Kronstadt, action at

Launched a final massive offensive. During the first phase the Glouces-ters were overrun at the Imjin river. By June, Eighth Army, under Gen Van Fleet, had repulsed the attack and reached the Kan-sas/Wyoming Line. In July truce talks began at Kaesong, later moving to Panmunjom. The unc delegation was headed first by Adm Joy and later by Gen Harrison. The chief communist delegate was Gen Nam II. The war entered a static phase. The unc restricted ground operations after battles around the Punchbowl like Heartbreak Ridge and Bloody Ridge in the autumn of 1951, relying on air pressure to wear down the enemy. The communists used local attacks against outposts like the Hook and Pork Chop Hill to influence the truce talks. In 1952 negotiations bogged down on the pow issue. While the communists insisted on automatic repatriation under the Geneva Convention, the Americans proposed non-forcible repatriation to protect anti-communist pows in their hands. In an effort to embarrass Washington, communist POWS on Koje Island mutinied. The US was also accused of launching germ warfare attacks. In 1953 the new Eisenhower administration moved to end the deadlock, threatening to use atomic weapons, a solution favoured by the unc commander, Gen Clark. In June 1953, however, a compromise was reached on pows. The armistice was finally signed on July 27 1953 despite an attempt at sabotage by Rhee. It established a Demilitarized Zone centred on the battleline and a Military Armistice Commission to monitor the truce. A Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission was to prevent reinforcement by either side. Nonrepatriate POWS were handed over to a Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission. However, at the Geneva peace conference in 1954, no agreement on reunification proved possible. CM.

Kornilov, Gen Lavr (1870-1918). Russian. At the outbreak of World War I Kornilov was a brigade commander in Brusilov’s Eighth Army. In May 1915 he was taken prisoner by the Austrians while leading the 48th Infantry Division in the Carpathians. He escaped in the summer of 1916 and, on his

Return to Russia, Kornilov was given command of a corps. Drawn into Russia’s political upheavals, he reluctantly supported Kerensky. Kornilov’s forces performed well in the otherwise unsuccessful July 1917 offensive and he was given command of the South Front. In August he was elevated to c-in-c because it was felt that he could hold the crumbling armies together. Once again he clashed with Kerensky and, in September, he sought to mount a coup in Petrograd. This was frustrated by the indecision of his subordinates and the strengthening of Kerensky’s position by left-wing support. Kornilov was arrested but, following the Bolshevik Revolution, he was allowed to escape. He joined with other generals in the Don region to form the Volunteer Army and, in January 1918, became its c-in-c. While trying to capture the Bolshevik town of Ekaternodar, Kornilov was killed by shell fire on April 13 1918. MS.

Kornspruit, Battle of see sanna’s

POST.

Korten, Gen Gunther (1898

1944). Ger. An Imperial German Army officer in World War I, Korten transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1934. He served as cos o{Luftflotte 4 in Poland (1939) and the Balkans (1941) as well as during the initial phases of the attack on Russia. He was given command of Luftflotte 1 in Russia in June 1943. After Jeschonnek’s suicide in August that year, Korten became cos of the Luftwaffe, although his relations with Goring soon deteriorated. Before he could resign, however, he was fatally wounded in the attempt to assassinate Hitler on July 20 1944. PJS.

Kosciuszko division. Formed, trained and equipped in the Soviet Union, the 1st Polish Infantry (Kosciuszko) Division had, by July 1943, reached a strength of nearly

16,000 men. It first went into action on October 14 near Lenino in Belorussia and subsequently took part in the liberation of Poland and in the Battle of Berlin.

Kozhedub, Maj Gen Ivan N

(b. l920). Russian. Top-scoring Soviet fighter pilot of World War II, credited with 62 “kills” in 120 air combats. In February 1945, in a Lavochkin LA-7, he became the only Soviet fighter pilot to shoot down a jet-propelled Messers-chmitt Me 262.

Krebs, Lt Gen Hans (1898-1945). Ger. cos Ninth Army from January 1942 to September 1944; then similar duties with Army Groups Centre and B. A loyal Nazi, he was recalled to Berlin early in 1945 to become Chief of Staff to Guderian, Chief of the okw. Following an argument with the Fiihrer, Guderian was replaced by Krebs. After Hitler’s death, he began peace negotiations with the Soviet forces but committed suicide before they matured.

Kretschmer, Capt Otto (b. l912). Ger. U-boat “ace”, sinking 44 merchantmen (c267,000 tons) and destroyer HMS Daring in U-23 (September 1939-March 1940) and U-99. “Silent Otto” often penetrated convoy escort screens on the surface by night, attacking from close range with a single torpedo. U-99 was sunk by destroyers hms Walker and Havoc, March 27 1941; as a POW in Britain and Canada, Kretschmer established a clandestine intelligence service that gained him promotion to Captain. Postwar he held flag rank in the Federal German Navy’s submarine branch.

Kronstadt, action at (August 18 1919). Kronstadt was the heavily defended Russian naval base near Leningrad. British naval forces under Adm Cowan had clashed with Bolshevik warships and, in June 1919, the motor torpedo boat CMB 4 had sunk the Russian cruiser Oleg. Seven larger cmbs then arrived at the rn’s secret base in Finland and were used in a brilliant night raid on Kronstadt. Guided in by cmb 4 and under cover of an air raid by the raf, they lost three of their number, but sank the battleships Petropav-lovsk and Andrei Pervozvanni and the depot ship Pamyat Azova. The threat from the Bolshevik navy was greatly reduced by this daring stroke, which was, however, little to the taste of the British Cabinet, who had not intended anything so drastic. It played its part in enabling Finland and Estonia to gain their independence. DJL.