Tom Henson, infantry officer who won an MC after fierce close-quarters combat in Korea – obituary

Tom Henson, who has died aged 92, was awarded an Immediate MC in 1952 in the Korean War.

On the night of March 3 1952, Henson, in command of a platoon of the 1st Battalion the Royal Norfolk Regiment, set off at dusk with a fighting patrol of 12 men to set up an ambush on a bridge over the Sami-ch’on River. His orders were to capture or kill any enemy that he encountered.

He was armed with an American carbine and carried a Verey pistol; one man carried the Bren gun and the others were equipped with rifles or Sten guns. The patrol carried code words so that they could radio for support and call down AA (anti-aircraft), machine-gun or 25-pounder fire.

After moving carefully through a gap in the minefield, as the patrol approached the bridge over the river Henson spotted an enemy foot patrol moving across the road about 200 yards in front of him.

As his men advanced with fixed bayonets, they were fired at by Chinese soldiers concealed among the tall millet. Three men were wounded. Henson, guided in the darkness by the muzzle flashes, and firing from the hip, closed with the enemy.

One man jumped on Henson’s back, but he threw him off. The fighting was then at such close quarters that his men could only use their bayonets, rifle butts and fists. When four more menwere wounded, Henson formed the survivors into an all-round defensive position and pulled the wounded into the centre. His patrol was outnumbered three to one and surrounded.

With his ammunition running low and in danger of being overwhelmed, through his wireless operator, Private Tearle, Henson radioed the company commander for back-up and called in machine gun and 25-pounder support, firing on a fixed target line, to cut off the Chinese route of retreat.

A relief force started at once but it was 30 minutes before it arrived. During this time, Henson, together with three unwounded and two wounded men, drove off repeated machine gun and grenade attacks from the enemy on all three sides. Throughout the noise and smoke and bedlam of battle, Tearle continued to report back in the most unruffled manner.

When the relief force arrived, the patrol’s ammunition had all but run out. The enemy were dispersed and the casualties, consisting of three killed and six wounded, were evacuated. Henson carried a dead soldier back to the battalion lines, a distance of more than a mile.

He was awarded an immediate MC, the citation paying tribute to his courage, calmness and inspiring leadership. Henson always insisted that the award belonged to the whole patrol. Private Tearle was mentioned in despatches.

Thomas John Brooke Henson was born near Fort Victoria, in what was then Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), on September 2 1931. His father was a mining engineer before becoming a tobacco farmer. Just before the Second World War broke out, young Tom returned to England to go to school. He grew up in the village of Otford in Kent, near Biggin Hill aerodrome, and remembered watching dogfights in the sky above him and fighter planes attacking V-1 flying bombs on their way to drop on London.

He attended Woodbridge School in Suffolk, where he was head boy. He was called up for National Service and, after attending Octu (the Officer Cadet Training Unit) at Eaton Hall, Cheshire, he was commissioned into the Royal Norfolk Regiment and posted to the 1st Battalion.

He embarked for Korea at the end of August 1951. The ship was met at Pusan by a black American jazz band. The battalion, part of 29th Infantry Brigade, deployed on a hillside overlooking the Sami-ch’on River.

Conditions were challenging. Henson’s bunker was dug into the side of a hill. A blanket served as a door, the bunks were made of logs and the dug-out was lit by candles. The temperature on a winter’s night sometimes fell to minus 20 C. At breakfast, milk was served with a knife. The officers’ mess was known as “the Pigsty” and rats fed on the waste in the refuse pits.

The Chinese attacked by charging en masse, regardless of the weight of incoming fire. Often, only the first line was armed. When that went down, the second line would pick up their “burp guns” and carry on (the Communists’ Type 50 short-barrelled sub-machine guns were nicknamed for the sound they made). By the time the third line had the weapons, they were usually into the Royal Norfolk’s defences.

Every three or four nights, a recce patrol went out. Sometimes, the men took an inflatable rubber boat, crossed the river and moved quietly through enemy-occupied villages, returning at first light. In August 1952 the battalion left for Hong Kong.

After he was demobilised, Henson went up to Lincoln College, Oxford, to read Modern Languages. He subsequently worked in marketing in television and then in the plastics industry. Settled in Norfolk, in his spare time he enjoyed fishing and walking. He remained in touch with Alf Tearle and they spoke together as recently as last Christmas.

Tom Henson is survived by his wife, Gill, and by a son and a daughter.

Tom Henson, born September 2 1931, died January 11 2024