Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
On June 25, 1950, five years after the free world had finished a dreadful and terrible war against fascist tyranny, the Communist armies of North Korea struck without warning across the border into South Korea. Everyone was caught by surprise and in the air initially only US jets resisted the wave upon wave of Russian-built Yak and IL-10 Sturmovik attacks. The UN Security Council called on its members to act and sixteen nations did, with Britain sending aircraft carriers such as HMS "Triumph, from which piston-engined Sea Fury fighters and Fairey Firefly fighter-bombers, piloted by FAA men like Harry Hawksworth and Alan Leahy, began to attack the North Korean positions. The only British jet to take part was the Gloster Meteor ably flown by the Royal Australian Air Force and the RAF was represented by pilots such as John Nichols who flew Sabres with the USAF, and whose story is also recounted here. The seeds of the Cold War would firmly take root in the Korean War. Against this background and the odds British and Australian pilots, ably assisted by their groundcrew, flew with distinction and honour. Written with pace and insight by Graham Thomas, this is their story.