attacked Taegu. There, the North Koreans encountered UN forced reinforced with a regimental combat team from the American 25th Infantry Division. This team included infantry, artillery, and a tank company equipped with M26 Pershing tanks, which proved instrumental in defeating the North Korean attack during a week of combat. The North Koreans resorted to a night assault, but American tank gunners destroyed much of the attacking force by firing at the muzzle flashes of the T-34/85s. Most of the North Korean attacked followed the course of a valley, swept by UN fire. Hence, the area was nicknamed the "bowling alley." According to the American 8th Army diary, "The rounds fired down the Alley hit the rocks and armor in the area and sounded almost like a bowling alley." The repulse of the North Korean attack helped set the stage for a major UN counteroffensive. |