Page 284 - Airpower in 20th Century - Doctrines and Employment

284 airpower in 20 Century doCtrines and employment - national experienCes
tH

As part of this mission, sixteen 2 Sqn aircraft in four flights of four aircraft each
took off, starting at 11h10 with Major (Maj) J.P.D. Blaauw as leader. They completed
40
their mission without incident and the raid itself was a great success. The UN forces
inflicted heavy casualties, while they destroyed a number of aircraft on the ground,
106 buildings, one large aviation fuel dump and 26 ammunition and supply dumps.
Only one Thunderjet was damaged. 41

Reduced Sortie Rate

From 22 May onwards, 2 Sqn sorties were limited to 16 per day. The proximity
of K-16 to the MLR allowed for sorties of a much shorter duration with a resultant
increased sortie rate. The danger was therefore that too many experienced pilots
might complete their operational tour of 75 sorties before the end of the month, leav-
ing no one to train and lead the new batch of replacement pilots. This policy and the
42
adverse weather kept the daily sortie rate below sixteen (with only a few exceptions)
to 8 June when seventeen replacement pilots became available for operational duties.
The seventeen new pilots arrived in two batches: the first 11 pilots under Capt H.J.
Snyman on 29 May, while six pilots under Capt R.H. Rogers on 1 June. Capt L.P.T.
Eager and four additional pilots arrived on 2 June. 43
Despite the initial reduction in the sortie, the hard work for both pilots and ground
crew continued. After 8 June the sortie rate rose to approximately 24 sorties per
day. The men who had prepared the new batch of pilots for combat now gradually
completed their tours. On 21 June Capt J.A. Joubert led four aircraft from K-16 on a
road interdiction mission to complete his 100 effective combat sortie in Korea. This
th
mission caused two complete road cuts in the Chinnampo area (with 500lb bombs),
and they then proceeded to rocket and strafe buildings which had been indicated as
secondary targets in the same area. Capt G.G. Willers and Lt P.J. Strydom also com-
pleted their tours with 75 sorties each on the same mission. 44

Marshall’s DFC

One of the most effective missions of the period was one led by Lt G. H. Marshall
on 24 June 1951. Together with Capt L.P.T. Eager, Second Lieutenants (2Lts) J.F.G.
Howe and J.P. Verster, he was briefed to carry out an interdiction mission north-

40 SAMAD, War Dairies (Korea), Box 4, 2 Squadron War Diary, 9 May 1951; Box 15, Debriefing
Forms SAAF220, 9 May 1951.
41
Futrell, et al., United States Air Force in Korea, p. 277.
42
SAMAD, War Dairies (Korea), Box 4, 2 Squadron War Diary, 22 May 1951.
43
SAMAD, War Dairies (Korea), Box 4, 2 Squadron War Diary, 29 May 1951, 1-2 June 1951 and 8
June 1951.
44
SAMAD, War Dairies (Korea), Box 4, 2 Squadron War Diary, 21 June 1951; Box 16, Debriefing
Forms SAAF220, 21 June 1951.