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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0779.PDF
FLIGHT, 19 June 1953 THE 773 SHARP END Britain and Australia in the Korean War ... 1 By H. F. KING, M.B.E THE military airway to Korea (or to "the sharp end," as one hears it called along the way) lies over the Mediterranean and Middle East, down the length of the Indian continent to Ceylon and across the Indian Ocean to Singapore. Then—skirting the troubled lands of Malaya, French Indo-China and Communist China itself—it strikes northwards to Japan. As far as Singapore one may fly by Hastings along the trunk route of Transport Command, proceeding thence either by courier Valetta or in a Sunderland of the Far East Flying Boat Wing, in transit north for operational duty. For McLaren and myself it was a Sunderland, as we would have wished, for these grand old boats are salted veterans of the Korean campaign; and in order to join it we drove from Changi to the Wing's base at Seletar. After many tiring days it was good to sit on a calm morning talking flying-boats with W/C. D. MacKenzie, D.F.C., the com manding officer, with a pair of white Sunderlands sunning them selves like swans on the apron outside his window. But as the wing commander talked, I came to realize that halcyon days are all too few in a Sunderland's Far East tour, for varied tasks in dispersed areas must be co-ordinated with the Korean commitment. W/C. D. MacKenzie, D.F.C., O.C. Far East Flying Boat Wing. Jointly with the naval forces of the C.-in-C. East Indies, and with vessels of the Pakistan and Indian Navies, the Sunderlands may range from China Bay, Ceylon, over the Indian Ocean; or they may venture—as they do whenever possible—into the rivers of Borneo, so that their crews may gain experience in alighting on rivers, in using their anchors, and in keeping a watchful eye for floating logs. (At Sibu forty small boats may be engaged at one time in pushing these hazards aside.) If not so occupied the Sunderlands may be detached to Kai Tak for sea/air rescue; or detailed for a "Firedog"—harrying the Malay an bandits with 20-lb fragmentation bombs. Between 160 and 240 of these they carry in the bomb room, where they are feverishly fused and loaded on the four L.S. carriers by a team of "galley n Sunderland "P-Peter," of a squadron of the Far East Flying Boat Wing, in which "Flight's" representatives flew to Japan. AS was explained in our Coronation Number, the Assistant Editor's account of his journey from Singapore to Japan and Korea, and his experiences with the squadrons there, has been undergoing a somewhat protracted period of security-screening in Washington. Now at length we are pleased to present the first of three instalments to which this intimate and detailed narrative will run. Like its successors, it is illustrated with "Flight" photographs by L. W. McLaren (the only exceptions are the two bottom pictures on page 776). The second part of "The Sharp End" will be mainly concerned with the famous No. 77 Squadron, R.A.A.F., which flies Gloster Meteor 8s, and the final contribution will deal with the two great little Auster Flights of the Korean war—Nos. 1903 and 1913. slaves." And, after bombing, the great boats skim the jungle to comb the target with their machine guns. It may be that their services are called upon for the investigation of shipping approaching Singapore, or for participation with the French and Americans in joint patrolling of the South China Sea (in which case they operate from Catlai, an alighting area on the river at Saigon). Small wonder that their crews spend about half their time away from base, and that Seletar Sunderlands have flown 22,000 hr in two years. Of all the tasks which have fallen to the Wing, none is more pleasantly and proudly remembered than that which arose from H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent's visit to Borneo last year. As Her Royal Highness's personal aircraft, SZ578 had her bomb room and wardroom panelled and upholstered (for weeks the married-quarter tea parties buzzed with discussion of shades, tones and textures) and, supported by two other Sunderlands and two Valettas, Powder Puff, as she was soon dubbed, served Her Royal Highness faithfully and well. Captain of the Flight was W/C. MacKenzie, and F/L. K. G. Wells was the Duchess's personal pilot. The success of the tour, and especially the loyal demonstrations of the Dyaks, will not soon be forgotten by those privileged to serve on it; but the finery of Powder Puff is no more. In operational rig she takes her place with less favoured sisters on the "Tsushimas" (patrols in the Tsushima Straits), the weather recces, or come what may. The affection of the Sunderland crews for their craft must be without parallel in any flying service. True, they are often to be heard binding about the overloading of the electrics; the upper- hull leaks which admit the tropical rain and play Old Harry with radio and radar; the constant vigil against corrosion and deteriora tion of the wiring; the frequent necessity for replacing de-icer shoes in the humidity of Singapore; and so on. But they wouldn't exchange for anything short of a P5Y or Princess. Certainly the Flying Boat Wing works harder than many Far East organizations—seven days a week, with the ops. room open round the clock. And into the bargain it does its own major over hauls. Every Sunderland goes in for a "major" after 18 months, and is thus enabled to remain out-East for a similar period—and one in every two machines stays for a second major, thus extending its tour to 4J years and, incidentally, effecting a saving of many thousands of pounds. But our immediate concern is a Sunderland passage to Japan,
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