>>2897094When the war in Korea broke out, the Canadian government decided to raise a force to join the United Nations in repelling the communist invasion. Major was called back and ended up in the Scout and Sniper Platoon of 2nd Battalion Royal 22nd
Regiment of the 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade,1st Commonwealth Division. Major fought in the First Battle of Maryang San where he received a bar to his Distinguished Conduct Medal for capturing and holding a key hill in November 1951. Hill 355,
nicknamed Little Gibraltar, was a strategic feature, commanding the terrain for twenty miles around, so the communists were determined to take it before the truce talks came to an agreement which would lock each side into their present positions.
Hill 355 was held by the 3rd US Infantry Division, who linked up with the Canadian's Royal 22nd Regiment on the Americans' western flank. On November 22 the 64th Chinese Army (around 40,000 men) lowered a decisive artillery barrage. Over the
course of two days, the Americans were pushed back from Hill 355 by elements of the Chinese 190th and 191st Divisions.
The 3rd US Infantry Division tried to recapture the hill, but without any success, and the Chinese had moved to the nearby Hill 227, practically surrounding the Canadian forces. To relieve pressure, Lieutenant Colonel J.A. Dextraze, commanding
officer of the 2nd Battalion Royal 22nd Regiment, brought up an elite scout and sniper team led by Léo Major. armed with Stenguns, Major and his 18 men silently crept up Hill 355. At a signal, Major's men opened fire, panicking the Chinese who
were trying to understand why the firing was coming from the center of their troops instead of from the outside. By 12:45 am, they had retaken the hill.
