Korean Combat (Yeoman Series) by Robert Jackson

Author:Robert Jackson [Jackson, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2016-07-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

THE SUMMER OF 1951 WORE ON, AND THE METEORS OF 493 Squadron continued to work at full stretch. Sometimes they carried out straightforward fighter sweeps over the Yalu, usually in conjunction with larger numbers of Sabres; at other times their task was to escort B-29s or unarmed RF-80 Shooting Star reconnaissance jets.

During the fighter sweeps in ‘MiG Alley’ there were several skirmishes with the enemy jets, in the course of which the squadron lost three Meteors and one pilot; the other two flew south in badly-damaged aircraft and were picked up by helicopters after baling out. On the credit side, the squadron could claim only one MiG probably destroyed and one damaged. Every new encounter with the MiGs seemed to be a taunting lesson that the Meteors were completely outclassed by the Russian-built jets.

Yeoman made only a handful of combat sorties during this period, for now that the Australians were thoroughly familiar with the Meteor and its capabilities — or lack of them — his operational flying was restricted on the orders of Commonwealth HQ in Japan. By mid August, only he remained of the RAF instructors who had converted the Australians from Mustangs to the jets, and even then much of his time was spent behind a desk in the Joint Operations Headquarters, acting as an advisor on air fighting tactics and helping to compile intelligence reports on the enemy’s fighting prowess.

Consequently, he missed the biggest success story No. 493 Squadron had enjoyed since its arrival in Korea. It happened during the last week in August, and Dick Thornes recounted it with much enthusiasm and hand-waving over several pints of beer at Taegu, the next day.

‘We were on a sweep to Sonchon’ — he named a town thirty miles south of the Yalu — ‘with fifteen Meteors. Thirty-odd Sabres led by your pal, Colonel Callender, were flying top cover.

‘Well, we entered the patrol area right on schedule, and a few minutes later we sighted two formations of MiGs heading south from the Yalu, high up. It looked as though they were out on their own fighter sweep, but they turned back towards the north and didn’t come down on us. We went after them, climbing, in the hope of cutting into them if they started a descent.’

As he spoke, Thornes dipped his index finger into a pool of beer, tracing the course of the United Nations formation and that of the MiGs.

‘Just then,’ he continued, ‘Colonel Callender called out ‘Bogies’. They were coming across the river dead ahead of us and about five thousand feet lower down. He asked us to investigate, because more MiGs had been sighted coming down from the Alley and there was a good chance that the Sabres would be getting tangled up with them at any moment.’

His finger pushed a rivulet of beer forward a short distance on the bar top.

‘We couldn’t believe our eyes. The bogies turned out to be a formation of twelve Tupolev Tu-2 bombers, flying in three boxes of four and escorted by maybe fifteen or sixteen La-9s.

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