I am reading Doug Hurst's book on No.77 Squadron during the Korean War. After the Second World War ended Australia committed forces to a British Commonwealth Occupational Force [BCOF] which comprised on Brits, Australians, New Zealanders, etc who were attached to the American forces in Japan. Originally Australia supplied a Wing of aircraft (three squadrons) but as Japan was peaceful they wound that down to one, and when North Korea invaded South Korea No.77 was all packed - including their aircraft - ready to head back to Australia.

They were in an important position in the first few weeks of the war. The 5th USAF had swapped all their long range Mustangs for jet fighters. While they were fast, they went through fuel like nothing else and could only fly over Korea for fifteen minutes before having to turn back. Consequently much of the early flying fell on USAF Night Fighter, US Navy aircraft, US Marine carriers - and No.77 Squadron RAAF with their Mustangs.

The Australian government didn't really have a policy on these communist era wars of limited engagement, under the auspices of UN action and with multi-national forces would be performed. This was prior to the ANZUS Treaty and the UN was only a new organization at which Truman had ideas of how it would work in a global liberalist manner.

The policy Australia chose in Korea is pretty much the basis for all post WWII engagements; basically commit forces quickly, but only in a small amount, and put it under the command of another nation; usually the US or UK, with the wider backing of the UN or the international community.

There were multiple reasons for Australia adopting that approach. Australia wanted to appear a good ally to the US in order to get the ANZUS Treaty. The fear of communist power spreading in Asia was real at the time and Australia did not have the forces to stop the Russians.

Additionally, Australia had been a strong promoter of the United Nations under the previous Labor government with Doc Evatt contributing to heavily to its organization. Even the so-called realists in the Australian government recognized that the UN could be a vehicle to stop aggression between nations.

Consequently Australia committed No.77 Squadron quickly to the war against North Korea which made the American bombers happy as it meant they had some long range escorts until the US could get more Mustangs from the National Guard units in the US and bring them to Japan a couple of weeks later.

With the entry of China into the Korean War and their use of Russian weaponry, including the swept wing jet fighter the Mig-15, the Australians found themselves hopelessly outdated in the propeller driven Mustang.

Australia had Vampire jets currently in service, but they were a first generation jet. They were slow and straight winged. Ultimately Australia got Meteor Mk8's, mainly because that was all they could get that was even close in performance to the Mig-15.

To get their jet legs, two Australian pilots, Dick Cresswell, and Des Murphy, were attached to the USAF's 35th Fighter Wing which was flying the straight winged F-80 Shooting Star. Doug Hurst records this story;

On one flight, Des's wing tip tanks didn't feed, unbalancing the aircraft. After lengthy discussion with the others in his flight [Americans] they decided the best solution was to put a hole in the tank with a .45 pistol and let the fuel out. This was no easy task with the air rushing past the tank at over 500 kilometers an hour, but they worked out how to do it, show a hole in the tank and the fuel escaped, re-balancing the aircraft.

Bush carpentry was still alive in the analog world of the 1950s. It was interesting to read that the pilots had to carry in their aircraft three wads of maps, in three different scales. There could be up to fifty different maps they had to carry. An analog world. Now, the GPS and my iPhone with its digital feedback makes paper maps a dead art. Different world.

Why did Australia replace No.77 Squadron's Mustangs with Gloster Meteor Mk8's rather than Sabres? The answer is that the Meteor was all that was available. Australia wanted Sabres but the US said none would be available until 1954.

The South Africans went that route, and flew Mustangs until Sabres became available from the US. It was dangerous flying Mustangs that late in the war as it became a fixed front line and the slow Mustang did not do well against well defended targets which the North Koreans and Chinese had time to set up when the front line became static on the 38t Parallel.

Britain was also short of jets and put off an RAF squadron receiving Meteors so the Australians could have them. Additionally the British provided support staff and instructors to ensure the Australians were up and running with the aircraft.

One pressure choosing the Meteor did place on Australia was that it had to be responsible for the logistics to support them. Prior to that they often relied on American logistical support with the Mustang as they shared an aerodrome with American Mustang squadrons. Australia didn't do logistics well in 1950.

Was the Meteor outclassed by the MIG-15? I think the answer has to be yes. The Mig was a second generation jet fighter while the Meteor was a straight winged first generation. The Meteor could hold its own around 20,000 feet, but the Mig could get higher and courtesy of Russian tactics would dive on the Meteors because they couldn't challenge them up high. The Sabre was the only aircraft that could fight the MIG at all altitudes and positions.

In the end the Australian squadron largely went back to ground attack rather than a fighter squadron as their Meteor's were not up to the task. It was a shame as at the time No.77 re-equipped the UN was hurting for lack of Sabres. Eventually that changed but for a time it was dangerous being in an expanding Mig Alley.