The SAAF was one of the more interesting allies we had in Korea. This is an account from two airmen.

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Ground Crew

LOUIS NELL REMEMBERS. Matriculating an early age, I joined the Military Gym and then, while there, volunteered to go to Langebaan as as Air Force recruit. (This volunteering was motivated by the fact that the AF got a meat pie and a salad at lunch on Wednesdays!)

We were six of us who went in one group. During our stay at Langebaan, the call from the UN came for volunteers for Korea. Being under age, only 17, I had to get special permission from my dad to join the forces for the UN. We shipped to Korea on the SS Tigerberg via various ports of call. Mauritius, Mombasa, Beira and then to Ceylon etc were but a few, until we reached our destination. The poor deck crew had a time and a half with us young men we loved it when in rough seas this meant that we'd sit on deck chairs and slide from rail to rail (never mind the scoring on the deck from the chairs!)

At Beira we thought we'd hire a boat as the ship had to await the tides to be able to put out to sea and our stay was lengthy. We rowed out between the ships at the harbour, became extremely hot, jumped into the shark infested waters and had to swim never mind Cheetah Sabres in formation the one in the boat rowing, he'd try to evade your attempts to get back into the boat bugger the sharks that could attack you! One realized afterwards how dangerous it really was..... The first thing that really sticks in my memory was the stench around you. Seoul was virtually flattened, except for an area around the railway station.

We were first stationed at K46 and became orientated with surroundings, work fatigue etc. If we had worked the 12o'clock shift the mess usually provided hot chocolate/coffee pancakes and syrup. During air raids and our midnight meal was the former; we'd blandly sit it out, while our American counterparts ran for the foxholes/trenches nearby. To cause a bit more panic for fun, just like any 18/19 yr old, we'd sometimes throw the flapjacks and syrup at them and then we'd check out who would go for a shower after the all clear had sounded. To have the engines warmed and ready for take off for sorties, we'd burn a special machine with a blower under the engine this was during the severe winter months with temperatures well below zero. The South African's weren't allowed to stay for 2 consecutive winters as they are very severe.

We were short of transport till a few enterprising pilots 'lifted' an American Service Jeep. They were in Seoul when they espied this Jeep chained to a tree in the main street! Daar was'n plan gemaak and the result was the Jeep was repainted with the Springbok emblem on the sides.

With fewer ground crew we still managed to get our blokes off into the air much quicker that the Americans, although they had an abundance of ground crew. For the conversions from Musrangs to Sabres, we were sent on a course in Japan. The SA chaps all came back with 80%+ certificates. Most chuffed. On returning to camp, we were given orders to dump all parts pertaining to the Mustang. We'd row out to sea and dump the engines, tools etc in deep waters. We had a large platform over the boat on which we placed the engines so as to be able to just tip them into the water. During the winter of 1952 K46 was sited + 60km South West of Seoul. The temperatures at night were-20C to 30C. Our wooden framed canvas tent for work and sleep, was warmed by two parrafin heaters with a 44 gallon drum just outside the tent.

At the advance operating base, K46, transporting of original 500lb bombs was done. Two 500lb bombs were loaded on each aircraft. One day while transporting 500lb phosphor bombs from the dump to the airbase, a large snow bank lifted the rear of the trailer on which the bombs rested. This unhooked the trailer and the bombs fell gently off and scattered in all directions at the start of the runway. While the aircraft were returning from a sortie, I had to use the cherry picker to reload. Cocoa was a favourite drink and while waiting for aircraft to return, Flappie Botes (huge ears) would be sent to the American mess where he had to return with a drum of hot drinks!

We had a couple of local labourers who assisted us in pushing the bomb dollies to the aircraft. One day while reloading, we realized that the load was phosphor with fuses fitted on top and at the bottom of the tank. This was later changed back to normal bomb loads. It so happened that these tanks were fitted down with fuses and while removing the fuses somebody had to unscrew the bottom fuse first, with the result that some of the mixture leaked out. Besides anything else, this fluid was highly volatile/flammable, and even to wipe your hands in the sand could set off a spark and so cause a fire/explosion, and with the aircraft parked around the area. Boots had to be removed in this area as even a spark from some a boot on metal or tone could cause an explosion and so destroy the parked aircraft surrounding the area. Even the pilots were asked to help out as the total of Armourers at K46 was only 4.

The American armourers was 46 strong and we were only 4 and we flew 25 aircrafts 3 times a day. The four include the SM and Corporal de la Ray. For its operations in Korea, KOREA 50-53 was added to the other eighteen battle honours, won in World War Two, on the Squadron colours. 5

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And pilots:

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MUSTANG VS MIG DICK CLIFTON REMEMBERS: (1) On 20 March 1952 I had led eight SAAF Mustangs on a flak suppression mission in support of the rest of the Wing which followed at a short interval to attack the railway line between Sinuiyu and Sinanju. On the way to the target one of the second section's aircraft developed a rough engine, so I sent the pilot back to base under escort, for we were already deep in enemy territory.

The remaining two pilots, Vin Kuhn and Hans Enslin closed up with my section. I had been unable to contact the promised Sabre top cover and from the IP to the railway line we saw no other aircraft friend or foe. Heavy flak opened up, the flashes pinpointing the target, so we wasted no time attacking. As I pulled out of my bombing dive in a climbing turn to observe results, the sky suddenly seemed full of MiG's, no doubt attracted by the black puffs of brusting shells which had greeted us before the attack.

Dave Taylor, my number 4, was hit while pulling out of his dive and there was momentary chaos while I urged the "Cheetahs" to re-form battle formation. Joe Joubert, Mac McLaughlin and Hans Enslin slid into finger formation as I circled to allow them to catch up. Vin Kuhn with two MiG's after him, managed to fight his way into the protection of a cloud bank. I positioned behind and above Taylor's Mustang which was losing height while heading south, streaming smoke and glycol. He did not answer when I called him repeatedly and was obviously in serious trouble. Then the MiG's attacked in real earnest. A pair came in extremely fast from nine o'clock high on a quarter attacked which I parried in the conventional way by turning our formation towards them. They were flying too fast to get in behind us and were forced to break upwards. We turned back to cover Taylor, but before I could locate him, the MiG's came in again from three o'clock high and the same manoeuvre had to be repeated. As we straightened out I was watching these two when Joubert's sharp eyes spotted another MiG sneaking up behind and below me. "MiG's six o'clock below shooting at you leader," he reported and as we broke to port, the enemy overshot relatively slowly with air brakes extended, turning to the left in a shallow climb.

Like one man we turned sharply towards the MiG. Hans being in the most advantageous position to bring his guns to bear. "Keep shooting, you're hitting him!" I shouted as I saw a white blur on the MiG's port wing root where 50 calibre explosive incendiaries were hitting home. There was a puff of black smoke, probably from the after-burner as the MiG dived away at high speed followed by the remaining enemy aircraft, no doubt disconcerted by the discovery that Mustangs could hit back.

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And conversion to the Sabre jet:

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CONVERSION TO THE SABRE F-86F-30

During 1053 the 18th Fighter- Bomber Wing received the Sabres. The South African "Flying Cheetahs" converted to the F-86F-30 Both 8 and 18 Fighter Bomber Wings were equipped with new ground-attack version of the Sabre known as the F-86F-30, fitted with bomb shackles an a modified bomb-gun-rocket sight, and it could carry two 170-gallon long-range fuel tanks. These modifications made for a versatile aircraft; for besides effectiveness in ground attack, ordnance and extra fuel could be jettisoned at the touch of a button and the pilot could switch over to interception. The jets could carry two 1000lb bombs, had a combat radius of 570 miles and were fitted with General Electric J47-GE27 engines giving them a climb rate of 10 000ft a minute and a service ceiling of 50 000ft.

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The first Sabre was delivered to the squadron on 27 January, an event that caused great excitement, and for the next few days, curious personnel crowded round the aircraft. The diarist of 2 Squadron noted: If we had charged ten cents admission to view the aircraft, the squadron and the Air Force fund would not needed donations for years! Although the pilots of 2 Squadron were confident that their new aircraft could match the best that the enemy could send against them, the disparity that worried them during January 1953 was not that between the MiG-15 and the Sabre but between the Mustang and the Sabre. They were faced with the task of converting, under operational conditions, from a piston-engine aircraft to a high-performance jet fighter; though fortunately all but two of them had previously flown Vampire jets during training in South Africa...
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Altogether the South African flew 2032 operational sorties in their Sabres and lost only four of them. They certainly deserved the award of a US Presidential Unit Citation, the three Legion of Merit awards, the two Silver Stars and the fifty American Distinguished flying Crosses accorded to South Africa's No 2 Squadron.

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After the war the SAAF would purchase Sabres from Canada because they realized the value of the airplane. Korea would remember the South Africans who fought for her freedom (37 were KIA) unlike some countries.





https://www.mm3admin.co.za/documents/docmanager/11DD6678-A6CF-4F06-9F49-B5EA985F43F6/00030218.pdf