SAKWVA NEWSLETTER NO 280 SEPTEMBER 2014 SOUTH AFRICAN KOREAN WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION

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1 1 SOUTH AFRICAN KOREAN WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION Cell number: PO Box Fax number: (012) Garsfontein Address: Pretoria South Africa 0042 NEWSLETTER NO 280 SEPTEMBER 2014 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear members and friends, The month of August was once again a very hectic but enjoyable month. I had the opportunity to meet new friends of the Association and have received very interesting s from abroad. I am, in conjunction with the SAAF Museum, busy in updating our database with information regarding our Veterans, aircraft and other day to day pictures taken during the Korean War. We are trying to compile a central database while we still have the opportunity to do so. To all Veterans, widows, and children who are still in possession of photographs, please make a special effort to either scan the photographs or forward it to me. To those who will entrust me with these memories, I will make sure that it is protected for the next generations. Please remember that the photographs in a box hidden away under the dust might never be seen again. I want to welcome all the second and third generation members that have joined the Association the past few months. A special welcome to the widow of Lt Ian James (Guff) Gow, Mrs Jean Hegardt. Lt Gow was killed after the war in an aircraft crash on its way to London in August She later got married a good friend of Ian, Mike Frost who has since also passed away. To Jean and the other members, a warm welcome and hope to meet you all soon. Members in hospital. Two of our members were submitted to hospital this month. Brig Gen Albie Gotze from Kwa-Zulu Natal ended up in the hospital for a gallbladder operation and is now back at home and is recovering. Betty MacLaughlin, the widow of 2/Lt D.W. MacLaughlin took a tumble in the middle of the night on her way to her bathroom in the beginning of the month. She was severely injured with a broken hip joint etc. Her dog who is the hero in this situation, managed to wake her landlord after 2 hours. Her neighbour, who came to her rescue, had her sent by ambulance to Tzaneen Mediclinic. Betty is recovering well after an initial setback. A gentleman by the name of Mr Hoffman has taken care of the situation and is assisting Betty with her recovery and sorting her bills and admin issues etc. To both these members as well as Mrs Myra de la Harpe, who have broke a hip a while ago, my best wishes and get well soon. And please, keep the falling to a minimum! One of our biggest supporters, the Korean Military Attaché, Capt Shin and his wife Lena have again made a huge effort this month to attend all official functions and to interact with the Veterans

2 2 and Association members. To these two, I really don t know how you keep it up! You are definitely an inspiration to others. Birthdays in September 2014 The following members will celebrate their birthdays in September To them and all their loved ones and have a wonderful day. May the rest of the year only bring joy and prosperity. John Sherwood (15), Val Stander (19), Elize Grobbelaar (30), Cornel Louw (7), Miempie Louw (6), Lynette vd Berg (01), Valerie Venter (06), John Bladford-Newson (30), Thys de Beer (03), Petrus Frylinck (03), Rudolph Kotzenberg (09) Deirdre Milton (15), Myra De La Harpe (28), Roy Sproul (16), Nicolene Rouden (09), Dianne Timms (25), Paul Frylinck (01) and Michelle Muller (29). I wish all members a wonderful month. Dirk Louw SOUTH AFRICAN AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL BANQUET The SAAF Association annual banquet was held on 8 August at Air Force Head Quarters in the Pierre van Rhyneveldt Hall. Once again was this event something to remember. The focus was on local cuisine of the various provinces. To those members who did not make use of the opportunity, sorry for your loss. We were privileged to share a very pleasant evening with a few special guests. In the photograph on the next page are the Military Attaché of Thailand s wife, Moo, the USA Air Force Attaché s wife Krisha, Cornel Louw, Beth Earp, Lena Park, David Sharp, Menno Parsons, Annie Malan, Lt Gen Earp and Capt Shin.

3 3 LETTERS FROM KOREAN STUDENTS BASED IN DAEJEON Below is one of the 21 letters to our Veterans from Korean Students Based in Daejeon received from the South African Embassy in Korea. All these letters are written in Korean with a translation included.

4 4 THE BRISTISH KOREAN WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION I have mentioned in my previous newsletters that BKWVA Chairman, Frank Fallows made contact with me regarding the establishment of the new British Korean War Veterans Association. He made contact with one of our veterans and members, Mike Gedye in the UK on my request and also assisted me when I was trying to locate Maj David Sharp during his visit in the UK. I am glad to hear that they are achieving more than the anticipated support for the Association. In the recent First National Ceremony, called by new British Korean War Veterans, they received the desired results. The Association s National Committee and many members were planning to participate, but would muster only 100 out of 300 signed-in members. So the word went out that any veteran who wanted to participate was welcome and according to BKWVA Trustee, Terry Price, it was a smashing success with more than 400 veterans participating. This far the new BKWVA has officially been welcomed by the Korean War Veterans Association (USA), the Australian Council of Korean War Veterans Association and by the South African Korean War Veterans Association. I have received the following feedback from the Trustee of BKWVA, Terry Price: Hello Dirk Korean War Veteran Internet Journal for the World s Veterans of the Korean War August 6, 2014 The Committee thought that you would like to see a copy of the newsletter of our first national ceremony. Please see below the report of the Wreath laying ceremony at Arlewas on the 27 th July A great day for all Korean Veterans in the UK and around the World. When the Going gets tough the Tough get going. Kindest Regards to our South African Comrades Terry Price Trustee BKWVA

5 5 In the photographs below on the left are Reverent Tony Wood and BKWVA Chairman Frank Fallows paying respect to the Fallen as Reverend Wood recites a prayer and on the right are seven of the sixteen Standard Bearers on Parade.. FRIENDS FOR LIFE Lt Gen, then Lt Dennis Earp, a 2 Squadron Mustang Pilot was captured in North Korea by enemy forces on 27 September 1951 when he parachuted into enemy territory after his aircraft was shot down. Maj, then Sgt David Sharp; who was attached to the United Nations Partisan Forces under the command of the United Nations Tactical Intelligence Liaison Office in Korea, was wounded and captured at the Battle of the Imjin River in June They both ended up in the same Prisoner of War (POW) Camp (Camp No 2) after both were detained in the notorious POW Interrogation Camp, Pahk s Palace. They met early in 1953, five months before being released. Maj Sharp has the dubious privilege of being the last British POW to be handed over by the Chinese on 06 September These two gentlemen are still good friends after all these years. Maj Sharp has endless gratitude towards Lt Gen Earp for his support while being in the POW Camp. In the photograph below are Lt Gen Dennis Earp and Maj David Sharp 61 years later at the annual SAAF Association Banquet. It is wonderful to see the close bond between these two Korean War Veterans after all these years. Lt D.J. Earp Friends for life Maj D. Sharp REMEMBERING OUR WAR VETERANS: RELEASE OF SOUTH AFRICAN PRISONERS OF WAR I have received a very welcome from Brigadier (Retd) B.A.H. Parritt CBE from the UK after he has read one of my monthly newsletters. He served in Korea as a 2 nd Lieutenant in the 20 th Field Regiment Royal Artillery over the period December 1952 to December In the

6 6 photographs below are 2 nd Lt Parritt on the left with the Baker OP Troop, 2 nd Lt Parritt on the right with a Kings Regiment Platoon Commander on the first day of the cease fire and on the last photograph the inscription reads after enjoying a beer sitting on top of the Op, we walked down to the Samichon Valley (No-man s land) and to our surprise we bumped into two Chinese soldiers who were doing the same thing. 2 Lt Parritt was present at the release of the POW s and has personally taken this photograph of the South African War Veterans in Korea after their release. His comment to me was: I do not know their names but I can tell you they were very happy! South African POW s leaving the assembly point in a Red Cross truck Brig Brian Parritt was later transferred to the Intelligence Corps and finished as Director of the Corps over the period 1980 to He has recently published a book called Chinese Hordes and Human Waves on his personal experiences in Korea. The book is available on Amazon and Kindle but I have already ordered mine from Exclusive Books. I will publish extracts from the book when I receive mine. Brig Parritt also informed me that Maj David Sharp and he were acquaintances and lives in the same town. To Brig Parritt, who will be on my list in future, thank you very much for the photographs and s. In an effort to identify the members concerned, I have used the following news clips from the book Beyond the Edge of the Sky written by Crow Stannard on the life of Lt Gen Dennis Earp SSA, SD, SOE, SM depicting the bearded POW s when they were released. Lt Gen Earp could however not make a positive identification of the two members on the truck. In the second photograph are the clean shaven officers when they arrived in South Africa

7 7 Sharing a joke at Kobe, Japan with Carl Yale (right), and English, an English comedian with the comedy unit for the London War Office, are the 5 Cheetah ex POW s...l to R. Lt Chick Fryer, Lt Dennis Earp, Lt Rex Earp-Jones, Lt Chris Lombard and Lt Mick Halley with Lt Blackie Swardt. The Star 17 September Five former South African Prisoners of War from Korea were given a great welcome when they arrived at Jan Smuts Air Port, Johannesburg, last night. L to R. Lieut. T.R. Fryer, Lieut D.J. Earp, Lieut R.C. Earp- Jones, Lieut M.I.B. Halley and Lieut C. Lombard. Sunday Times. 20 September 1953.

8 8 REMEMBERING THE SOUTH AFRICAN KOREAN WAR VETERANS: CONTRIBUTION BY STAN FIRSTENBURG A/Sgt S. Furstenburg I have received more than 60 photographs from Stan Furstenburg, the son of A/Sgt A. Furstenburg who served in Korea over the period 30 October 1951 to 12 December Below are a few photographs of ground personnel in his collection. Thanks Stan, I have scanned a few of the rare photographs and will display them in the coming months.

9 9 NORTH AMERICAN F-51D MUSTANGS F-51D MUSTANG OPERATIONS: DECEMBER 1950 TO DEC 1952 Killed in Action This month s edition of the aircrew that were killed in action has been obtained from the Book 2 SQUADRON IN KOREA. Flying Cheetahs by Winston Brent. 09 July 1952: Lt T.C. Scott (Mustang 391) Lt Scott with Lt. Austin as No 4 and Lt Singleton No 3 was pre-briefed to lead an attack on an enemy target. Over the target area Scott encountered problems with his R/T and handed over the leadership to Singleton. Scott moved to No 3 position. Scott commenced his dive bombing attack, and No 4 observed a flame coming from Scott s aircraft and pieces breaking off. He did not recover from the dive and crashed in flames. The Flight circled the wreckage that was burning fiercely and in their opinion it would have been impossible for Scott to have survived. They also searched the area for a parachute, but without success. NORTH AMERICAN P-51 MUSTANG The thrill of flight: Coming face to face with the real thing! Over the past two years I have been doing research on the North American F-51D Mustangs used by 2 Squadron during the Korean War. I became fascinated by this very sleek and powerful aircraft. And what a wonderful experience it was to experience the aircraft firsthand! A few of the Association members were invited by the owner of an original P-51 Mustang, Menno Parsons, to the Rand Air Show. Everything was well organised and invited guests had a front seat view of the whole air show. Our hosts Menno Parsons and Annie Malan had a very busy day. Between their official responsibilities they also had to entertain the guest. As part of the air show Menno was driving the BMW in the Police chase the one moment and in the next, a chopper or a fix wing aircraft. Annie on the other hand was doing the announcements and managing the fund raiser for the Children Homes.

10 10 It was clear to us that children are very dear to Menno. He made a major effort to raise funds for these children. He contributed handsomely on the day to two Children Charities, Loeriehuis and Makgwanya Day Care who are feeding hundreds of children. Despite his many toys (the commentator said about 20 aircraft), it was clear that Menno had a very soft spot for Mustang Sally. She was parked right next to the VIP area. The display given by Menno in the Mustang was something to remember. Everybody came to a grinding halt when his air show started. The roar of the Mustang s powerful engine when it passed us at more than 400 kilometres per hour and the whistling sound made by the gun ports when the Mustang was diving down towards the runway, fascinated the crowd. Lt Gen Earp, a seasoned Mustang pilot, looked very pleased with the display in his favoured aircraft. And Menno did the legacy of the Mustang proud! In the photograph on the left is Mustang Sally in her full glory and on the right is the much more modern version of the cockpit than what the 2 Squadron Pilots in Korea were used too. Below is the very proud owner and pilot of the P-51 Mustang, Menno Parsons flanked by two Korean War Veterans and two beautiful ladies. On the right is a very amused Lt Gen Earp, enjoying Maj David s Sharp s surprise when Annie Malan giving him a very welcome hug. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY The biggest communication problem is that we do not listen to understand, we listen to reply! Zig Ziglar