title: Authenticated encryption

text: A MAC is produced based on the plaintext, then the plaintext and MAC are together encrypted to produce a ciphertext based on both. The ciphertext (containing an encrypted MAC) is sent. AEAD is used in SSL/TLS. Even though the MtE approach has not been proven to be strongly unforgeable in itself, the SSL/TLS implementation has been proven to be strongly unforgeable by Krawczyk who showed that SSL/TLS was, in fact, secure because of the encoding used alongside the MtE mechanism. Despite the theoretical security, deeper analysis of SSL/TLS modeled the protection as MAC-then-pad-then-encrypt, i.e. the plaintext is first padded to the block size of the encryption function. Padding errors often result in the detectable errors on the recipient's side, which in turn lead to padding oracle attacks, such as Lucky Thirteen.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: Star Wars: Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO is a 1985 animated television series spin off from the original "Star Wars" trilogy. It focuses on the exploits of droids R2-D2 and between the events of "" and "A New Hope". The series was produced by Nelvana on behalf of Lucasfilm and broadcast on ABC with its sister series "Ewoks" (as part of "The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour").


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: The series ran for one season of 13 half-hour episodes; an hour-long special broadcast in 1986 serves as the finale.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: The opening theme, "In Trouble Again," was performed by Stewart Copeland of the Police. During their adventures, the droids find themselves in the service of successive new masters. The original trilogy characters Boba Fett and IG-88 appear in one episode apiece.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: "Droids" follows the adventures of R2-D2 and as they face off against gangsters, criminals, pirates, bounty hunters, the Galactic Empire and other threats. During their adventures, the droids find themselves in the service of successive new masters and in difficult situations as a result.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: The series was retroactively placed four years after "Revenge of the Sith" and fifteen years before the events of "A New Hope". In the latter film, tells Luke Skywalker that his and R2-D2's "last master was Captain Antilles." The droids are placed in Antilles' care by Bail Organa at the end of "Revenge of the Sith", creating an apparent continuity error. This is explained by the droids being accidentally separated from Antilles during the events of the animated series.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: Other guest stars include George Buza, Andrew Sabiston, Eric Peterson, Jamie Dick, Donny Burns, Alan Fawcett, Don McManus, and Gordon Masten.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: The series was produced by the Canadian company Nelvana for Lucasfilm. Several episodes were written by "Star Wars" sound designer Ben Burtt. Hanho Heung-Up Co. was the Korean company hired to animate the series.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: In the UK, BBC Television bought rights to screen the series in its entirety between 1986 and 1991 as part of the Children's BBC programming strand. The entire series was shown twice within this time (in 1986 and 1988 to coincide with the full release of the "Star Wars" trilogy as well as Droids on VHS). "The Great Heep" only made one showing in 1989 on BBC's "Going Live!", which was a Saturday morning children's show—it was split into two parts over two weeks. Different episodes from different cycles were also screened across the five-year licence, with the Trigon cycle being shown in full in early 1991 on another Saturday morning children's show called "".


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: The opening theme, "In Trouble Again", was performed by Stewart Copeland of the Police and written by him and Derek Holt.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: The series was broadcast on ABC with its sister series "Ewoks" (as part of "The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour"). It debuted in 1985 as part of a fitness special hosted by Tony Danza and live-action versions of the droids. It ran for one season of 13 half-hour episodes; an hour-long special broadcast in 1986 serves as the finale. "Droids" and "Ewoks" were later shown in reruns on Sci-Fi Channel's Cartoon Quest in 1996, although somewhat edited for time.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: In the UK this series, along with Ewoks, was released on VHS as part of a promotion with Dairylea Cheese. Familys could send in empyty packages of the Cheese and in return get one of 6 VHS tapes. These videotapes are rare and sought after amongst collectors


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: Over the course of the series, the droids team up with three different sets of masters. The series falls into three cycles or arcs; the droids usually run into their new masters at the beginning of each, and at the end are forced to leave.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: In 1985, Kenner produced a toy line based on the series, including action figures, ship models, and other items. Two action figures, Boba Fett and A-wing Pilot, were repackaged figures from the main "Star Wars" line. The toy line was canceled after the first group of 12 figures due to decreasing popularity with "Star Wars". In 1987 and then 1988, Glasslite of Brazil issued remaining Kenner stock and produced a very limited run of remaining "Return of the Jedi" and "Droids" toys from a sell off. Certain vehicles, mini-rigs and action figures were issued by the company in new packaging. The character Vlix (Tig Fromm's henchman) was an action figure exclusive from unused molds by Kenner. Like the remainder of the Glasslite line, very few were made, even less were sold and most were recycled due to the failing economy when money was tight across the country. Vlix was the most valuable "Star Wars" action figure (at about $6,000 carded or $1,200 loose), until a Fett figure sold for £69,000 ($USD 92,000) at an auction.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: In 2021, for Lucasfilm's 50th anniversary, Hasbro released a Target-exclusive line of action figures based on the series, featuring the titular droid duo and Boba Fett. Fett was also released as a larger figure.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: In 1986, Marvel's Star Comics imprint published a "Star Wars: Droids" comic series spun off from the cartoon. The series ran for eight issues. Four issues and issue 5's cover of the series were drawn by John Romita, Sr. The "Lost in Time" crossover story from "Droids" #4 was continued in an issue of "Ewoks". The last three issues are part of an arc recounting the original "Star Wars" film from the droids' point of view. Additionally, Spanish comics publisher Editorial Gepsa produced two-page "Droids" comics as part of an anthology series.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: Almost all episodes of the series (except "Coby and the Starhunters") were released on VHS in the 1980s and 1990s, most notably the UK PAL releases over four cassettes ("Droids" 1–3 and "The Great Heep"), which had the opening sequences and credits edited out. In 1996, Rick McCallum produced "The Pirates and the Prince", a direct-to-video film compiled from four episodes. In late 2004, McCallum and Lucasfilm produced a DVD titled "Star Wars: Animated Adventures – Droids", which featured "The Pirates and the Prince" and "Treasure of the Hidden Planet", a new compilation film including narration from Mungo Baobab (voiced by Alex Lindsay). This was released by 20th Century Fox in 2005. Both titles included some soundtrack changes.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: On April 2, 2021, it was announced that the entire series would be released on Disney+ later in 2021. All 13 episodes, along with the special, were added on June 18, 2021.


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: According to David Perlmutter, compared with "Ewoks", "Droids" "was rudimentary, with short enough story lines for as many as four narratives in a single episode. Obviously, neither Lucas nor the animation studio had enough faith in the characters to trust them as anything other than second bananas." SyFy Wire writes that ""Droids" struggles to find a way to make the duo's live-action antics as entertaining on the small screen as they are on the silver one; the show tries to serve up a very, very kid-friendly take on that galaxy far, far away and it doesn't always hit the mark." ComicBook.com calls it a "must-watch".


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: Ben Burtt wrote liner notes for the , which referenced the Roonstones he had written about in "Droids"; Burtt made a cameo appearance in "Episode I – The Phantom Menace", and named his character after the Baobabs. Several references to the animated series are made in the prequels, such as the Boonta Eve Classic in "The Phantom Menace", the planet Bogden and a four-armed cook in "Attack of the Clones", and General Grievous' wheel bike design in "Revenge of the Sith".


title: Star Wars: Droids

text: Genndy Tartakovsky gave C-3PO moving, expressive eyes in "" (2003) to pay homage to his previous animated appearances in Nelvana's "Star Wars Holiday Special" (1978) and "Droids". While "Droids" was excluded in the 2014 rebranding of "Star Wars" canon, recurring villain Admiral Screed—whom "A Guide to the Star Wars Universe" describes as "the Emperor's right-hand man during the early days of the Empire"—makes appearances in canon novels such as "" (2014) and "" (2016). Additionally, possible sources of inspiration for sequel trilogy main characters Rey and Kylo Ren have been noticed.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter () was a large-scale battle between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. It was one of the first major engagements of the Korean War. An army of 140,000 UN troops, having been pushed to the brink of defeat, were rallied to make a final stand against the invading Korean People's Army (KPA), 98,000 men strong.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: UN forces, having been repeatedly defeated by the advancing KPA, were forced back to the "Pusan Perimeter", a defensive line around an area on the southeastern tip of South Korea that included the port of Busan. The UN troops, consisting mostly of forces from the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA), United States, and United Kingdom, mounted a last stand around the perimeter, fighting off repeated KPA attacks for six weeks as they were engaged around the cities of Taegu, Masan, and Pohang and the Naktong River. The massive KPA assaults were unsuccessful in forcing the UN troops back further from the perimeter, despite two major pushes in August and September.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: North Korean troops, hampered by supply shortages and massive losses, continually staged attacks on UN forces in an attempt to penetrate the perimeter and collapse the line. The UN forces, however, used the port to amass an overwhelming advantage in troops, equipment, and logistics, and its navy and air forces remained unchallenged by the KPA during the fight. After six weeks, the KPA force collapsed and retreated in defeat after the UN force launched a counterattack at Inchon on September 15 and the UN forces in the perimeter broke out from the perimeter the following day. The battle would be the furthest the KPA would advance in the war, as subsequent fighting ground the war into a stalemate.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Following the outbreak of the Korean War, the United Nations decided to commit troops in support of South Korea, which had been invaded by the neighboring North Korea. The United States subsequently sent ground forces to the Korean Peninsula with the goal of fighting back the North Korean invasion and to prevent South Korea from collapsing. However, US forces in the Far East had been steadily decreasing since the end of World War II, five years earlier, and at the time the closest forces were the 24th Infantry Division of the Eighth United States Army, which was headquartered in Japan. The division was understrength, and most of its equipment was antiquated due to reductions in military spending. Regardless, the 24th Infantry Division was ordered into South Korea.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The KPA, 89,000 men strong, had advanced into South Korea in six columns, catching the ROKA by surprise and completely routing it. The smaller ROK suffered from widespread lack of organization and equipment, and was unprepared for war. Numerically superior, KPA forces destroyed isolated resistance from the 38,000 ROK soldiers on the front before moving steadily south. Most of South Korea's forces retreated in the face of the advance. By June 28, the KPA had captured South Korea's capital Seoul, forcing the government and its shattered forces to retreat further south. Though it was steadily pushed back, ROK forces increased their resistance farther south, hoping to delay KPA units as much as possible. North and South Korean units sparred for control of several cities, inflicting heavy casualties on one another. The ROK defended Yeongdeok fiercely before being forced back, and managed to repel KPA forces in the Battle of Andong.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Outnumbered and under-equipped US forces—committed in piecemeal fashion as rapidly as they could be deployed—were repeatedly defeated and pushed south. The 24th Division, the first US division committed, took heavy losses in the Battle of Taejon in mid-July, which they were driven from after heavy fighting. Elements of the 3rd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, newly arrived in the country, were wiped out at Hadong in a coordinated ambush by KPA forces on July 27, leaving open a pass to the Pusan area. Soon after, Chinju to the west was taken, pushing back the 19th Infantry Regiment and leaving open routes to Pusan. US units were subsequently able to defeat and push back the KPA on the flank in the Battle of the Notch on August 2. Suffering mounting losses, the KPA force on the west flank withdrew for several days to re-equip and receive reinforcements. This granted both sides several days of reprieve to prepare for the attack on the Pusan Perimeter.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The KPA was organized into a mechanized combined arms force of ten divisions, originally numbering some 90,000 well-trained and well-equipped troops in July, with hundreds of T-34 tanks. However, defensive actions by US and ROK forces had delayed the KPA significantly in their invasion of South Korea, costing them 58,000 of their troops and a large number of tanks. In order to recoup these losses, the KPA had to rely on less-experienced replacements and conscripts, many of whom had been taken from the conquered regions of South Korea. During the course of the battle, the KPA raised a total of 13 infantry divisions and one armored division to fight at the Pusan Perimeter.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The UN forces were organized under the command of the Eighth United States Army, which served and was headquartered at Taegu. Under it were three weak US divisions; the 24th Infantry Division was brought to the country early in July, while the 1st Cavalry Division and 25th Infantry Division arrived between July 14 and 18. These forces occupied the western segment of the perimeter, along the Naktong River. The ROK, a force of 58,000, was organized into two corps and five divisions; from east to west, I Corps controlled the 8th Infantry Division and Capital Divisions, while II Corps controlled the 1st Infantry Division and 6th Infantry Division. A reconstituted ROK 3rd Infantry Division was placed under direct ROK control. Morale among the UN units was low due to the large number of defeats incurred to that point in the war. US forces had suffered over 6,000 casualties over the past month, while the ROK had lost an estimated 70,000.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Troop numbers for each side have been difficult to estimate. The KPA had around 70,000 combat troops committed to the Pusan Perimeter on August 5, with most of its divisions far understrength. It likely had less than 3,000 personnel in mechanized units, and around 40 T-34 tanks at the front, due to extensive losses so far in the war. UN commander General Douglas MacArthur reported 141,808 UN troops in Korea on August 4, of which 47,000 were in US ground combat units and 45,000 in ROK combat units. Thus, the UN ground combat force outnumbered the KPA 92,000 to 70,000. UN forces had complete control of the air and sea throughout the fight as well, and US Air Force and US Navy elements provided support for the ground units throughout the battle virtually unopposed.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Overall command of the naval force was taken by the US Seventh Fleet, and the bulk of the naval power provided was also from the US. The United Kingdom also provided a small naval task force including an aircraft carrier and several cruisers. Eventually, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand provided ships as well. Several hundred fighter-bombers of the Fifth Air Force were positioned within the perimeter and in Japan, and just off the coast were US Navy aircraft aboard the and the . By the end of the battle the Eighth Army had more air support than General Omar Bradley's Twelfth United States Army Group in Europe during World War II.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: From south to northeast, the KPA units positioned opposite the UN units were the 83rd Motorized Regiment of the 105th Armored Division and then the 6th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 15th, 1st, 13th, 8th, 12th, and 5th Divisions and the 766th Independent Infantry Regiment.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Throughout September 1950, as the battle raged, more UN forces arrived from the US and other locations. The 2nd Infantry Division, 5th Regimental Combat Team, 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, and British 27th Commonwealth Brigade arrived in Pusan later in the fighting, along with large numbers of fresh troops and equipment, including over 500 tanks. By the end of the battle, Eighth Army's force had gone from three under-strength, under-prepared divisions to four formations that were well-equipped and ready for war.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: On July 1, the US Far East Command directed the Eighth Army to assume responsibility for all logistical support of the US and UN forces in Korea, including the ROKA. Support for the American and South Korean armies came through the United States and Japan. The re-equipping of the ROK presented the UN forces with major logistical problems in July. The biggest challenge was a shortage of ammunition. Though logistics situations improved over time, ammunition was short for much of the war. Consumption of supplies differed among the various units and a lack of a previously drafted plan forced UN logisticians to create a system on the fly.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The majority of resupply by sea was conducted by cargo ships of the US Army and US Navy. The massive demand for ships forced the UN to charter private ships and bring ships out of the reserve fleet to increase the number of military vessels in service. Pusan was the only port in South Korea that had dock facilities large enough to handle a sizable amount of cargo. An emergency airlift of critically needed items began almost immediately from the United States to Japan. Although it did not fly into Korea, the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), Pacific Division, expanded rapidly after the outbreak of the war. The consumption of aviation gasoline thanks to both combat and transport aircraft was so great in the early phase of the war, taxing the very limited supply available in the Far East, that it became one of the serious logistical problems. From Pusan a good railroad system built by the Japanese extended northward. The railroads were the backbone of the UN transportation system in Korea. The of Korean vehicular roads were all of a secondary nature, as measured by American or European standards.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The North Koreans relied on a logistical system which was very lean and substantially smaller than the UN system. This logistics network was therefore capable of moving far fewer supplies, and this caused considerable difficulty for front-line troops. Based on the efficient Soviet Army model, this ground-based network relied primarily on railroads to transport supplies to the front while troops transported those items to the individual units on foot, trucks, or carts. This second effort, though more versatile, was also a substantial disadvantage because it was less efficient and often too slow to follow the moving front-line units.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: North Korea's lack of large airstrips and aircraft meant it conducted only minimal air resupply, mostly critical items being imported from China. Other than this, however, aircraft played almost no role in North Korean logistics. The North Koreans were also unable to effectively use sea transport. Ports in Wonsan and Hungnam could be used for the transport of some troops and supplies, but they remained far too underdeveloped to support any large-scale logistical movements, and the port of Inchon in the south was difficult to navigate with large numbers of ships.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: In mid-July, the UN Far East Air Force Bomber Command began a steady and increasing campaign against strategic North Korean logistics targets. The first of these targets was Wonsan on the east coast. Wonsan was important as a communications center that linked Vladivostok, Siberia, with North Korea by rail and sea. From it, rail lines ran to all the KPA build-up centers. The great bulk of Russian supplies for North Korea in the early part of the war came in at Wonsan, and from the beginning it was considered a major military target. By July 27, the FEAF Bomber Command had a comprehensive rail interdiction plan ready. This plan sought to cut the flow of KPA troops and materiel from North Korea to the combat area. Two cut points, the Pyongyang railroad bridge and marshaling yards and the Hamhung bridge and Hamhung and Wonsan marshaling yards, would almost completely sever North Korea's rail logistics network. Destruction of the rail bridges over the Han River near Seoul would cut rail communication to the Pusan Perimeter area. On August 4, FEAF began B-29 interdiction attacks against all key bridges north of the 37th Parallel in Korea and, on August 15, light bombers and fighter-bombers joined in the interdiction campaign.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The supremacy of the Fifth Air Force in the skies over Korea forced the North Koreans in the first month of the war to resort to night movement of supplies to the battle area. They relied primarily on railroads to move supplies to the front, however a shortage of trucks posed the most serious problem of getting supplies from the trains to individual units, forcing them to rely on carts and pack animals. The KPA was able to maintain transport to its front lines over long lines of communications despite heavy and constant air attacks. The UN air effort failed to completely halt military rail transport. Ammunition and motor fuel, which took precedence over all other types of supply, continued to arrive at the front, though in smaller amounts than before. At best there were rations for only one or two meals a day. Most units had to live at least partially off the South Korean populace, scavenging for food and supplies at night. By September 1 the food situation was so bad in the KPA at the front that most of the soldiers showed a loss of stamina with resulting impaired combat effectiveness.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The inefficiency of its logistics remained a fatal weakness of the KPA, costing it crucial defeats after an initial success with combat forces. The KPA's communications and supply were not capable of exploiting a breakthrough and of supporting a continuing attack in the face of massive air, armor, and artillery fire that could be concentrated against its troops at critical points.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The UN forces established a perimeter around the port city of Pusan throughout July and August 1950. Roughly long, the perimeter stretched from the Korea Strait to the Sea of Japan west and north of Pusan. To the west the perimeter was roughly outlined by the Naktong River where it curved at the city of Taegu, except for the southernmost where the Naktong turned eastward after its confluence with the Nam River. The northern boundary was an irregular line that ran through the mountains from above Waegwan and Andong to Yongdok.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: With the exception of the Naktong delta to the south, and the valley between Taegu and P'ohang-dong, the terrain is extremely rough and mountainous. Northeast of P'ohang-dong along the South Korean line the terrain was especially treacherous, and movement in the region was extremely difficult. Thus, the UN established the Pusan Perimeter in a location outlined by the Sea of Japan to the south and east, the Naktong River to the west, and extremely mountainous terrain to the north, using the terrain as a natural defense. However the rough terrain also made communication difficult, particularly for the ROK forces in the P'ohang-dong area.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Forces in this region also suffered from casualties related to the heat of the summer, as the Naktong region has little vegetation and clean water. Korea suffered from a severe drought in the summer of 1950, receiving only of rain as opposed to the normal during the months of July and August. Combined with temperatures of , the hot and dry weather contributed to a large number of heat and exertion casualties, particularly for the unconditioned American forces.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: On August 1, the Eighth Army issued an operational directive to all UN ground forces in Korea for their planned withdrawal east of the Naktong River. UN units would then establish a Main line of resistance behind what was to be called the Pusan Perimeter. The intent was to draw the line on retreating and hold off the KPA while the UN built up its forces and launched a counteroffensive. The US 25th Infantry Division held the southernmost flank at Masan, while the 24th Infantry Division withdrew from Geochang County to Changyeong. The 1st Cavalry Division withdrew to Waegwan. US forces demolished all bridges over the Naktong River in the retreat. At one bridge in the 1st Cavalry Division sector, the division commander attempted several times to clear refugees from the bridge but they continued to cross it despite warnings and several attempts to clear the bridge. Eventually the commander was forced to demolish the bridge, taking several hundred refugees with it.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Central to the UN defensive plan was to hold the port of Pusan, where vital ground supplies and reinforcements were arriving from Japan and the US. Pusan possessed airfields where US combat and cargo aircraft were streaming into Korea with more supplies. A system similar to the Red Ball Express in World War II was employed to get supplies from Pusan to the front lines. Hundreds of ships arrived in Pusan each month, starting with 230 in July and increasing steadily thereafter. On July 24, the UN established its highest command under MacArthur in Tokyo, Japan. KPA forces in the meantime were suffering from overextended supply lines which severely reduced their fighting capacity.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: KPA forces had four possible routes in the perimeter: to the south, the pass through the city of Masan around the confluence of the Nam and Naktong rivers; another southerly route through the Naktong Bulge and into the railroad lines at Miryang; through the route into Taegu in the north; and through Kyongju in the eastern corridor. The KPA mounted a large offensive in August, simultaneously attacking all four entries into the perimeter. As a result, the Battle of Pusan Perimeter was not one single engagement, but a series of large battles fought between the UN and KPA divisions all along the perimeter.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The Eighth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Walton Walker, began preparing a counteroffensive, the first conducted by the UN in the war, for August. It would kick off with an attack by the US reserve units on the Masan area to secure Chinju, followed by a larger general push to the Kum River in the middle of the month. One of Walker's goals was to break up a suspected massing of KPA troops near the Taegu area by forcing the diversion of some KPA units southward. On August 6, the Eighth Army issued the operational directive for the attack by "Task Force Kean", named for the US 25th Infantry Division commander, William B. Kean. "Task Force Kean" consisted of the 25th Division, less the 27th Infantry Regiment and a field artillery battalion, plus the 5th Regimental Combat Team and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade attached — a force of about 20,000 men. The plan of attack required the force to move west from positions held near Masan, seize the Chinju Pass, and secure the line as far as the Nam River. However, the offensive relied on the arrival of the entire 2nd Infantry Division, as well as three more battalions of American tanks.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: "Task Force Kean" launched its attack on August 7, moving out from Masan, but Kean's attack resulted in a meeting engagement with one being simultaneously delivered by the KPA. Heavy fighting continued in the area for three days. By August 9, "Task Force Kean" was poised to retake Chinju. The Americans initially advanced quickly though heavy KPA resistance. On August 10, the Marines picked up the advance. However, the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade was withdrawn from the force on August 12 to be redeployed elsewhere on the perimeter. "Task Force Kean" continued forward, capturing the area around Chondong-ni. Eighth Army requested several of its units to redeploy to Taegu to be used elsewhere on the front, particularly at the Naktong Bulge.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: An attempt to move the 25th Infantry Division's division trains through the valley became mired in the mud through the night of August 10–11 and was attacked in the morning by KPA forces who had driven American forces from the high ground. In the confusion, KPA armor was able to penetrate roadblocks and assault the supporting US artillery positions. The surprise attack was successful in wiping out most of the 555th and 90th Field Artillery Battalions, with much of their equipment. Both KPA and American armor swarmed to the scene and US Marine aircraft continued to provide cover, but neither side was able to make appreciable gains despite inflicting massive numbers of casualties on one another. Upon later inspection, the bodies of 75 men, 55 from the 555th Field Artillery and 20 from the 90th Field Artillery, were found executed when the area again came under American control. "Task Force Kean" was forced to withdraw back to Masan, unable to hold its gains, and by August 14 it was in approximately the same position it had been in when it started the offensive.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: "Task Force Kean" had failed in its objective of diverting KPA troops from the north, and also failed in its objective of reaching the Chinju Pass. However, the offensive was considered to have significantly increased morale among the troops of the 25th Infantry Division, which performed extremely well in subsequent engagements. The KPA 6th Division had been reduced to 3,000-4,000 and had to replenish its ranks with South Korean conscripts from Andong. Fighting in the region continued for the rest of the month.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: About north of the confluence of the Naktong and Nam Rivers, the Naktong curves westward opposite Yongsan in a wide semicircular loop. For most of this span, the Naktong river is around wide and deep, allowing infantry to wade across with some difficulty, but preventing vehicles from crossing without assistance. This perimeter was manned by a network of observation posts on the high ground where forces from the 24th Infantry Division monitored the river area. Forces in reserve would counterattack any attempted crossings by KPA forces. The division was spread extremely thinly; already understrength, it presented a very weak line.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: On the night of August 5–6, 800 KPA soldiers began wading across the river at the Ohang ferry site, south of Pugong-ni and west of Yongsan, carrying light weapons and supplies over their heads or on rafts. A second force attempted to cross the river further north but met with resistance and fell back. On the morning of August 6, the KPA attacked in an attempt to penetrate the lines to Yongsan. This caught the Americans, who were expecting an attack from further north, by surprise and drove them back. Subsequently, the KPA were able to capture a large amount of American equipment. The attack threatened to split the American lines and disrupt supply lines to the north.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Despite American counterattacks, the KPA were able to continue pressing forward and take Cloverleaf Hill and Oblong-ni Ridge, critical terrain astride the main road in the bulge area. By August 10 the entire KPA 4th Division was across the river and beginning to move south, outflanking the American lines. The next day, scattered KPA elements attacked Yongsan. The KPA forces repeatedly attacked US lines at night, when American soldiers were resting and had greater difficulty resisting.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The 1st Marine Provisional Brigade, in conjunction with "Task Force Hill", mounted a massive offensive on Cloverleaf Hill and Obong-ni on August 17. At first tenacious KPA defense halted the Marines' push. The KPA then mounted a counterattack following this in hopes of pushing the Marines back, but this failed disastrously. By nightfall on August 18, the KPA 4th Division had been nearly annihilated and Obong-ni and Cloverleaf Hill had been retaken by US forces. The next day, the remains of the 4th Division withdrew completely across the river. In their hasty retreat, they left a large number of artillery pieces and equipment behind which the Americans used.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The terrain along the ROK front on the eastern corridor made movement extremely difficult. A major road ran from Taegu east, to P'ohang-dong on Korea's east coast. The only major north-south road intersecting this line moved south from Andong through Yongch'on, midway between Taegu and P'ohang-dong. The only other natural entry through the line was at the town of An'gang-ni, west of P'ohang-dong, situated near a valley through the natural rugged terrain to the major rail hub of Kyongju, which was a staging post for moving supplies to Taegu. Walker chose not to heavily reinforce the area as he felt the terrain made meaningful attack impossible, preferring to respond to attack with reinforcements from the transportation routes and air cover from Yongil Airfield, which was south of P'ohang-dong.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: In early August, three KPA divisions mounted offensives against the three passes through the area, with the 8th Division attacking Yongch'on, 12th Division attacking P'ohang-dong and 5th Division, in conjunction with the 766th Independent Infantry Regiment, attacking An'gang-ni. The 8th Division drove for Yongch'on from Uiseong, but its attack failed to reach the Taegu-P'ohang corridor after being surprised and outflanked by the ROK 8th Division. This fighting was so heavy that the KPA 8th Division was forced to hold its ground for a week before trying to advance. Stalled again by ROK resistance, it halted to wait for reinforcements. However the other two attacks were more successful, catching the UN forces by surprise.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: East of the KPA and ROK 8th Divisions, the KPA 12th Division crossed the Naktong River at Andong, moving through the mountains in small groups to reach P'ohang-dong. UN planners had not anticipated that the 12th Division would be able to cross the river effectively, and thus were unprepared. In the meantime, the ROK 3rd Division was heavily engaged with the KPA 5th Division along the coastal road to P'ohang-dong. The divisions' clashes centered on the town of Yongdok, with each side capturing and recapturing the town several times. On August 5, the KPA attacked, again taking the town from the ROK and pushing them south. On August 6, the ROK launched a counteroffensive to retake the town. However, KPA 5th Division forces were able to infiltrate the coastal road south of Yongdok at Hunghae. This effectively surrounded the ROK 3rd Division, trapping it several miles above P'ohang-dong. The KPA 766th Independent Regiment advanced around the ROK 3rd Division and took the area around P'ohang-dong.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: On August 10, the Eighth Army organized "Task Force P'ohang" — the ROK 17th, 25th, and 26th Regiments as well as the ROK 1st Anti-Guerrilla Battalion, Marine Battalion and a battery from the US 18th Field Artillery Regiment. This task force was given the mission to clear out KPA forces in the mountainous region. At the same time, Eighth Army formed "Task Force Bradley" under Brigadier general Joseph S. Bradley, consisting of elements of the 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. "Task Force Bradley" was tasked with defending P'ohang-dong. What followed was a complicated series of fights throughout the region around P'ohang-dong and An'gang-ni as ROK forces, aided by US air forces, engaged groups of KPA in the area. The KPA 12th Division was operating in the valley west of P'ohang-dong and was able to push back "Task Force P'ohang" and the ROK Capital Division, which was along the line to the east. At the same time, the KPA 766th Infantry Regiment and elements of the KPA 5th Division fought "Task Force Bradley" at and south of P'ohang-dong. US naval fire drove the KPA troops from the town, but it became a bitterly contested no man's land as fighting moved to the surrounding hills.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: By August 13, KPA troops were operating in the mountains west and southwest of Yongil Airfield. USAF commanders, wary of KPA attacks, evacuated the 39th Fighter Squadron and 40th Fighter Squadron from the airstrip, against the wishes of General MacArthur. In the event, the airstrip remained under the protection of UN ground forces and never came under direct fire. The squadrons were moved to Tsuiki Air Field on the island of Kyushu, Japan. In the meantime, the ROK 3rd Division, surrounded earlier in the month, was forced farther south to the village of Changsa-dong, where US Navy craft amphibiously withdrew the division. The division would sail south to Yongil Bay to join the other UN forces in a coordinated attack to push the KPA out of the region. This evacuation was carried out on the night of August 16.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: By August 14, large KPA forces were focused entirely on taking P'ohang-dong. However they were unable to hold it because of US air superiority and naval bombardment on the town. The KPA supply chain had completely broken down and more food, ammunition, and supplies were not available. UN forces began their final counteroffensive against the stalled KPA forces on August 15. Intense fighting around P'ohang-dong ensued for several days as each side suffered large numbers of casualties in back-and-forth battles. By August 17, UN forces were able to push KPA troops out of the Kyongju and An'gang-ni areas, putting the supply road to Taegu out of immediate danger. By August 19 the KPA forces had completely withdrawn from the offensive.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Shortly before the Pusan Perimeter battles began, Walker established Taegu as the Eighth Army's headquarters. Right at the center of the Pusan Perimeter, Taegu stood at the entrance to the Naktong River valley, an area where KPA forces could advance in large numbers in close support. The natural barriers provided by the Naktong River to the south and the mountainous terrain to the north converged around Taegu, which was also the major transportation hub and last major South Korean city aside from Pusan itself to remain in UN hands. From south to north, the city was defended by the US 1st Cavalry Division, and the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions of ROK II Corps. 1st Cavalry Division was spread out along a long line along the Naktong River to the south, with its 5th and 8th Cavalry Regiments holding a line along the river and the 7th Cavalry Regiment in reserve along with artillery forces, ready to reinforce anywhere a crossing could be attempted.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Five KPA divisions amassed to oppose the UN at Taegu; from south to north, the 10th, 3rd, 15th, 13th, and 1st Divisions occupied a line from Tuksong-dong and around Waegwan to Kunwi. The KPA planned to use the natural corridor of the Naktong valley from Sangju to Taegu as their main axis of attack for the next push south. Elements of the 105th Armored Division were also supporting the attack.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: By August 7, the KPA 13th Division had crossed the Naktong River at Naktong-ni, northwest of Taegu. ROK troops attacked the 13th Division immediately after it completed its crossing, forcing the KPA troops to scatter into the mountains. The division reassembled to the east and launched a concerted night attack, broke the ROK defenses, and began an advance that carried it twenty miles (32 km) southeast of Naktong-ni on the main road to Taegu. Within a week, the KPA 1st and 13th divisions were converging on the Tabu-dong area, about north of Taegu.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: During August 12–16, the KPA 15th Division formed up on the east side of the Naktong River in the vicinity of Yuhak-san, northwest of Tabu-dong. It was quickly locked in combat on Yuhak-san with the ROK 1st Division.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: South of Waegwan, two more KPA divisions stood ready to cross the Naktong River in a coordinated attack with the divisions to the north. The experienced KPA 3rd Division was concentrated in the vicinity of Songju, while the untested KPA 10th Division was concentrated in the Koryong area. These two divisions crossed in the US 1st Cavalry Division's line. The KPA 3rd Division's 7th Regiment started crossing the Naktong on August 9. Despite being spotted and taking fire, the bulk of it reached the east bank safely and moved inland into the hills. The 5th Cavalry Regiment and its supporting artillery, now fully alerted, spotted the other two regiments and forced them back to the west bank. Only a small number of KPA reached the east side where either they were captured, or hid until recrossing the river the following night.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: At dawn on August 9, 1st Cavalry Division learned of the North Korean crossing. KPA infantry had gathered on Hill 268, also known as Triangulation Hill, which was southeast of Waegwan and northwest of Taegu. The hill was important for its proximity to lines of communication, as the main Korean north-south highway and the main double-track Seoul-Pusan railroad skirted its base. 1st Cavalry Division counterattacked the KPA gathering to force them back across the river, but their initial assault was repelled. The next morning, August 10, air strikes and artillery barrages rocked Hill 268, devastating the KPA, who withdrew back behind the river.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The KPA plan for the attack against Taegu from the west and southwest demanded the KPA 3rd and 10th Divisions make a coordinated attack. Elements of the 10th Division began crossing the Naktong early on August 12, in the vicinity of Tuksong-dong, on the Koryong-Taegu road, but were driven back. A more determined KPA crossing began early in the morning on August 14. This attack also stalled and was driven back to the river. By nightfall, the bridgehead at Yongp'o was eliminated.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: In the mountains northeast of Waegwan, the ROK 1st Division continued to suffer from KPA attacks throughout mid-August. KPA pressure against the division never ceased for long. US planners believed the main KPA attack would come from the west, and so it massed its forces to the west of Taegu. It mistakenly believed up to 40,000 KPA troops were near Taegu. This number was above the actual troop numbers for the KPA, which had only 70,000 men along the entire perimeter.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: On August 14, General MacArthur ordered the carpet bombing of a rectangular area on the west side of the Naktong River opposite the ROK 1st Division. On August 16, bombers dropped approximately 960 tons of bombs on the area. The attack required the entire FEAF bombing component, and comprised the largest USAF operation since the Battle of Normandy in World War II.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Information obtained later from KPA prisoners revealed the divisions the Far East Command thought to be still west of the Naktong had already crossed to the east side and were not in the bombed area. No evidence was found that the bombing killed a single North Korean soldier. However, the bombing appeared to have destroyed a significant number of KPA artillery batteries, as artillery fire on UN positions waned substantially following the mission. The UN ground and air commanders opposed future massive carpet bombing attacks unless there was precise information on an enemy concentration and the situation was critical. Instead, they recommended fighter-bombers and dive bombers would better support ground forces.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The KPA had been pushed to its limits and many of the original units were at much reduced strength and effectiveness by the end of August. Logistical problems wracked the KPA, with shortages of food, weapons, equipment and replacement soldiers common. By late August, the UN command had more combat soldiers in Korea than the KPA, and the UN had near-total superiority over the air and sea. KPA tank losses had been in the hundreds, and it had fewer than 100 tanks by September 1, compared to the Americans' 600 tanks. By the end of August the KPA's only remaining advantage was their initiative, as the KPA troops retained a high morale and enough supplies to allow for a large-scale offensive.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Fed by intelligence from the Soviet Union, the North Koreans were aware the UN forces were building up along the Pusan Perimeter and that they had to conduct an offensive soon or else forfeit the battle. In planning its new offensive, the KPA commanders decided that any attempt to flank the UN force was impossible thanks to the support of UN naval forces. Instead, they opted to use frontal attacks to breach the perimeter and collapse it. A secondary objective was to surround Taegu and destroy the UN units in that city. As part of this mission, the KPA would first cut the supply lines to Taegu.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: North Korean planners enlarged their force in anticipation of a new offensive. The KPA, originally numbering 10 divisions in two corps, was enlarged to 14 divisions with several independent brigades. The new troops were brought in from reserve forces based in North Korea. Marshal Choe Yong Gun served as deputy commander of the KPA, with General Kim Chaek in charge of the Front Headquarters. Beneath them were the II Corps in the east and I Corps in the west. II Corps controlled the KPA 10th, 2nd, 4th, 9th, 7th, and 6th Divisions as well as the 105th Armored Division, with the 16th Armored Brigade and 104th Security Brigade in support. I Corps commanded the 3rd, 13th, 1st, 8th, 15th, 12th, and 5th Divisions with the 17th Armored Brigade in support. This force numbered approximately 97,850 men, although a third of it comprised raw recruits or forced conscripts from South Korea, and lacked weapons and equipment. By August 31 they were facing a UN force of 120,000 combat troops plus 60,000 support troops.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: On August 20, the KPA commands distributed operations orders to their subordinate units. These orders called for a simultaneous five-prong attack against the UN lines. This would overwhelm the UN defenders and allow the KPA to break through the lines in at least one place to push the UN forces back. Five battle groupings were ordered as follows:


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: On August 22, North Korean Premier Kim Il Sung ordered the war to be over by September 1, but the scale of the offensive did not allow for this. Groups 1 and 2 were to begin their attack at 23:30 on August 31 and Groups 3, 4, and 5 would begin their attacks at 18:00 on September 2. The attacks were to closely connect in order to overwhelm UN troops at each point simultaneously, forcing breakthroughs in multiple places that the UN would be unable to reinforce. The KPA also relied primarily on night attacks to counter the UN's major advantages in air superiority and naval firepower. KPA generals thought such night attacks would prevent UN forces from firing effectively and result in large numbers of UN friendly fire casualties.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The attacks caught UN planners and troops by surprise. By August 26, the UN troops believed they had destroyed the last serious threats to the perimeter, and anticipated the war ending by late November. ROK units, in the meantime, suffered from low morale thanks to their failures to defend effectively thus far in the conflict. UN troops were looking ahead to Operation Chromite, their amphibious assault far behind North Korean lines at the port of Inchon on September 15, and did not anticipate the KPA would mount a serious offensive before then.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The Great Naktong Offensive was one of the most brutal fights of the Korean War. The five-prong offensive led to heavy fighting around Haman, Kyongju, Naktong Bulge, Nam River, Yongsan, Tabu-Dong and Ka-san. The KPA attacks made appreciable gains and forced the UN troops along the Pusan Perimeter to form a thin line of defense, relying on mobile reserves for the strength to push back KPA attackers. From September 18 this fighting was intense and the battle was a very costly deadlock for the two overextended armies. The KPA were initially successful in breaking through UN lines in multiple places and made substantial gains in surrounding and pushing back UN units. On September 4–5 the situation was so dire for the UN troops that the Eighth Army and ROK moved their headquarters elements from Taegu to Pusan to prevent them from being overrun, though Walker remained in Taegu with a small forward detachment. They also prepared their logistics systems for a retreat to a smaller defensive perimeter called the "Davidson Line". By September 6, however, Walker decided another retreat would not be necessary.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: On September 15, exhausted KPA troops were caught unaware by the landings at Inchon, far behind their lines. Those forces that remained after 15 days of fighting were forced to retreat in a total rout or risk being completely cut off. Isolated KPA resistance continued until September 18, but on that date UN troops were mounting a full-scale breakout offensive and pursuing retreating KPA units to the north, ending the fighting around the Pusan Perimeter.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Medals of Honor were awarded to 17 US servicemen in the fight. USAF Major Louis J. Sebille was the only person from his branch to receive the medal. US Army recipients include Master Sergeant Melvin O. Handrich, Private First Class Melvin L. Brown, Corporal Gordon M. Craig, Private First Class Joseph R. Ouellette, Sergeant First Class Ernest R. Kouma, Master Sergeant Travis E. Watkins, First Lieutenant Frederick F. Henry, Private First Class Luther H. Story, Sergeant First Class Charles W. Turner, Private First Class David M. Smith, Sergeant First Class Loren R. Kaufman, and Private First Class William Thompson. Sergeant William R. Jecelin and Corporal John W. Collier were also awarded the medal during the breakout offensive. One Commonwealth serviceman was awarded the Victoria Cross during the breakout offensive, Major Kenneth Muir.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Both the UN and KPA forces suffered massive casualties. The US 5th Regimental Combat Team had 269 killed, 574 wounded and four captured during the battle. The US 1st Cavalry Division suffered 770 killed, 2,613 wounded and 62 captured. The 2nd Infantry Division suffered 1,120 killed, 2,563 wounded, 67 captured and 69 missing. The 24th Infantry Division suffered 402 killed, 1,086 wounded, five captured and 29 missing. The 29th Infantry Regimental Combat Team suffered 86 killed, 341 wounded, 1 captured and 7 missing. The 25th Infantry Division suffered 650 killed, 1,866 wounded, four captured and 10 missing. With other non-divisional units, the US Army's total casualty count for the battle was 3,390 killed, 9,326 wounded, 97 captured (9 of whom died in captivity) and 174 missing, adding up to 12,987 casualties. The US Marine Corps suffered 185 killed, the US Navy suffered 14 killed and the USAF suffered 53 killed. Another 736 were killed, 2,919 wounded and 12 missing during the breakout offensive from the perimeter. The official count for US casualties was 4,599 killed, 12,058 wounded, 2,701 missing, 401 captured. South Korean casualty numbers are nearly impossible to estimate, but are known to be at least twice the total UN casualty count, or at least 40,000. The US also lost 60 tanks in the fight, bringing the total number lost in the war to that date to 136.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: There were also a small number of British casualties in the campaign, including five soldiers killed. Naval rating J.W. Addison was the first casualty in Pusan, killed August 23 aboard when the ship was attacked by a North Korean aircraft. On August 29, Lieutenant Commander I. M. MacLachlan, commander of 800 Naval Air Squadron, was killed in an aircraft accident aboard . Additionally, three British troops of the 27th Brigade were killed near Taegu; Private Reginald Streeter was killed September 4, and Captain C. N. A. Buchanan and Private T. Taylor died September 6. Another 17 British soldiers were wounded in the area.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Two war correspondents were killed in the campaign, Ian Morrison, a reporter for "The Times", and Christopher Buckley, a reporter for "The Daily Telegraph", were killed August 13 near Waegwan when their vehicle struck a landmine. One Indian Armed Forces officer was also killed in the incident, Colonel Manakampat Kesavan Unni Nayar, a representative from the United Nations Commission on Korea.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: North Korean casualties for the battle are almost impossible to estimate precisely due to a lack of records. It is difficult to determine how many South Korean citizens were forcibly conscripted during the battle and how many deserted as opposed to being killed. Larger engagements destroyed entire regiments and even divisions of KPA troops, and their strength had to be estimated based on accounts of KPA captured by the UN. On September 1, the KPA numbered approximately 97,850 in South Korea, and up to one third of this number is suspected to have been conscripts from South Korea. In the aftermath of the Pusan Perimeter battle, only 25,000 or 30,000 of these soldiers returned to North Korea by the end of the month. Upwards of one third of the attacking force became casualties in the fighting. This would mean KPA casualties from September 1 to 15 could range from roughly 41,000 to 36,000 killed and captured, with an unknown number of wounded. With the addition of the 5,690 killed in the Bowling Alley, 3,500 at the Naktong Bulge, at least 3,700 at Taegu and an unknown number at P'ohang-dong before September 1, KPA casualties likely topped 50,000 to 60,000 by the end of the battle. They also lost 239 T-34 tanks and 74 SU-76 self-propelled guns; virtually all of the armor they possessed.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Instances of war crimes were alleged to have occurred mainly by the North Korean side. The KPA troops, in occupying South Korea, were accused of many instances of abuse of prisoners of war captured during the fighting. Among these were accusations that some captured UN prisoners were tortured and executed. Isolated incidents of prisoners being beaten, castrated, burned to death, and used for bayonet practice arose. In the Taegu region, groups of captured soldiers were found executed with their hands bound. This was also known to have occurred at Masan, where isolated instances of prisoners being used as human shields against other UN troops were known to have taken place. Critically wounded UN troops were known to have been killed, and in at least one instance, unarmed chaplains and medics were attacked despite wearing proper identification. The KPA were also known to have forcibly conscripted South Korean civilians into their armies on a large scale, killing any who attempted to desert.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The most infamous North Korean war crime was the Hill 303 massacre on August 17, when 41 US prisoners of war were killed by KPA driving on Taegu. The crime led UN Commander Douglas MacArthur to warn the North Koreans via leaflets and broadcasts that they would be held responsible for such crimes. KPA commanders are known to have issued more stern orders regarding treatment of prisoners of war after these incidents, though such atrocities continued.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: UN troops, particularly South Korean, were also accused of killing or attempting to kill captured KPA soldiers. South Korean civilians, some of whom were leftist or communist sympathizers, were known to have been systematically imprisoned or killed in the Bodo League massacres, some of which had taken place during the battle.Shortly before the Pusan Perimeter fighting, retreating 1st Cavalry Division troops and U.S. warplanes killed an estimated 250-300 South Korean civilians, mostly women and children, in the No Gun Ri massacre. U.S. commanders had adopted a policy of firing on approaching refugee groups, for fear of North Korean infiltrators. Such killings continued during the Naktong River fighting, when commanders declared refugees "fair game" and issued such orders as "shoot all refugees coming across river."


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: Some historians contend the goals of the North Koreans at the Pusan Perimeter were unattainable from the beginning. According to historian T. R. Fehrenbach, the Americans, who had been better equipped than the KPA, were easily able to defeat their opponents once they had the chance to form a continuous line. At the same time, the KPA did break through the perimeter at several points and were able to exploit their gains for a short time. Within a week, though, the momentum of the offensive had been slowed and the KPA could not keep up the strength of their attacks. Most of the front saw only probing actions for the remainder of the battle.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The Inchon landings were a crushing blow for the KPA, catching it completely unprepared and breaking the already weak forces along the perimeter. With virtually no equipment, exhausted manpower and low morale, the KPA were at a severe disadvantage and were not able to continue to pressure on the Pusan Perimeter while attempting to repel the landings at Inchon. By September 23, the KPA were in full retreat from the Pusan Perimeter, with UN forces rapidly pursuing them north and recapturing lost ground along the way.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: The destruction of the KPA at Pusan made communist continuation of the war impossible with North Korean troops alone. The massive equipment and manpower losses rivaled those of the ROK in the first stages of the war. The North Koreans totally collapsed as a fighting force, and the remainder of their routed military retreated into North Korea offering very weak resistance against the UN force, which was now on the offensive with overwhelming superiority by land, air and sea. Many of the outmaneuvered KPA units simply surrendered, having been reduced from units of thousands to just a few hundred men.


title: Battle of Pusan Perimeter

text: With the successful Pusan Perimeter holding action, the victory set in motion the moves which would shape the remainder of the war. MacArthur and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pushed by US leaders in Washington, decided to aggressively pursue the shattered KPA into North Korea. The Eighth Army was ordered to advance as far north as possible to Manchuria and North Korea's border with China, with the primary objective of destroying what remained of the KPA and the secondary objective of uniting all of Korea under President of South Korea Syngman Rhee. This agitated China, which threatened that it would "not stand aside should the imperialists wantonly invade the territory of their neighbor." Warnings from other nations not to cross the 38th Parallel went unheeded and MacArthur began the offensive into the country when North Korea refused to surrender. This would eventually result in Chinese intervention once the UN troops approached the Yalu River, and what was originally known as the "Home By Christmas Offensive" turned into a war that would continue for another two-and-a-half years.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The Evolution Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems (now owned by Wabtec), initially designed to meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 locomotive emissions standards that took effect in 2005. The first pre-production units were built in 2003. Evolution Series locomotives are equipped with either AC or DC traction motors, depending on the customer's preference. All are powered by the GE GEVO engine.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The Evolution Series was named as one of the "10 Locomotives That Changed Railroading" by "Trains Magazine" and was the only locomotive introduced after 1972 to be included in that list.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The Evolution Series locomotives are some of the best-selling and most successful freight locomotives in United States history.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: Currently, six different Evolution Series models have been produced for the North American market. They are all six axle locomotives and have the wheel arrangement C-C (AAR classification) or Co′Co′ (UIC classification), except for the ES44C4 which has an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement and the meter-gauge version developed for the Brazilian network ES43BBi which is B-B-B-B.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The ES40DC (Evolution Series, 4,000 hp, DC traction) replaced the Dash 9-40CW model in the General Electric catalogue and, like the former model, was delivered exclusively to Norfolk Southern Railway. ES44DCs owned by CSX Transportation were also given this designation in 2009 after being de-rated to . However, high-horsepower demand on Norfolk Southern made a mandatory repowering of several ES40DC engines into their former ES44DC power.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The ES44DC (Evolution Series, 4,400 hp, DC traction) replaced the Dash 9-44CW model in the General Electric catalogue. Primary users are BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, and Canadian National Railway. Pilbara Iron in Australia ordered a lengthened, international version designated ES44DCi. The extra length is used for a larger radiator to increase cooling capacity in the Australian outback.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The ES44AC (Evolution Series, 4,400 hp, AC traction) replaced the AC4400CW model in the General Electric catalogue. These locomotives have been ordered by every Class I railroad in North America: Union Pacific Railroad (who refers to these locomotives as the "C45ACCTE"), BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, Kansas City Southern Railway, Kansas City Southern de Mexico, Ferromex, Canadian Pacific Railway, and Canadian National Railway.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The ES44C4 (Evolution Series, 4,400 hp, C to denote 3 axles per truck, 4 traction motors) was introduced in 2009. While similar to the ES44AC, the ES44C4 has two traction motors per truck, instead of the conventional three such as on the ES44AC. No ES44C4s with DC traction were built. The center axle of each truck is unpowered, giving an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement. BNSF Railway is the launch customer for this model, ordering an initial batch of 25 units numbered 6600–6624. The ES44C4 was initially only built for BNSF. The 4200s and units 7921-7999 are certified as Tier 4 Credit units, while the others are Tier 2 or Tier 3. On 30 January 2014 Florida East Coast Railway announced that they would buy 24 ES44C4s, to be numbered 800–823, for heavy haul service and intermodal traffic. All were delivered by the end of 2014, in order to beat the EPA's deadline on exhaust-emissions standards for new-built Tier 3 locomotives.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: A feature of these units is a variable traction control system in their computer systems. One of the differences between an ES44AC and an ES44C4 are the air cylinders and linkages on the truck sideframes of the ES44C4; these are part of the traction control system. Every time a variation in grade, traction, or wheel slip occurs, the computer adjusts the pressure in these cylinders to maintain sufficient adhesion, by varying the weight on the drive axles.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The ES44DCi (Evolution Series, 4400 horsepower, DC traction, international version) was built for the Rio Tinto railway in Australia. The ES44ACi was built for the Roy Hill and Rio Tinto Group.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: Rio Tinto's units can be remotely driven, meaning nobody has to be in the cab as they can be controlled from a control center.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The ES44ACi/DCi is essentially an ES44AC/DC in a GE AC6000CW's body, with the radiator at the end protruding out over the rear deck in the same way the AC6000CW does. The locomotive's large radiator allows it to handle the Australian outback's extreme temperatures.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: Roy Hill has ordered 21 ES44ACi locomotives, and is currently in possession of all 21 locomotives (numbered 1001 "Ginny"-1021). Rio Tinto ordered 100 ES44DCi locomotives and has all 100 (numbered 8100–8199) and 21 ES44ACi locomotives (numbered 9100–9120) and more are on order.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: Ferromex also acquired 50 ES44ACi. As the construction of these locomotives was subsequent to the new environmental laws of the US, GE cataloged them only as ES44ACi, although in the external technical specifications of the locomotives say ES44AC). These locomotives can no longer reenter the US operating.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The ET44AC (Evolution Series Tier 4, 4,400 hp, AC traction) replaces the ES44AC model. These locomotives have been ordered by most of the Class I railroads in North America, including Union Pacific, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern and Canadian National Railway. BNSF Railway will be receiving similar ET44C4 locomotives, which have no traction motor on the middle axle of each truck. CSX designates their ET44ACs as ET44AH, due to their locomotives being heavy-ballasted.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The Evolution Series locomotives are visually similar to the AC4400CW, although small differences are evident. The most noticeable difference is the radiator section at the rear of the locomotive is larger to accommodate the GEVO's Air to air intercoolers. As with the AC6000CW, the radiators project beyond the end of the hood. On the ES44ACi and ES44DCi models, the radiator extends in the same way as the AC6000CW, protruding out over the rear deck. For the other Evolution Series locomotives, the radiator does not protrude completely over the rear deck, but rather sits nearly flush with the rear of the engine hood. Unlike previous GE locomotives, the grills under the radiator are at two different angles. The increase in radiator size is due to the necessity for greater cooling capacity in the locomotive in order to reduce emissions. The other major difference between the Evolution Series and earlier models are the vents below the radiators, which are larger than those on previous GE locomotives. Also, all Evolution Series units have air conditioners mounted below the cab on the conductor's side.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: In 2002, GE and UGL Limited launched the Evolution Series locomotive, and in 2009, continued their partnership for another 10 years for UGL to distribute and sell GE locomotives in Australia.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: In November 2015, it was announced Indian Railways and GE would engage in a 11-year joint venture in which GE would hold a majority stake of 74%, to provide a mix of 1,000 diesel locomotives of type ES 43ACmi which are 4,500 horsepower and type ES 58ACi which are 6,000 horsepower each. Indian Railways designated these 1,676 mm (broad gauge) locomotives as the WDG-4G class and WDG-6G class respectively. General Electric has invested ₹2,052 crore (US$305 million) for its construction. In the $2.6 Billion deal, Indian Railways would purchase 1,000 goods locomotives a year for ten years beginning in 2017; the locomotives would be modified versions of the GE Evolution series. Diesel Locomotive Factory, Marhowrah was built by GE for the manufacture of the locomotives.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: Transnet Engineering in South Africa has a license to manufacture 233 ES40ACi locomotives for Transnet Freight Rail, with core components including GEVO-12 engines supplied from the United States.


title: GE Evolution Series

text: The first six of these Class 44-000 locomotives were built in Erie, Pennsylvania in April and July 2015. In October 2015, the first of the 227 South African-built locomotives was nearing completion at Transnet Engineering's Koedoespoort shops in Pretoria.


title: John Fowles

text: John Robert Fowles (; 31 March 1926 – 5 November 2005) was an English novelist of international renown, critically positioned between modernism and postmodernism. His work was influenced by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, among others.


title: John Fowles

text: After leaving Oxford University, Fowles taught English at a school on the Greek island of Spetses, a sojourn that inspired "The Magus" (1965), an instant best-seller that was directly in tune with 1960s "hippy" anarchism and experimental philosophy. This was followed by "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1969), a Victorian-era romance with a postmodern twist that was set in Lyme Regis, Dorset, where Fowles lived for much of his life. Later fictional works include "The Ebony Tower" (1974), "Daniel Martin" (1977), "Mantissa"


title: John Fowles

text: Fowles was born in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, England, the son of Gladys May Richards and Robert John Fowles. Robert Fowles came from a family of middle-class merchants of London. Robert's father Reginald was a partner of the firm Allen & Wright, a tobacco importer. Robert's mother died when he was six years old. At the age of 26, after receiving legal training, Robert enlisted in the Honourable Artillery Company and spent three years in the trenches of Flanders during the First World War. Robert's brother Jack died in the war, leaving a widow and three children. During 1920, the year Robert was demobilised, his father Reginald died. Robert became responsible for five young half-siblings as well as the children of his brother. Although he had hoped to practise law, the obligation of raising an extended family forced him into the family trade of tobacco importing.


title: John Fowles

text: Gladys Richards belonged to an Essex family also originally from London. The Richards family moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in 1918, as Spanish flu swept through Europe, for Essex was said to have a healthy climate. Robert met Gladys Richards at a tennis club in Westcliff-on-Sea in 1924. Though she was ten years younger, and he in bad health from the war, they were married a year later on 18 June 1925. Nine months and two weeks later, Gladys gave birth to John Robert Fowles.


title: John Fowles

text: During his childhood Fowles was attended by his mother and his cousin Peggy Fowles, who was 18 years old at the time of his birth. She was his nursemaid and close companion for ten years. Fowles attended Alleyn Court Preparatory School. The works of Richard Jefferies and his character Bevis were his favourite books as a child. He was an only child until he was 16 years old.


title: John Fowles

text: In 1939, he won a place at Bedford School, a two-hour train journey north of his home. His time at Bedford coincided with the Second World War. Fowles was a student at Bedford until 1944. He became head boy and was an athletic standout: a member of the rugby-football third team, the fives first team, and captain of the cricket team, for which he was a bowler.


title: John Fowles

text: After leaving Bedford School in 1944, Fowles enrolled in a Naval Short Course at University of Edinburgh and was prepared to receive a commission in the Royal Marines. He completed his training on 8 May 1945—VE Day and was assigned instead to Okehampton Camp in the countryside near Devon for two years.


title: John Fowles

text: After completing his military service in 1947, Fowles entered New College, Oxford, where he studied both French and German, although he stopped studying German and concentrated on French for his BA. Fowles was undergoing a political transformation. Upon leaving the marines, he wrote, "I ... began to hate what I was becoming in life—a British Establishment young hopeful. I decided instead to become a sort of anarchist."


title: John Fowles

text: It was also at Oxford that Fowles first considered life as a writer, particularly after reading existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. He has also commented that the ambience of Oxford at the time, where such existentialist notions of "authenticity" and "freedom" were pervasive, influenced him. Though Fowles did not identify as an existentialist, their writing was motivated from a feeling that the world was absurd, a feeling he shared.


title: John Fowles

text: Fowles spent his early adult life as a teacher. His first year after Oxford was spent at the University of Poitiers. At the end of the year, he received two offers: one from the French department at Winchester, the other "from a ratty school in Greece," Fowles said: "Of course, I went against all the dictates of common sense and took the Greek job."


title: John Fowles

text: In 1951, Fowles became an English master at the Anargyrios and Korgialenios School of Spetses on the Peloponnesian island of Spetses (also known as Spetsai). This opened a critical period in his life, as the island was where he met his future wife Elizabeth Christy, née Whitton, wife of fellow teacher Roy Christy. Inspired by his experiences and feelings there, he used it as the setting of his novel "The Magus" (1966). Fowles was happy in Greece, especially outside the school. He wrote poems that he later published, and became close to his fellow expatriates. But during 1953, he and the other masters at the school were all dismissed for trying to institute reforms, and Fowles returned to England.


title: John Fowles

text: On the island of Spetses, Fowles had developed a relationship with Elizabeth Christy, then married to another teacher. Christy's marriage was already ending because of Fowles. Although they returned to England at the same time, they were no longer in each other's company. It was during this period that Fowles began drafting "The Magus".


title: John Fowles

text: His separation from Elizabeth did not last long. On 2 April 1957, they were married. Fowles became stepfather to Elizabeth's daughter from her first marriage, Anna. For nearly ten years, he taught English as a foreign language to students from other countries at St. Godric's College, an all-girls establishment in Hampstead, London.


title: John Fowles

text: In late 1960, though he had already drafted "The Magus", Fowles began working on "The Collector". He finished his first draft of "The Collector" in a month, but spent more than a year making revisions before showing it to his agent. Michael S. Howard, the publisher at Jonathan Cape, was enthusiastic about the manuscript. The book was published in 1963 and when the paperback rights were sold in the spring of that year, it was "probably the highest price that had hitherto been paid for a first novel," according to Howard. British reviewers found the novel to be an innovative thriller, but several American critics detected a serious promotion of existentialist thought.


title: John Fowles

text: The success of "The Collector" meant that Fowles could stop teaching and devote himself full-time to a literary career. Film rights to the book were optioned and it was adapted as a feature film of the same name in 1965. Against the advice of his publisher, Fowles insisted that his second published book be "The Aristos", a non-fiction collection of philosophy essays. Afterward, he set about collating all the drafts he had written of what would become his most studied work, "The Magus".


title: John Fowles

text: In 1965 Fowles left London, moving to Underhill, a farm on the fringes of Lyme Regis, Dorset. The isolated farm house became the model for "The Dairy" in the book Fowles was writing: "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1969). Finding the farm too remote, ("total solitude gets a bit monotonous," Fowles remarked), in 1968 he and his wife moved to Belmont, in Lyme Regis (Belmont was formerly owned by Eleanor Coade), which Fowles used as a setting for parts of "The French Lieutenant's Woman". In this novel, Fowles created one of the most enigmatic female characters in literary history. His conception of femininity and myth of masculinity as developed in this text is psychoanalytically informed.


title: John Fowles

text: In the same year, he adapted "The Magus" for cinema, and the film was released in 1968. The film version of "The Magus" (1968) was generally considered awful; when Woody Allen was later asked whether he would make changes in his life if he had the opportunity to do it all over again, he jokingly replied he would do "everything exactly the same, with the exception of watching "The Magus"."


title: John Fowles

text: "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1969) was released to critical and popular success. It was translated into more than ten languages, and established Fowles' international reputation. It was adapted as a feature film in 1981 with a screenplay by the noted British playwright (and later Nobel laureate) Harold Pinter, and starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons.


title: John Fowles

text: Fowles lived the rest of his life in Lyme Regis. His works "The Ebony Tower" (1974), "Daniel Martin" (1977), "Mantissa" (1981), and "A Maggot" (1985) were all written from Belmont House. In 1980 he wrote a highly appreciative introduction to G.B. Edwards' "The Book of Ebenezer Le Page" (Hamish Hamilton, 1981), the fictional autobiography set in Guernsey: 'There may have been stranger literary events than the book you are about to read but I rather doubt it' (reprinted in his "Wormholes: Essays and Occasional Writings", ed. Jan Relf (Jonathan Cape, 1998), pp. 166-74.


title: John Fowles

text: In 1998, he was quoted in the "New York Times Book Review" as saying, "Being an atheist is a matter not of moral choice, but of human obligation."


title: John Fowles

text: In 2008 Fowles was named by "The Times" newspaper of the UK as one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.


title: John Fowles

text: Fowles composed a number of poems and short stories throughout his life, most of which were lost or destroyed. In December 1950 he wrote "My Kingdom for a Corkscrew". "For A Casebook" (1955) was rejected by various magazines. In 1970 he wrote "The Last Chapter".


title: John Fowles

text: Joining the community, Fowles served as the curator of the Lyme Regis Museum from 1979 to 1988, retiring from the museum after having a mild stroke. He was occasionally involved in local politics, writing letters to "The Times" advocating preservation. Despite this involvement, he was generally considered reclusive.


title: John Fowles

text: In 1990, his first wife Elizabeth died of cancer, only a week after she was diagnosed. Her death affected him severely, and he did not write for a year. In 1998, Fowles married his second wife, Sarah Smith. With Sarah by his side, he died of heart failure on 5 November 2005, aged 79, in Axminster Hospital, from Lyme Regis.


title: John Fowles

text: In 2008, Elena van Lieshout presented a series of 120 love letters and postcards for auction at Sotheby's. The correspondence started in 1990, when Fowles was aged 65. Elena, a young Welsh admirer and a student at St. Hilda's College, Oxford, contacted the reclusive author and they developed a sensitive, albeit unconsummated, relationship.


title: John Fowles

text: Following Fowles' death in 2005, his unpublished diaries from 1965 to 1990 were revealed to contain racist and homophobic statements, with particular ire towards Jewish people. He described rare book dealer Rick Gekoski as "Too Jewish for English tastes… bending to the way of the wind, or the business and money pressure", and wrote a consciously antisemitic poem about publishers Tom Maschler and Roger Straus.


title: Mercy Graves

text: Mercy Graves is a supervillain appearing in multimedia and American comic books published by DC Entertainment and DC Comics. Created for the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), she first appeared in 1996 on "" as the personal assistant and bodyguard of Superman’s archenemy Lex Luthor, returning in "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited". She has since crossed over into comic books published by DC Comics and has generally retained that role. The character was then played by Tao Okamoto in the 2016 DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film "", by Cassidy Freeman in "Smallville" (as Tess Mercer), by Rhona Mitra in the fourth season of the television series "Supergirl", by Natalie Gumede in the second season of the DC Universe series "Titans", and by Maya Erskine in DC League of Super-Pets.


title: Mercy Graves

text: Mercy Graves was created for "" (voiced by Lisa Edelstein) as a tough young woman with a checkered past. Mercy serves as Lex Luthor's personal bodyguard and chauffeur. Originally the leader of a gang of female thieves, Mercy once daringly swiped Luthor's briefcase from under the billionaire's nose. She did not get far before Luthor's men hunted her down. However, rather than take revenge, Luthor, impressed by her mixture of ruthlessness and street savvy, offered her a job. He took her in, cleaned her up, and made her his right-hand woman. Trained in unarmed combat, she was entrusted with his personal security and also to carry out his dirty work.


title: Mercy Graves

text: Her demeanor reveals a sardonic wit and her habitual dress is a chauffeur's uniform with a very short skirt, a chauffeur's cap, nylons, and short, high heeled boots. Mercy is loyal and respectful to Luthor, and she claims to be "the only one in Luthor's entire company who can get away with calling him Lex".


title: Mercy Graves

text: In the episode "Brave New Metropolis" Lois Lane travels to an alternate reality of Metropolis. Mercy Graves is the commander of Lex Luthor's law-enforcement group. She and her soldiers raid the hideout of the revolutionaries led by Jimmy Olsen where they arrest the revolutionaries, confiscate the stolen Kryptonite, send the adults to prison, and send any children of the revolutionaries to the LexCorp Orphanage. When she hears Jimmy call out to Lois, Mercy had her brought before Lex Luthor after the DNA tests prove that she is Lois Lane. Lex Luthor decided that in order to keep Superman at bay, it would be best to dispose of Lois. He sent Mercy to kill her in the city. On their way, they came across Angela Chen, who managed to distract the commander. Lois stole Mercy's gun and before she could react, Angela had bitten her leg. Lois made her getaway. Lois and the alternate Superman met where he learned what Lex Luthor has been doing behind his back. In the LexCorp building, Mercy was present when Lois and Superman confronted Luthor. Mercy fought Lois, but ultimately lost when Lois planted a jaw-breaking left hook. Rebels stormed into the room and poured onto the hated Mercy while Superman pursued Lex Luthor.


title: Mercy Graves

text: In the episode "Ghost in the Machine", Mercy teams up with Superman to find a missing Lex Luthor. Superman tries to convince Mercy that Luthor does not actually care for her, but Mercy tries to prove him wrong. After a battle with Brainiac, Mercy is pinned under a pile of fallen machinery while the room was effected by a strong vacuum. Although Luthor could have saved her, he flees instead causing Superman to save her.


title: Mercy Graves

text: During the "World's Finest" crossover arc, Mercy develops an intense rivalry with Harley Quinn, the Joker's henchwoman and on again/off again girlfriend as Joker himself forms a tenuous alliance with her boss to kill Superman. During the arc's climactic episode, Harley and Joker gag her and Lex and tie them to a killer android that attacks Batman and Superman. She and Lex are saved by the two, and is later seen watching television and laughing to herself as Harley is publicly arrested.


title: Mercy Graves

text: Mercy Graves later reappears in the "Justice League" episode "Tabula Rasa". The nature of her relationship with Luthor becomes more clear. Mercy has agreed to take over LexCorp while Luthor is in prison and is hesitant to return it to him because she feels their former relationship was not an equal one. She also states that while she was the CEO of LexCorp, she brought the stock up 38% and removed certain departments in the science division finding them useless or in order to save money. Lex Luthor exacerbates the situation by verbally and physically abusing her. It is repeatedly implied that their relationship was not solely platonic. Mercy grudgingly assists Luthor's escape from the Justice League, but his deceitful manipulation of another devoted servant causes Mercy to see their years together in a different light. After his capture, Mercy hangs up on Lex Luthor during his single phone call when he requests help in obtaining a lawyer and doctors to treat his Kryptonite-caused cancer.


title: Mercy Graves

text: Mercy Graves reappears in the "Justice League Unlimited" episode "Clash". She was seen at Lex Luthor's side again.


title: Mercy Graves

text: Mercy Graves first appeared in the main DC Universe continuity in "Detective Comics" #735 (August 1999), during the "No Man's Land" storyline in the Batman titles. This version of Mercy has blonde hair and does not wear a chauffeur's uniform. She is sometimes seen wearing a suit and tie. She is later joined by another female bodyguard in Luthor's employ, Hope. It is suggested that the two may be Amazons, as they have exchanged blows with Superman. This possibility is referenced in the "President Luthor: Secret Files and Origins" comic when the sorceress Circe appears at the White House demanding to meet with Lex. Hope and Mercy inform Circe that they can always recognize her, no matter what disguise or form she might take, suggesting some previous familiarity. After temporarily changing them into birds Circe tells Lex that he will need to hire new Amazon bodyguards.


title: Mercy Graves

text: Although Hope's time as a LexCorp employee has passed, Mercy can be seen with the fugitive Lex Luthor after he is driven from the Presidency. Despite her loyalty to Luthor, she has still shown some humanity even while in his employ; when Superman was searching for Lois Lane after she was abducted and impersonated by the Parasite, Mercy saw him during his search, and, in that moment, saw him not as an alien, but as a man who had lost everything. A Mercy-Harley Quinn fight is featured in "Action Comics" #765 (May 2000).


title: Mercy Graves

text: In the series "52", Mercy is seen alongside Luthor at the unveiling of his "Be Your Own Hero" program, and is injured when she fires several gunshots at Steel, which he deflects and sends back at her, hitting her in the right hand. She is later shown in Luthor's employ in "52" Week 40.


title: Mercy Graves

text: Mercy has appeared in the "Infinity, Inc." series, apparently wanting to atone for her past deeds. In #8, she takes on the moniker "Vanilla" and wears a costume equipped with a special mask that will keep her identity hidden from the likes of Superman and Lex Luthor. In #10, she almost beats a man to death. She leaves the team soon after, accepting the fact that she is not "hero" material.


title: Mercy Graves

text: Mercy's Amazon heritage is confirmed in "", when the supervillain Prometheus nearly kills Supergirl with god-forged bullets he claimed he bought from Mercy.


title: Mercy Graves

text: In The New 52 (a reboot of DC universe launched in 2011), Mercy Graves is reintroduced as an Asian American. She works as Lex Luthor's personal assistant and manages LexCorp during his absence.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Gareth Thomas (born 25 July 1974), nicknamed "Alfie", is a Welsh former professional rugby union and rugby league player, who represented Wales in both sports. With 100 test match appearances he was the most capped Welsh rugby union player until he was overtaken by Stephen Jones in September 2011. He is currently ranked 14th among international try scorers, and is the third highest Wales try scorer behind Shane Williams & George North. He also won four rugby league caps for Wales, scoring three tries.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: He played rugby union as a fullback, wing or centre for Bridgend, Cardiff, the Celtic Warriors, Toulouse, Cardiff Blues, and Wales. In 2010 he changed codes to rugby league when he transferred from Cardiff Blues to the Crusaders in Super League, and later played for Wales. He retired from rugby in October 2011.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Thomas came out as gay in December 2009. The following year he was voted the most influential gay person in the UK in "The Independent on Sunday" Pink List and received Stonewall’s Hero of the Year award.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Thomas started his career at Pencoed RFC at youth level before starting his first class career at Bridgend. He then transferred to Pontypridd, but never actually played a game for them before re-signing for Bridgend. He then spent a spell at Cardiff starting in 1997 before rejoining hometown club Bridgend again in 2001 and captaining them to a Welsh Premier Division title in 2003, in a campaign where they were unbeaten at home and only lost to runners-up Neath and Cardiff away. He then joined the Celtic Warriors once the Welsh Rugby Union implemented its regional rugby plans for the 2003–04 season. After one season as captain of the Warriors, the region was disbanded by the then-WRU chief David Moffett, and owner Leighton Samuel, although Thomas had already agreed a deal to join French club Toulouse where he was seen as the ideal replacement for soon-to-retire captain Émile Ntamack. He helped the club to a Heineken Cup victory in 2005 after a victory over Stade Français at Murrayfield. On 20 January 2007, Cardiff Blues completed a deal to bring Thomas back to Wales for the 2007–08 season. Thomas didn’t actually play much more than a game or two of rugby union after his announcement, shifting immediately to rugby league (a sport generally regarded as more inclusive).


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Gareth Thomas made his début for Wales on 27 May 1995 against . He scored a Welsh record-equalling four tries in the match against in Treviso in 1999; one of only seven players to achieve that feat for Wales. He held the Wales record for the most international tries with 40 until Shane Williams surpassed that total in the 2008 Six Nations Championship He surpassed the try record previously held by Ieuan Evans in 2004 against Italy. He also got a hat-trick of tries in the Second Test against Japan in 2001; 51 appearances after announcing his arrival on the international scene with a hat-trick in the 1995 World Cup game against the same opposition. Equally at home at centre, it was from that position he scored the longest interception try ever seen at the Arms Park, a 90-metre dash against in 1996.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Thomas was selected for the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. Following injury to Brian O'Driscoll in the opening minutes of the first test against , he was made captain for the second and third tests of the series, becoming the ninth Welsh captain in Lions' history.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: In 2005 Thomas was found guilty of assault while playing rugby in France and in 2007 was banned for four weeks for misconduct charges.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Thomas was named as captain for Wales' final match in the 2007 Six Nations against England after current captain Stephen Jones was ruled out with a broken wrist. When Thomas took the field, he equalled Gareth Llewellyn's Wales record of 92 caps. He broke Llewellyn's record when he led Wales out against Australia at Telstra Stadium in Sydney on 26 May 2007, a match that Wales lost 29–23 on a Wallabies try after the siren.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Thomas joined Crusaders in March 2010 on an 18-month deal. He made his Crusaders' (and rugby league) début against French side Catalans Dragons on 19 March 2010. Thomas was concussed seconds into his rugby league début after a heavy challenge from Catalans player David Ferriol, and as a result had to leave the field after thirty minutes. Crusaders went on to win the game 14–6. Thomas went on to score his first try for the Crusaders against Wakefield Trinity in a 20–10 away victory on 11 April. A groin injury prematurely ended Thomas' first season in rugby league, but his recovery was hoped to be complete in time for the 2010 European Cup, for which Thomas was selected in the Welsh preliminary squad.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: In a warm-up test before the European Cup, he made a try-scoring international rugby league début in Wales 13–6 defeat by Italy in October 2010. He scored again in his next international vs Scotland. In the final game of the tournament, Thomas was appointed captain, filling in for the injured Lee Briers. He scored a try in that game, helping Wales to a one-point win for both the European Cup Trophy and a spot in the 2011 Rugby League Four Nations.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: On 9 July 2011, Thomas confirmed on Twitter that he had broken his left arm during the 38–10 defeat by Hull Kingston Rovers, and expected to be sidelined for two months. After missing the rest of the season and failing to reach 100% fitness before the 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament, on 25 October 2011 Thomas announced his immediate retirement.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Thomas was born in Sarn near Bridgend in July 1974. He married Jemma Thomas, whom he met when both were teenagers, in 2001. The couple married in St Brides Major, near Bridgend, and filed for divorce in 2007; it was finalised in 2009. During the marriage, Jemma suffered three miscarriages.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: In December 2009 Thomas announced publicly that he is gay. He told the "Daily Mail", "I don't want to be known as a gay rugby player. I am a rugby player, first and foremost. I am a man". Thomas's public confirmation of his sexuality made him the first openly gay professional rugby union player. In an interview with the BBC, Thomas talked about how he hoped that his coming out would mean that in the future, a young gay rugby player would be able to come out and be accepted as a "talented gay rugby player". Thomas also said, "What I choose to do when I close the door at home has nothing to do with what I have achieved in rugby". Since coming out, Thomas has become a vocal supporter of the NSPCC and ChildLine, a telephone counselling service operated by the NSPCC for children and young people. In an interview, Thomas commented, "I don't know if my life is going to be easier because I'm out, but if it helps someone else, if it makes one young lad pick up the phone to ChildLine, then it will have been worth it".


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: He suffered a major health scare in February 2006. He had received a blow to his neck during a match; then later on while watching a televised recording of an interview he had given regarding his part in the resignation of Welsh coach Mike Ruddock, he fell ill and was rushed to hospital with a suspected stroke, which was brought on by a ruptured artery in his neck. It was feared that this could lead to his retirement, but he resumed playing at the start of the 2006–07 French rugby season.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: His way of celebrating tries by slapping his head comes from a popular celebration among Cardiff City supporters known as "the Ayatollah".


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: On 17 November 2018, Thomas was assaulted in Cardiff because of his sexuality. He requested that South Wales Police deal with the 16-year-old assailant by way of restorative justice.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: On 14 September 2019, Thomas announced that he is HIV positive, with undetectable status, meaning that he is not infectious. On the following day he competed in the Ironman Wales event in Tenby, finishing 413th out of 2,039, having vowed to "break the stigma" around the illness. After feeling media pressure to do so and for National HIV Testing Week, Thomas also filmed a documentary with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and the Terrence Higgins Trust, which aired a few days later on 18 September. Publicising the documentary that morning, he told an interviewer for BBC Radio 5 Live that a journalist had revealed his HIV status to his parents before he had had the opportunity to do so himself. While Thomas declined to name the journalist or the paper they write for, he did say "everybody will know, especially of late", leading the "Press Gazette" to suggest it could be "The Sun", given they had been criticised the previous day for reporting about the family of England cricketer Ben Stokes. A BBC documentary, "Gareth Thomas: HIV and Me", aired in September 2019.