POSTAVENO

HISTORY

No. 77 Squadron, RAAF

Although No. 77 Squadron RAAF served within

the FEAF, the unit did not fall directly under

American command. The unit was based at Iwakumi and when the war began in Korea, the unit

was winding down its tour of duty and preparing

to head home. The situation was changed when

the Australian government offered the unit’s

services to the war effort on June 30, diverting

Australian Mustangs to fight in Korea. Already on

July 2 at 0500h, they took off for their first task,

an escort mission for C-47s carrying wounded

soldiers. This was followed a day later by a combat mission. During this mission, though, there

came an unfortunate circumstance, whereby the

Australians were vectored to a transport train

carrying South Korean and American troops.

The subsequent attack killed 28 Koreans and an

American, and many other soldiers were injured.

The first combat loss suffered by the Australians

came on July 7, which claimed the life of Squadron Leader Graham Strout. His Mustang took

a direct hit during an attack on a railroad station in Sanchok and exploded. Just two days later,

No. 77 Squadron also lost its CO, W/Cdr. Louise

T. Spence, in a napalm attack on Angang. He was

unable to pull out of a dive and impacted in the

centre of the town. The Australians moved onto

Korean soil on October 12. Among their notable

actions is an attack on the Chinese command

centre in Pyongyang on January 19, 1951. The

attack was carried out by two nine-ship formations the first of which delivered a pair of 1,000

pound bombs each and four HVAR rockets, and

the second wave carried napalm tanks and the

rockets. The multi-storey building was leveled,

but the Australians lost one aircraft. Its pilot,

Lt. Harvey, survived and was taken prisoner.

The intensity of the fighting at the time can be

summed up by the destruction of 1,282 enemy

trucks that fell victim to Australian Mustangs

just through January, 1951. On February 21, No.77

Squadron received its first Meteor F.8s. Before

the conversion to the jet was complete, the Australians flew 3,800 sorties with their Mustangs,

with the loss of eight pilots and eighteen aircraft.

References

Books

DOWN IN THE WEEDS – CLOSE AIR SUPPORT IN KOREA,

William Y´Blood, PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING, 2002

F-51 MUSTANG UNITS OF THE KOREAN WAR, Warren

Thompson, Osprey Publishing, Bloomsbury Publishing

Plc, 2015

MUSTANGS OVER KOREA, THE NORTH AMERICAN F-51

AT WAR 1950-1953, David R. McLaren, Schiffer Military

History, 1999

KOREA – THE AIR WAR 1950-1953, Jack C. Nicholls

& Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing Ltd, 1991

Publications, Articles and Documents:

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE –

Korean War 1950–1953, Teacher Resource Guide

The Korean War, National Archives and Records Administration, Reference Information Paper No. 103, compiled

by Rebecca L. Collier, 2003

United States Air Force Operations in the Korean Conflict (declassified), Department of the Air Force

The Flying Parson by Don Bedwell

W/Cdr. Louis T. Spence, CO of No. 77

Squadron, RAAF, died on July 9, 1950 during

a napalm attack on the City of Angang.

internet

www.nationalmuseum.af.mil

www.historynet.com

www.142wg.ang.af.mil

www.usa.gov

www.saairforce.co.za

www.koreanwaronline.com

www.7af.pacaf.af.mil

Royal Australian Air

Force Mustangs of No. 77

Squadron at the Japanese

base of Iwakuni in 1950,

prior to leaving for Korea.

photo: National War Museum

July 2022

INFO Eduard

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