IN THE WINTER OF 1951, HMAS SYDNEY WAS ON HER FIRST WAR PATROL OFF KOREA. MONTHS OF DANGEROUS MISSIONS ENSUED WITH THE CARRIER’S PILOTS OCCASIONALLY SHOT DOWN BY GROUND FIRE. DR KARL JAMES DETAILS A STORY OF HEROIC INDIVIDUALS AS UN FORCES TRIED TO EXTRACT TWO DOWNED RAN AIRMEN.
KOREAN WAR | PILOT RESCUE
The skies over the southwest coast of North Korea on 26 October 1951 were clear, and visibility was good for airmen hunting communist ground targets. Hawker Sea Fury and Fairey Firefly aircraft from the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney had been airborne since 7am, bombing bridges, tunnels, and boxcars; attacking enemy troop concentrations and sampans; strafing buildings and ox-carts used to move ammunition and stores. That morning an Australian Sea Fury was hit by flak, forcing its pilot to crash-land his fighter-bomber on a mudflat in the Han estuary. The airman was rescued by a British frigate. During the fifth ‘event’ of the day, five Fireflys roared from Sydney’s decks and attacked a railway tunnel near Chaeryŏng, dropping 500lb (227kg) bombs to successfully block the tunnel entrances and tear up the railway l…
