A 22-year-old Virginia militia officer named George Washington led a surprise dawn attack on a French scouting party in the Pennsylvania wilderness. The French commander Jumonville was killed — possibly after surrendering — along with 9 of his men. Washington called it 'a most signal victory' in a letter to his brother. France called it an assassination.
The first military engagement of George Washington's career and arguably the opening shots of a world war. The incident gave France a pretext for escalation and set in motion a conflict that would span the globe. Churchill later called it 'the volley fired by a young Virginian in the backwoods of America that set the world on fire.'
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The Hook was a curved ridge position held by British Commonwealth forces in the western sector that controlled the Samichon Valley approach toward Seoul. Chinese forces attacked in massive strength on the night of May 28–29, 1953, with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment holding the position through intense close-quarters fighting. Artillery fire was so heavy that the position was described as resembling a World War I battlefield. The British held through the night.
The Battle of the Hook was one of the largest actions fought by Commonwealth forces in Korea and demonstrated the multinational character of the UN coalition. The British defense prevented a Chinese breakthrough in the west and contributed to the stalemate that finally brought both sides to conclude the armistice two months later.
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