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You are here: Home arrow Knowledge Base arrow Aircraft arrow Korean F51D Mustang
Korean F51D Mustang E-mail
Written by Anton Dyason - IPMS SA Media Group   
Friday, 16 June 2000
Page 1 of 6

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PLEASE NOTE: The SAAF flew Mustangs in the 2nd World War. The focus of this article is the Mustang as used by the SAAF, in the Korean conflict. By the time of the Korean conflict the USAF, renamed fighter aircraft from pursuit to fighter.

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Cloth patch of 2 Sqdn during the Korean conflict.
After WWII, Korea was of little importance to the West, but saw the first combat of what became known as the Cold War, between East and West.  Korea's geographical position between the Soviet Union, Red China and Japan was the main reason for the conflict, as Korea was divided after WW II, into two areas: North and South.The 38th North parallel divided the two areas. In 1947 the UN wanted to establish an independent state, but the Soviet Union refused UN control over the Northern part. Therefore, separate elections were held in the two areas, which resulted in two governments, each claiming the whole area of Korea. The US and Russian forces left Korea in 1949 and both North and South Korea intensified their propaganda campaigns and even sabotage & terrorism, against each other. When the Korean war broke out on 25 June 1950 with some 90,000 North Korean soldiers and hundreds of Russian-built T-34 tanks crossing the border and overwhelming the South Korean forces, South Africa, as one of the founding members of the United Nations, decided to contribute a fighter squadron to the Allied Forces. The UN acted quickly, calling for a cease-fire, and, when this was ignored, passed a resolution authorizing the UN to send troops to help South Korea. The South African Prime Minister, Dr. D.F. Malan, stated during the debate that followed South Africa's decision to take part that he felt it was South Africa's duty to side with the anti-Communist countries to combat 'aggressive communism' wherever necessary.

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SAAF F51D Mustangs in the Korean conflict.
While General MacArthur was gathering all the troops, aircraft and ships he could muster in the far east, 50 officers and 157 other ranks of 2 Squadron sailed from Durban on 26 September 1950 for Yokohama Harbour, where they were welcomed by the Americans. Altogether, 15 other nations sent troops and equipment to join the main American force in the far east. Their contribution was small when compared with the large American commitment, but served to emphasize the unity of the countries of the UN in making a stand against communist aggression. The pilots of 2 Squadron underwent conversion training on F-51D Mustangs and by 16 November 1950 were ferrying their aircraft across to Pusan East Air Base in Korea. Three days later two of the pilots took off together with two USAAF pilots to fly the first South African combat sorties of the war. At that time MacArthur had just made his famous landing at Inchon and the Americans were pursuing the fleeing North Korean troops towards the Yalu, confident that victory was in sight. The South African squadron came under the operational control of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing of the US Fifth Air Force, which was the tactical air force of the Far East Air Forces (FEAF). The task of 2 Squadron was to destroy enemy air power, support the ground troops, fly air strikes, and carry out reconnaissance flights for the ground troops. Within a few weeks of the start of 2 Squadron's operations, however, the situation had changed. On 16 October 1950 the Fourth Field Army of the Chinese People's Republic began crossing the Yalu River in secret. At first the Americans thought it was a 'limited intervention' by Chinese volunteers to help the North Koreans avoid total defeat, but by the end of November it became clear that the Chinese had entered the war against the UN forces. Full scale attacks by the Chinese started on 26 November 1950 and 2 Squadron was thrown into a major air effort to stop the flood of over 200,000 Chinese troops from overrunning the now retreating UN forces. The weather at this time was extremely cold and the ground crews worked under freezing conditions to keep the Mustangs flying, often having to scrape ice and snow off the aircraft before they could take off.


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