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Chail-li was the next major engagement for the Canadians. This time, 25 CIBG gave the 2 RCR the difficult assignment of capturing Hill 467, a height that towered over the village of Chail-li. Unlike at Kap'yong, however, Canadian soldiers would not succeed in achieving their objective.
In the early morning hours of 30 May 1951, the Canadians attempted to scale the steep slopes of Hill 467, but with little success. They did not realize that the hill was the linchpin of Chinese defences in the area. It was extremely well fortified with trenches and weapons nests. The Canadian guns could not dislodge the Chinese from their entrenchments. The brigade commander, Brigadier J.M. Rockingham, soon realized that his only option was to order the RCR to withdraw. A withdrawal under fire is one of the most difficult military operations to execute successfully, but 2RCR did so, bringing all their dead and wounded with them.
The shortened engagement at Chail-li proved almost as costly as the fight at Kap'yong: 5 Canadians died and 31 were wounded in the fighting.
