Black Diamond Leader

. . . fighter pilot . . . prisoner of war . . . test pilot . . . aerobatic ace . . . Australia’s first Forward Air Controller . . . squadron commander . . .

There had been a fight. They were landing in ones and twos and the sides of their planes near the cannon ports were blackened by powder. They were excited. Someone had shot down a MiG – the squadron’s first. Their faces showed the strain of combat but they were happy. The place was Korea.

At de-briefing the story of the attack began to unfold. The squadron had run into fifty MiG-15s over Sunchon. The Reds had come down in pairs and there had been a terrific fight. Bruce Gogerly had shot down one of them for sure and several other pilots had scored good hits on others. Two had been seen burning on the ground but because of the confusion, no one could be certain who should be credited with the second. A squadron check immediately after the battle had revealed that everyone was scattered but otherwise OK.

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