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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0867.PDF
*4<C> \ K H An Auster A.0.P.6 of No. 1903 Independent Air O.P. Flight over the lines. Enemy earthworks con oe made out among the shell and bomb craters. THE SHARP END Britain and Australia in the Korean War Part 3 By H. F. KING, M BE. MY morning up-front was a full and memorable one, for before lunch I had visited, and flown with, No. 1913 Light Liaison Flight and No. 1903 Independent Air O.P. Flight, Royal Air Force. These are the only R.A.F. units serving in Korea, and though little is heard of them at home (more's the pity), "The Flights" have earned a splendid reputation throughout the Far East for their services to the Commonwealth Division and to the American Army, in difficult and dangerous circumstances. No. 1913 was formed at the Light Aircraft School, R.A.F. Middle Wallop, in June, 1951, under the command of Capt. P. A. Downward, of the Glider Pilot Regiment; and by a stroke of luck I reached it in Korea the day before Capt. Downward handed over. Though a Royal Air Force unit, the Flight (in common with other Auster units operating with the Army) is supplied with pilots, and with various odier personnel, by the Army; so at Middle Wallop the ancillary Army tradesmen were initiated into airscrew swinging, picketing and marshalling of the Austere. Thence the Flight was transferred to North Wales for training under "Korean conditions" (Wild Wales indeed !), and in late August embarked for Japan. The Austers were assembled at Iwakuni and delivered to Korea where the men dug in, pitched their tents and erected a staff for the R.A.F. ensign. The winter was extremely cold and maintenance a sore trial. Prop-swinging was made hazardous by the ice, and at the close of each day covers had to be placed on the Austers and flameless heaters positioned under their Gipsy Major engines. Major-General Cassels, then G.O.C. No. 1 Commonwealth IN this final instalment of the assistant editor's account of his Far Eastern journey he describes his visits to Nos. 1903 and 1913 Flights in Korea. In an Auster of "1913" he spent some time above and beyond the enemy lines, and he has an exciting story to tell of Communist flak and of its summary suppression by Commonwealth artillery. At the close of his story he writes of his meeting with S L. Graham Hulse, D.F.C., an R.A.F. pilot attached to a Sabre wing; and although that officer has since been posted missing, the story has been left unaltered as a tribute to his gallantry. "Flight" photographs by L. W. McLaren Division, and U.S. Generals Ridgway and Van Fleet were fre quent visitors to the strip, and the Flight soon established a reputation for dependability and adaptability. Thus, when it was decided to employ the Austers on reconnaissance, rear observers were recruited from within the Flight itself. Other than Capt. Downward (his regiment is the South Lanes., and he was awarded the D.F.C. during his Korean service), the "old sweats" are Capt. P. F. Wilson (now in command), and Staff Sergeants Hall and Rolley. Capt. Downward completed 201 sorties over the front line between November, 1951, and January, 1952, and has had his fair share of narrow operational squeaks. Capt. Wilson (The Buffs) has also had his ration of excitement over the lines, but, strangely enough, he was most nearly prevented from ever taking over the Flight by a "friendly" T-6 which, having been shot up, made for the Auster strip. The pilot's vision being obscured by oil, he bounced the T-6 heavily into a ditch, where it shed its undercarriage. Wheel-less, it then set about chasing Capt. Wilson, duly caught him and sent him somersaulting into a paddy-
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