This picture released by the American Military of the site in 1950 (taken by Major Abbott on his Leica Camera in July of that year), overlaid on a more contemporary photograph shows exactly what has been at stake in Daejeon over the past 15 years or so. The inhuman activities of Abbot at this time, paradoxically provide a window into the past that makes the recovery of remains possible. This knowledge is constantly shifting and changing, dependent on the sources themselves but also the revelations that come from looking at the topography on site. The mountains in this case are very much a witness, or a provide a constancy that it is hard to obtain from the accounts of local people after so much time has passed.

I was told last week that even though it is a rumour at the second (and longest) massacre site that the government disposed of the remains when building the road, in reality the elderly witness to what occurred at that time mistook the new road for the original one that had existed somewhere else. In which case, there could be much to be found in a completely different place. This kind of work is never an exact science. Probably a mixture of accounts resembles the truth (including Winnington's own). All that exists is rumour and supposition that must be collated and inspected in the light of genuine facts. One clear fact is that bone fragments and "black rubber shoes' have been uncovered by farmers in this valley for some time. But to find the precise source requires opportunities much like in the transhistorical overlapping of images seen above.  

There are similar opportunities that arise from Winnington's own evidence, particularly when we consider things like the capacity of military trucks at the time and the evidence he gained via a translator. I hope to cover a few of these soon.

As something of an addendum - and using information from the a series of articles written by the journalist Shim Gyu Sang over the past few days in South Korea - similar patterns emerge to do with Winnington's own report.  Of the six "pits" that Winnington discovered in his pamphlet it is clear now that the first three are at massacre site number one, whilst the fourth and fifth (including the longest one by the road of 200 yards) are at the second site, with the sixth in the far distance at the third massacre site. It looks very much like the third massacre site is the one found by using the mountains as topographical markers in the picture at the top of this post.  

At the site in Daejeon today we commenced the digging with an official ceremony. This is a month long process, so I will be returning wherever possible to search for updates. Park Sun Joo tells me that they hope to recover a third of the bodies in this one area. There will be digging in other places too.

Like always happens with this history, it seems a strange coincidence its almost 70 years exactly since the publication of Alan's pamphlet. There is a brochure from the event that I will be slowly releasing parts of both on this site (when I deem it appropriate) and in more detail in a newsletter that I will sporadically produce for people who are genuinely interested in this. Send me your email via the tab on the right of this page if you are.

It's worth briefly reminding people of the significance of these events for both the history of the Korean War, but in a much wider sense what passes for journalism in the present. I think of the barely covered trial of Julian Assange at the moment, or how meticulously this story has been withheld from public knowledge for 70 years. Even if this story was known to some in England and America, Alan's Pamphlet only ended up in South Korean hands in 2002. Even then it was most likely in the form of "communist contraband".

I have a lot more to write about this but for now consider this passage from Alan's posthumously released autobiography, where he extremely accurately recounts how his report was received in the UK at the time:
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Last year we made a short film about Esther Samson's (formerly Winnington) trip to the memorial ceremony in  Daejeon. As always this was done with contributions from Daejeon Citizens, and the film was made by Jeong Chinho PD (an amateur film maker, who kindly gave his services much as he did for The Longest Tomb one year previously).

Apart from being one of the only films made about this tragedy, it is a really worthwhile film in terms of finding out more about Alan Winnington. As someone very interested in his story I was particularly shocked (although not surprised!) by Esther's description of the trauma that Alan himself carried with him after the Korean War. Also, it is worth watching simply for Esther's incredible stories about Ho Chi Minh and other Communist leaders she met over the years (and of course the King of China!).

It is also great to see the memorial ceremony so well organized in 2019, something that wasn't possible in 2020 thanks to the pandemic. 

We are currently producing a professional quality film about the Daejeon Massacre with funding from the Arts Council and the East District Government Office (my current workplace). This will be completed by the end of this year. I will also put this up on here when completed.