All Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) units serving with the United Nations Command in Korea were administered by 91 Composite Wing...
In late June, as United States (US) forces rushed to South Korea, the Americans requested air support.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No 77 Squadron was stationed at Iwakuni, Japan. The squadron was preparing to return home after 5 years with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF).
After hurriedly preparing for war, it became the first non-Korean and non-US unit to undertake combat operations on 2 July. Flying from Iwakuni, and later airbases in South Korea, pilots flew Mustang fighters, mainly attacking North Korean troops and supply lines.
No 77 Squadron was the sole combat element the RAAF committed to the Korean War. Three other RAAF units remained based in Iwakuni, Japan, but were frequently called upon to serve in Korea:
- No 491 Maintenance Squadron
- No 391 Base Squadron
- No 30 Communications Flight, which later became No 36 Transport Squadron.
Australian Mustangs over Korea, 1950. RAAF's first operation over North Korea, 2 July 1950 (Robert Taylor, 1986, oil on canvas, 76 x 152.6 cm). AWM ART28996
No 77 Squadron
In June 1950, having served on occupation duties in Japan since early 1946, No 77 Squadron's personnel and their families were preparing to return to Australia. Instead of a much-anticipated homecoming, the Squadron found itself thrust into the conflict on the Korean Peninsula. Within days of the war's beginning, Australian pilots were in action, escorting United States bombers and hitting ground targets.
Squadron Leader Dick Creswell, who replaced Wing Commander Lou Spence, killed in action on 9 September 1950, summed up the nature of the squadron's early operations:
We were basically doing interdiction work, armed reconnaissance and ground support roles ... We were after troop concentrations, transports, bridges, T34 tanks, self-propelled guns, gun emplacements, trains, railway tunnels and stores. Our main target was transport in the early days. If we could block transport on those very tiny roads coming down from North Korea into South Korea it saved the day, for a time anyway.
As risky as ground attack operations were, the war in Korea became more dangerous in October 1950. Chinese forces entered the conflict. Having faced little aerial opposition so far, 77 Squadron's pilots now risked meeting Chinese MiG-15 jet fighters.
As a consequence, it was decided that 77 Squadron should be equipped with jets. The Squadron was withdrawn from operations to refit in April 1951 and flew Gloster Meteor jets for the remainder of the war.
Shot down over Japan
For an Australian pilot forced down over enemy territory in Korea, fate offered three alternatives. The fortunate were rescued. Others were killed in the combat or subsequent crash and some survived to become prisoners of war...
Cecil Sly
On 20 March 1951, Sergeant Cec Sly's aircraft caught fire over North Korea. His cockpit full of smoke, Sly baled out, landing in the midst of Chinese troops who shot at him.
Sly's wingman called for a rescue helicopter and air support to keep the enemy at bay. Fifty minutes later, the helicopter, a Sikorsky H-5 from the US 3rd Air Rescue Squadron, arrived but aborted the mission after coming under intense fire. For more than an hour, Sly hid as Mustangs dropped napalm on the Chinese positions. Then a second helicopter arrived, and Sly managed to clamber aboard.
After being taken to Suwon hospital to recover, Sly was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal and the US Air Medal for his courage.
Esmond New
Two men risked their lives in dangerous areas of North Korea to locate 2 missing Australian airmen.
Reverend Esmond New was a RAAF chaplain who had been a Presbyterian missionary in Korea, and Sergeant Tom Henderson was a World War II veteran of search-and-rescue operations.
Squadron Leader Graham Strout, one of the first UN pilots to be lost in Korea, was shot down near Samchok. Several weeks later, another 77 Squadron pilot, William Harrop also went missing.
Escorted by Korean commandos, Reverend New and Sergeant Henderson travelled to where Strout was last seen, a contested area peopled, according to New, by 'the biggest crowd of cut-throats I have seen'. Finding Strout dead and shown a plaque to 'the memory of a brave United Nations airman', the 2 Australians exhumed his remains and returned to Pusan before starting a search for Harrop.
After a gruesome but fruitless search through hundreds of photos of those recently killed near where Harrop crashed, New and Henderson were directed to a fresh grave. Dental records confirmed that they had found Harrop. Working under small arms fire, they exhumed his body, wrapped it in a groundsheet and made a hasty withdrawal.
Vance Drummond
Wing Commander Vance Drummond, a New Zealander, enlisted in the RAAF in 1949 and was posted to 77 Squadron. He was one of 3 pilots shot down by Russian MiGs on 1 December 1951.
Drummond survived to become a prisoner of war (POW). Months passed before his family learned of his fate. They heard conflicting stories from the authorities, and the absence of definite news must have led to awful moments of despair.
Held at Pinchon-ni, Drummond and 4 other POWs tried to escape. With stolen food, compasses and water bottles, they donned North Korean outfits and fled the camp. Soon recaptured, Drummond and the others were beaten and returned to Pinchon-ni.
After his release, Drummond continued his flying career. During the Vietnam War, he flew as a forward air controller.
Having survived the hazards of captivity and combat, Drummond died when the Mirage he was flying crashed off the New South Wales coast in 1967.
Sergeant Vance Drummond standing next to his Meteor F.8 at Kimpo, 1951. Drummond was shot down while flying this aircraft on 1 December 1951 and taken prisoner by the North Koreans. (AWM JK0163)
The Royal Australian Air Force Squadrons based in Japan were 36 Transport Squadron, flying the Douglas C-47, and 491 Maintenance Squadron whose task was to repair and service RAAF aircraft ...
No 36 Transport Squadron
When the Korean War started, 36 Transport Squadron had only a single aircraft. The C-47 Dakota began operational flying on 2 July 1950, carrying supplies and ground crew from Japan to Korea. Such a small unit could never hope to meet the demands of wartime flying. As the mission's scale became clear, more aircraft and men arrived.
Delivering ammunition, cargo and personnel from Japan to Korea was hazardous. Relatively small, fitted with neither flight computers nor other sophisticated equipment, unpressurised, slow and with a low ceiling, Dakotas flew right into the weather, rarely over it. One squadron veteran recalled the risks:
...Mountainous terrain, thunderstorms, snowstorms, typhoons, severe turbulence, zero visibility, dangerous winds at some airfields, arctic temperatures, in-flight icing, accumulation of snow and ice on aircraft before take-off, frozen over and slippery landing surfaces, occasional enemy ground fire, overloading, … and saturated airspace over some airfields.
Few aircraft, however were so well-suited to the task. Former pilot Leon Murtagh completed almost three full tours during the Korean War flying 349 missions. The Dakota, he wrote:
...was easily manoeuvrable, extremely versatile and mostly a docile aircraft, with few inherent vices. However, it could bite if harshly treated. There was a correct technique for all conditions of flight and Korea had them all.
From January 1951, having delivered their cargo to Korea, the unit's aircraft began carrying Commonwealth sick and wounded on the return journey to Japan. Former flight nurse Cathy Daniel described a typical flight:
...we changed dressings, gave medication, distributed food and drinks, and reassured those who needed comforting. A lot were young British servicemen in a highly distressed state, and talking to them, keeping them calm, was a major part of the job.
From January 1951 to December 1953, 36 Transport Squadron evacuated 12,762 wounded and sick soldiers, sailors and airmen. Of these, the wing transported 728 personnel to Australia and 1,530 to the United Kingdom. The end of hostilities, however, did not end the squadron's involvement in Korea and Japan. No 36 Transport Squadron did not return to Australia until 1955.
No 491 Maintenance Squadron
No. 491 Maintenance Squadron was formed in October 1950 at Iwakuni in Japan to provide offshore maintenance for aircraft flying operations over Korea. As the war continued, the squadron's role evolved and a section of maintenance personnel was attached to 77 Squadron in Korea. Others flew in and out of Korea on a short-term basis to work on battle-damaged or worn-out aircraft. On occasion, members of the squadron were involved in salvaging crashed aircraft.
Australia's Official Historian of the Korean War described the level of technical support provided by RAAF personnel in Korea as 'outstanding'. Behind the accolade was the hard work of maintaining, repairing and sometimes replacing RAAF aircraft which, for maintenance crews, could mean 16-hour days in all weather conditions. As a result of their labour, the ground crews achieved a near perfect record of serviceability for No. 77 Squadron's Mustangs and Meteors.
Working alongside the Australians were Japanese civilian technicians whose skills, honed during the Second World War, were now used to keep RAAF aircraft flying. Noteworthy for having been formed and later disbanded in Japan, the squadron never operated on Australian soil in the four years it existed to December 1954.
Engine fitters from No. 491 Maintenance Squadron RAAF repair a Meteor engine in southern Japan. Bob reflected on the important work that ground crew and maintainers played in keeping the planes flying. AWM JK0384