Original Korean War Chinese Brass Bugle.
Unit-marked with hand painted characters in red paint on the inside of the horn and factory numbered “7310” on the side towards the mouth-piece.
Incredible piece of Korean War History, the ChiCom (Chinese Communist) Bugle’s were used by the Communist forces to signal attacks and withdraws. As described by one Korean War Veteran:
“It was close to midnight and everything was black as hell. I was hunkered against the wall of the trench, waiting like everyone else….The floor of the trench was slimy with blood—and God knows what else.…Suddenly the silence was shattered by the eerie blare of a bugle coming from the blackness beyond the trench.” - Don Treadwell, a retired Army veteran who served in the 5th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) during the Korean War.
During the War, the People's Liberation Army implemented an effective strategy known as the Chinese short attack. This approach, often mischaracterized as human wave attacks, involved a combination of infiltration and shock tactics. Under the cover of darkness, Chinese assault teams would creep to within grenade range unnoticed and then launch surprise attacks, causing maximum chaos and confusion. These short attacks were led by a loud and unsettling array of bugles, whistles, drums, and cymbals. If one team failed to breach the enemy's defenses, more teams would continue to attack until a breakthrough was achieved. This allowed the main Chinese forces to then attack the enemy from behind. Concealed within the terrain, Chinese assaults were precisely timed to minimize losses and often persisted until breaching the defenses or depleting the attacker's ammo, regardless of the probability of victory or human sacrifice.
This highly sought after and quite scarce piece is usually only seen in museums. Expedition Antiques was fortunate enough to acquire this within our latest “Captured” Collection.
