James Riley Stone

Born(1908-08-02)August 2, 1908
Winterbourne, Gloucestershire, UK
DiedNovember 24, 2005(2005-11-24) (aged 97)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Service/branchCanadian Army
Years of service1939–1968
RankColonel
UnitThe Loyal Edmonton Regiment
Commands held
Battles/warsSecond World War

Korean War

AwardsMilitary Cross (MC)
Distinguished Service Order (DSO) with 2 Bars
Korean War Hero
Member of the Order of Canada (CM)

James Riley Stone CM DSO & Two Bars MC CD (2 August 1908 – 24 November 2005)[1] was a Canadian soldier and military commander.[2] He served in WWII and the Korean War and was awarded the Military Cross and the DSO with two bars. Stone was best known for leading the 2 PPCLI in a famous last stand at the Battle of Kapyong in the Korean conflict.

Early years

Stone was born in Winterbourne, Gloucestershire. He migrated to Canada to work in the forestry, mining and cattle ranching industries.[3]

WWII

He enlisted in the Edmonton Regiment in 1939 and fought in the Second World War, rising from the rank of private to lieutenant colonel. Major Stone won the Military Cross at the Battle of Ortona in Italy in 1943, when he single-handedly assaulted a German anti-tank gun which was blocking his company's advance and silenced it with a grenade.[3]

As his regiment's commanding officer, he won the Distinguished Service Order at the Battle of San Fortunato in Italy in 1944, where his actions hauling heavy guns up a steep mountain caused the German Gothic Line to withdraw from a strategic position. He was awarded a bar to his DSO in the Netherlands for actions against well-entrenched German forces in March 1945.

After returning to British Columbia during the post-war years, he commanded the Rocky Mountain Rangers, a unit of the Canadian Army Reserve.

Korean War

During the Korean War, he commanded the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.[1] He led the 700 men of this battalion in a famous last stand defending the strategic Hill 677 against the fierce assault by forces of two divisions, consisting of about 20,000 soldiers, of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army during the Battle of Kapyong in April 1951.[3][4][5]

The UN position on Hill 677 prevented the enemy from breaking through to Seoul and potentially surrounding the U.S. forces in Korea, which were at that time in full general retreat across the Korean front. Supporting units of the Australian Army and the U.S. artillery had fled the battlefield, leaving the 2 PPCLI encircled and depleted of ammunition. Stone ordered his men, "No retreat, no surrender." He received a second bar to his DSO for his leadership in this crucial battle together with other actions in 1951.

During Operation Commando on 12 Oct. 1951, Stone and 2 PPCLI repelled a large attacking force of the Chinese Army.[6]

In early 1952, Stone and 2 PPCLI were retrained as an elite special operations unit and parachute strike force, and Stone passed his parachute training.[7]

In December 2016, the Government of South Korea's Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs designated Stone posthumously as an official Korean War Hero. The citation stated that the 2 PPCLI battalion had "achieved a milestone victory when they won the Battle of Gapyeong (Kapyong) against formidable attacks from Chinese troops" and that "with their victory in the Battle of Gapyeong (Kapyong), Stone and his soldiers are remembered as the Legends of Gapyeong to this day."[8]

Post war

After the war, while serving in Ottawa as the provost marshal in command of the Canadian Provost Corps, he founded the Military Police Fund for Blind Children. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1994.[3][9]

Honours and awards

[10]
Description Notes
Member of the Order of Canada (CM)
Distinguished Service Order (DSO) With 2 Bars
Military Cross (MC)
1939-1945 Star
Italy Star
France and Germany Star
Defence Medal
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal With Clasp
War Medal 1939-1945 With Mentioned in Dispatches
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea
Korean Medal
United Nations Korea Medal
South Korean Korea War Hero
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
Canadian Centennial Medal
Canadian Forces Decoration (CD) With Bar

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "James Stone". Edmonton Journal. 26 November 2005.
  2. ↑ Peate, Les (1 January 2006). "Big man, big heart ... 'Big Jim' Stone". Esprit de Corps.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Mural of Honour: 94 Jim Stone". The Military Museums. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  4. ↑ Bercuson, David J. (1999). Blood On The Hills: The Canadian Army In The Korean War. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-0980-8.
  5. ↑ Bercuson, David J. (2008). The Fighting Canadians: Our Regimental History from New France to Afghanistan. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-1-55468-556-1.
  6. ↑ Honours to Canadian Army Awards. https://www.blatherwick.net/documents/Korean%20War%20Honours%20to%20Canadians/Honours%20to%20Canadian%20Army%20Awards%20for%20Korea.pdf
  7. ↑ Official History of the Canadian Army in Korea, p. 183. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/themes/defence/caf/militaryhistory/dhh/official/book-1966-korea-army-en.pdf Archived 8 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Canadian Lt. Col. Stone named Korean War Hero". Korean Culture and Information Service. 5 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "Colonel James Riley Stone". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  10. ↑ "Colonel James Riley STONE, CM, DSO*, MC, CD" (PDF). blatherwick.net. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
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