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Canadian
Airmen and Airwomen
in
the Korean War
By
Carl Mills
At
the time of the Korean War, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was
committed to providing F-86 fighter squadrons to the Cold War
build-up in
Europe. Except for the participation by 426 Transport Squadron,
Canada
chose to support this commitment rather than a large-scale
contribution to the Korean air war. In spite of this,
Canada
provided a significant number of RCAF flight nurses, fighter pilots, and
others, along with contributions from the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN),
various regiments of the army, and civilians to aid in the air war.
Canadian
built
aircraft flown in the Korean War included the Canadair North Stars
flown by 426 Squadron on the airlift portion, hundreds of (L-20)
deHavilland Canada Beavers, in service with the US Army, and 60 older
model Canadair F-86 Sabre aircraft. During Operation
HAWK, 426 Squadron flew 599, round-trip flights between McChord
AFB (Tacoma,
WA) and Haneda airfield (Tokyo) while working with the USAF on the airlift. Although Canadians did not
fly the Beavers in Korea, deHavilland sent a technical representative to service the aircraft.
About 20 per cent of all combat missions by Canadian pilots were flown
in Canadian built Sabres and included some MiG kills.
RCAF
flight nurses attended classes and practical training courses at Gunter
AFB, Alabama, for seven weeks. This was followed by a three-month tour of
duty carrying out medical air evacuations from in theatre in the
South Pacific. All nursing graduates (USAF, USN and RCAF) flew with
the 1453 Medical Air Evacuation Squadron and were stationed in
Honolulu. They flew
U.S.
and Canadian wounded between Haneda Airfield, through
Honolulu, to Travis AFB (near
San Francisco). The RCAF flight nurses program was continuous from November 1950 to
March 1955, and involved some 40 nurses.
The
RCAF's 435 Squadron, stationed at RCAF Station Edmonton (and later Namao),
was tasked with the delivery of the Canadian wounded from McChord. The
Squadron was equipped with DC-3 Dakotas specially equipped to
carry 16 litter patients complete with oxygen. Occasionally, Ottawa's 412 Squadron (also equipped with the
Dakotas) and 426 Squadron would participate in the evacuations from McChord.
Flight nurses who served in the U.S. or South Pacific were stationed at various Canadian airfields and always
accompanied RCAF medical evacuation flights in Canada.
Twenty-two
RCAF fighter pilots were sent to
Korea
for F-86 combat duties, serving from November 1950 until
November 1953. They flew exclusively with either the USAF's 4th Fighter
Interceptor Wing (FIW) at Kimpo or the 51st FIW at Suwon. RCAF pilots served for six months or on 50
combat missions,
whichever came first. It usually took three to four months to fly 50
missions. On arrival at their assigned squadron, pilots were usually
given an introductory flying program called AClobber
College, before going into combat.
Missions
consisted of flying 200 miles over enemy territory to the infamous MiG
Alley (near the Chinese border), patrolling, contact and fighting with
the Communist MiG-15s, and returning home. Although there were no
Canadian fatalities, there were many close-calls during combat.
One RCAF pilot, S/L Andy Mackenzie, ejected after being shot down by a
friendly aircraft, and was taken prisoner. RCAF pilots accounted for
nearly 900 combat missions with nine MiG kills, two probables, and ten
damaged. High scoring pilots included F/L Ernie Glover with three MiG
kills and three damaged and S/L Doug Lindsay (KVA) with two kills and
three damaged. RCAF pilots received eight U.S. DFCs and ten U.S. Air
Medals. Glover was the last RCAF pilot to be awarded the Commonwealth
DFC.
Just
two weeks after the North Koreans invaded, 426 Transport Squadron was
alerted to move to McChord AFB (near Tacoma, WA) to participate in
Operation HAWK. The squadron, with 12 war strength North Star aircraft,
would integrate with the USAF's Material Air Transport Service (MATS),
cease all non-essential domestic flights, and operate into
Japan
but not into
Korea. This was the beginning of a new era for the squadron. Flights over the
North Pacific called for careful planning due to the severe and
unpredictable weather, and flights over the South Pacific required
precision
to deal with the long legs over open water. In addition to the
authorized airlift flights, there were several unauthorized flights into
Korea. Although there was one aircraft destroyed and several close calls and
incidents, there were no fatalities and no cargo was lost during the
airlift.
One
RCN pilot was assigned to the USN for combat duty in
Korea. After a strenuous work up for combat duties, the squadron was assigned
to the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany,
one of up to four carriers in Task Force 77 in the
Sea of Japan
at that time. Because of his background, Lieutenant Joe MacBrien was
appointed the squadron's weapons officer. His missions included combat
air patrols over the fleet, photo escort missions, armed reconnaissance,
and close air support. MacBrien flew 66 combat missions and was
awarded the U.S. DFC for his courage and leadership in a difficult
ground attack mission he led in February 1953.
During
the tenures of the various Canadian regiments in
Korea, an air organization, informally known as the Mosquitos, evolved.
This
was a USAF-run operation, formally known as the 6149 Tactical Air
Control Group (TACG). The Mosquitos consisted of two flying
squadrons (the 6148th and the 6149th T ACS), and
radio-jeep ground parties (the 6150th T ACP). The primary duty
of the Mosquitos was to control all tactical air strikes between the
front lines and the bomb line to ensure maximum damage. This was done
by adequately marking targets with smoke rockets. The Mosquitos were
extremely effective and, in addition to the destruction and devastation
they directed upon the enemy, they saved countless UN ground forces'
lives.
This
flying was conducted from unarmed, single-engine,
two-seat, T-6 aircraft (a.k.a. the Harvard). Canada
provided 16 army officers for back seat, forward air controllers (FAC
from five regiments, between early 1951 to mid-1954. This activity
was considered the most dangerous flying of the Korean War. The enemy
knew full well that if detected by the Mosquito, an air attack,
delivered by fighter-bombers, would soon unfold on them. As a
result, aircraft were holed on most missions that involved enemy
contact. Fortunately, only two Canadians were wounded in the air and
only one shot down but survived. Unfortunately, one Canadian was
killed in a post-war training accident. Lieutenant Neil
Anderson, QOR of C, is buried at the cemetery in Pusan,
South Korea. Canadians accounted for 800 Mosquito combat missions and received
four U.S. DFCs and five Air Medals.
In
1952, the Canadian army began sending a string of four Air Observation
Post (AOP) pilots to
Korea
to fly in Auster VI aircraft with the 1903 AOP Flight, RAF. Captain Joe
Liston was shot down and captured in August, on his 12th combat mission.
He was a POW for one year and was released under Operation BIG SWITCH
(the war-end exchange of POWs) in September 1953. His replacement,
Captain Peter Tees, was an energetic combatant and achieved 211 combat
missions during his 12-month tenure. He supported Canadian
artillery units that were, in turn, supporting Canadian infantry units
along the Jamestown Line. Two other ACIP pilots followed
Tees
and achieved some combat flying, although they were substantially used
in peacekeeping duties. Tees was the last Canadian to be awarded the
Commonwealth DFC.
When
the Korean War broke out, Canadian Pacific Airlines (CPA) was flying
once-per-week flights from
Vancouver to Tokyo. It was a simple matter to convince the U.S. Army and the Canadian
government the airline was capable of participating in the Korean War
airlift. CPA commenced four (later five) charter flights per week for
the U.S. Army in August 1950. Unlike the service of 426 Squadron, CPA
flew only passengers. These flights continued, using first North Star,
then DC-4s and then DC-6B aircraft, until March 1955,
providing over 700 charter flights. In July 1951, one DC-4 with a
crew of seven (including two stewardesses), two Canadian sailors and 29
U.S. Army and USAF passengers, disappeared off the coast near Juneau,
Alaska. In spite of an intensive two-month search, no trace was ever
found.
Several
other Canadian airmen were involved in observation duties, technical and
supply support, photo intelligence, exchanged flying duties with USAF
transport squadrons, some flew top-secret combat missions, while a
number crossed the border to join the USAF directly. In all, the
Canadian airmen and airwomen did very well in Korea, flying over 2000 combat missions and more than 1500 roundtrip
airlift flights. They were awarded 57 Commonwealth and
U.S.
medals and commendations. This account would have been higher except for
a strange rule imposed by the Canadian military that only allowed one
U.S.
medal per Canadian.
Carl
Mills is from London, Ontario.
After two years in Air Cadets, he joined the RCAF
Auxiliary, in 1955, with 420(F) Squadron and later 2420 AC&
W Sqn
.
He attended the
University
of
Waterloo, graduating in 1965 as an electrical engineer, and
rejoined the Air Force Reserves in
Toronto
with the Wing HQ and 400 Sqn.
After 24 years service, he retired from the Reserves in 1983 as a
Lieutenant Colonel.
Since
then he has become involved in Canadian aviation historical research and
published the book, ABanshees
in the Royal Canadian Navy” in 1991.
His
current project is the Canadian Airmen and Airwomen in the Korean War
which has been underway for some six years and should be ready for
publication by next year.
This project, as well as research and
interviews, also involves the commission of eighteen original pieces of
Korean War artwork which have just recently been completed.
He
is an Associate Historian with the Air Force Air Division, a member of
the CAHS and the Air Force Association.
He is an Honorary Member of the Korea Veterans Association and an
Honorary Life Member of the Canadian Naval Air Group.
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