# Aerial Warfare: Korean War



## Zipper730 (Apr 12, 2017)

Though I know of the bombing raids in World War II, there was so little mention of the bombing raids in Korea. Almost all the discussion usually centers on F-86's and MiG-15's battling each other in air-to-air combat.

I'm curious if there's anybody has any information, or sources of information that cover the air war in it's entirety over Korea?


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## fubar57 (Apr 12, 2017)

​Nothing on bombers though


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## fubar57 (Apr 12, 2017)

This one looks much better...

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## FLYBOYJ (Apr 13, 2017)

Zipper730 said:


> Though I know of the bombing raids in World War II, there was so little mention of the bombing raids in Korea. Almost all the discussion usually centers on F-86's and MiG-15's battling each other in air-to-air combat.
> 
> I'm curious if there's anybody has any information, or sources of information that cover the air war in it's entirety over Korea?



There's plenty;

Recollections of RB-29, Korean War, Early Cold War - Related Stories

Amazon product
_View: https://www.amazon.com/Invader-Units-Osprey-Frontline-Colour/dp/1841760803_


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## parsifal (Apr 13, 2017)

I don't know of any books from an Australian perspective, but there are several brief, but useful summaries for both the RAAF and RAN involvement

Out in the Cold: Australia's involvement in the Korean War | Australian War Memorial

Vladimir Kroupnik. Meteors vs MIGs

RAN Fleet Air Arm;

The Korean War | Royal Australian Navy

Sea Fury and Firefly deck landings HMAS Sydney

Chapter 28: HMAS SYDNEY

as others have said, there is a pile of reference material


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## buffnut453 (Apr 13, 2017)

fubar57 said:


> This one looks much better...



Now that looks like an interesting read. Thanks for sharing, Fubar. Might have to add that one to the library. 

Couple of others to add to the list:

"Black Tuesday Over Namsi: B-29s vs MiGs" by Earl McGill - title says it all, really.
"Korean Air War" by Robert Dorr - general history of the air conflict.
"Red Wings over the Yalu" by Xiaoming Zhang - overview of Chinese air ops over Korea.
"Furies and Fireflies Over Korea" by Graham Thomas - coverage of the British and Commonwealth piston aircraft contribution to the Korean War.
"Night Fighters Over Korea" by G.G. O'Rourke - personal account of a Marine F3D-2 pilot flying night ops over Korea.


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## fubar57 (Apr 13, 2017)

I believe its a U.S. government book. I got it off the interwebs...http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a476353.pdf and the home page is here...http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/


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## buffnut453 (Apr 13, 2017)

Yeah...it's the collation of proceedings from a symposium with expert panels on a range of topics related to the subject. So, while not a comprehensive history of the air campaign, it probably has some interesting insights.


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## Zipper730 (Apr 13, 2017)

FlyboyJ's links from a site managed by a Wayland Mayo, who was a tail-gunner and reconnaissance in the B-29's were kind of useful, though I'm curious about the details about the raids themselves.

I remember reading on Wikipedia (I know, I hate saying it) that the initial tonnage was fairly small from July to November, and then increased to over 600,000 tons of bombs and almost 33,000 tons of napalm: Was the early bombing campaign a selective bombing (specific targets) with the later shift to area bombing?


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## parsifal (Apr 13, 2017)

maybe this


American Airpower Strategy in Korea, 1950-53 av Conrad C Crane (Bok)


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## Zipper730 (Apr 14, 2017)

parsifal said:


> American Airpower Strategy in Korea, 1950-53 av Conrad C Crane (Bok)


I read the synopsis and found something that I had a hunch about: The USAF was built around total war, but little provision for anything else.

The idea of "The New Look" was based on massive retaliation with large and small nuclear bombs in huge numbers. I was under the impression it was to offset the cost of large amounts of aircraft and bombs, relying on high-tech systems (and high kill-ratios) and nuclear bombs.

I did not know it was based on the results of Korea; merely the development of small nukes.


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## Zipper730 (Apr 24, 2017)

Message deleted, I found my answer on this...


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## Zipper730 (Jun 11, 2017)

Regarding the Army's idea on CAS: Their idea seemed to revolve around the idea of having control over CAS higher up in the hierarchical structuring whereas the USMC favored it fairly low.

I'm surprised that the idea of a Command by Negation concept didn't come into being. While the concept didn't come into being until the 1980's, the idea had been on some level by the US Navy since the start, and by the German Army to staggering effect.

The idea would basically allow those lower down the chain as in the USMC to call in CAS under normal circumstances unless somebody higher up, with better picture of what's going on to countermand the order and use CAS more effectively.

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## Snowman (Sep 1, 2017)

This is one more book on this matter:

Osprey-Combat Aircraft 42 B-29 Superfortress Units of the Korean War (2003)

B-29 Superfortress Units of the Korean War

UPD. And another one:

Steadfast and Courageous: FEAF Bomber Command and the Air War in Korea, 1950-53 (2000)

https://www.google.ru/url?sa=t&rct=...35.pdf&usg=AFQjCNF7z9FU2wdLmeq9eXsofqQZPx_6RA

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## Old Wizard (Sep 1, 2017)




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