Here is a Royal Australian Air Force P51D Mustang, A68-725, of 77 Squadron, stationed at Yongpo airstrip, near Hamkung, North Korea, November 1950.

This aircraft is a modification of Fabio Mele's most excellent RAAF P51K. Thanks Fabio!

About 77 Squadron in Korea:

The squadron was preparing to return to Australia on 25th June, 1950, when it was called upon by the United Nations for duties in Korea, after the North Korean army crossed the 38th parallel. It performed its first escort on 2 July 1950. Other escorts were followed by operations against enemy tanks, transport, fuel and ammunition dumps.

The Squadron lost its commanding officer on 9th September, killed when his Mustang crashed during an attack on Angang-Ni airfield.

In November 77 Sqn. moved to Yongpo airstrip, near Hamkung, North Korea, withdrawing to Pusan in South Korea a month later. 77 Sqn. took a number of pilot casualties from enemy action and accidents during this period.

77 Sqn. began its move to Kimpo, Korea late in July, after converting to the Meteor jet fighter. Their first jet combat followed on July 29th. The unit's main involvement was in fighter sweeps and bomber escorts. In 1952 the role changed to area defence and ground attack, in the performance of which the squadron took further losses.

By cessation of hostilities on July 27th, 1953, 77 Sqn. had lost 58 members, including attached RAF pilots, with two more killed on the ground and 7 taken prisoner. Unit members received numerous US and British decorations, and the Squadron itself was awarded the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation 

About the P51 in RAAF service:

RAAF SERVICE: 1945-1960 
The original imported P-51D's operated with 84 and 86 Sqns. The CAC Mustangs flew with 75, 76, 77, 78 and 82 Sqns, No. 4 (later 3) Tactical Reconnaissance Sqn. and, as jets were taken into these squadrons, with the Citizen Air Force squadrons - 21 (City of Melbourne), 22 (City of Sydney), 23 (City of Brisbane), 24 (City of Adelaide) and 25 (City of Perth). 

The RAAF received the first of its Mustangs too late for them to participate significantly in World War 2, though Australian pilots in 3 Squadron, operating with the RAF, had already seen combat in the type. The first of the RAAF's 499 Mustangs arrived in April 1945, with a delivery of P-51K and P-51D versions. The decision to manufacture Mustangs in Australia had already been made in 1944; the first Australian C.A.C.-built CA-17 Mustang, based on the P-51D, flew in May 1945. 

The CAC Mustang was built in four main variants, all based on the P-51D. These were the CA-17 Mk.20; the CA-18 Mk.22 (for tactical reconnaissance); the CA-18 Mk.21; and CA-18 Mk.23, with a Rolls-Royce, rather than the Packard-built, Merlin engine.
The Mustang Squadrons which went to Japan on occupation duties returned to Australia in 1950; the exception was 77 Sqn., about to do so when hostilities broke out in Korea. The 77 Sqn. Mustangs flew in combat from Iwakuni, Japan, for ten months until they were replaced by Meteors.

The Mustangs were progressively replaced by jets in the RAAF squadrons and moved on to the CAF squadrons, until these, too, supplanted them with Vampires. 24 (City of Adelaide) Sqn. kept its Mustangs until June 1960. 


Unzip the files and copy all .tpc and .3dz files into your European Air War directory.
To return to the default skin, move all *.tpc and 3dz files out of the EAW dirctory.

Richard "Gramps" Kaminski
27/07/02
Endeavour2000@hotmail.com
 







