Page 288 - Airpower in 20th Century - Doctrines and Employment

288 airpower in 20 Century doCtrines and employment - national experienCes
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arrived back at K-10 at 21h00 with his right leg wounded by a 20mm shell. 57
On 1 May, the aircraft of Lts D.W. McKellar and G.H. Marshall were hit by au-
58
tomatic weapon fire in the wing tanks while on an interdiction mission. The next
day Capt J.M. Sweeney had a disconcerting experience. While attacking vehicles
5km south-east of Songsanni, he came under intense and accurate automatic ground
fire. His aircraft was hit in the port aileron trimming and the starboard side of the
cockpit and he was wounded in his right buttock. Shepherded by Maj J.P.D. Blaauw
and weak from loss of blood, he managed to bring his aircraft back to K-16, where
he passed out on landing. On 6 May, the day before he completed his tour of duty
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60
with 75 sorties, Lt J.H. Kruger’s aircraft was hit in the tail plane, while on 11 May
his namesake, Lt V.R. Kruger, was involved in an incident on his 74th combat sortie.
At 15h30 Maj Blaauw and Lts P. Clulow, M. Mentz and V.R. Kruger took-off from
K-16 on their third mission for the day. At 16h40, 12km west of Singye Kruger’s
aircraft was hit in the main plane by ground fire. The wing collapsed and the aircraft
caught fire, forcing him to bale out. Blaauw and Mentz flew a CAP over the downed
pilot while Clulow made a vain attempt to alert rescue. When his fuel began to run
low, Blaauw sent Clulow and Mentz back to K-16 while he continued the CAP until
his fuel ran out (at 18h45) and he was forced to belly land next to Kruger. By now
another 2 Sqn flight was diverted from an interdiction mission and arrived on the
scene. At the same time Mentz took off on his fourth sortie of the day, this time to
lead a flight of three USAF Mustangs to rescue Kruger. The two pilots on the ground
were successfully lifted by helicopter at 19h45. Kruger was injured (dislocated right
shoulder, cracked right scapula, second degree burns on his hands and face), while
Blaauw was only lightly injured with abrasions and bruises to the nose and eyes.
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On 15 May at 18h55, Lt M.H. Rorke fatally crashed on take-off. It was his third
mission for the day as he conducted interdiction missions at 14h50 and 16h30. This
mission was also an interdiction mission and his F-51 `was loaded with napalm,
rockets and .50 ammunition. The aircraft swung round 180°, collided with a crashed
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B-29 bomber at the end of the runway and immediately burst into flames. On 24
May Lt A. Gotze’s aircraft was hit in the scoop while he was searching for a downed

57 SAMAD, War Dairies (Korea), Box 4, 2 Squadron War Diary, 30 April 1951; and Box 14, Debrief-
ing Forms SAAF220, 30 April 1951.
58 SAMAD, War Dairies (Korea), Box 15, Debriefing Forms SAAF220, 1 May 1951.
59
SAMAD, War Dairies (Korea), Box 4, 2 Squadron War Diary, 2 May 1951; and Box 15, Debriefing
Forms SAAF220, 2 May 1951.
60
SAMAD, War Dairies (Korea), Box 4, 2 Squadron War Diary, 6-7 May 1951.
61
SAMAD, War Dairies (Korea), Box 4, 2 Squadron War Diary, 11 May 1951 ; Box 15, Debriefing
Forms SAAF220, 11 May 1951; and Republic of Korea, History of the United Nations Forces in the
Korean War, Vol. 1, p. 420.
62
SAMAD, War Dairies (Korea), Box 4, 2 Squadron War Diary, 15 May 1951; and Box 15, Debriefing
Forms SAAF220, 15 May 1951.