Korea-MiG-15 and the other side of the history

[edwest2]

I am not sure where this is going. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, some archives opened over the years. Sometimes, access was limited or access was later denied. And who here can read Russian, or Chinese? Technically, North and South Korea are still at war. And the current political situation in North Korea is not conducive to research. And what about South Korean archives? The language barrier is the first problem and access is the second.


That is why information about air combat and losses have come primarily from the American side. The Korean War was presented to the American people as "a police action." This is not credible, it was a war.


But back to the subject. It would take hundreds of man-hours to search the web for the locations of relevant material, and the sources have to be credible. It's taken me years to translate the way I think search engines should work into "these are the words to use when searching for anything." Even now, I'm still learning.


Here's an example that does not fit the "perfect" category (date and time, place, tail code, crew names, etc.). That's how research works sometimes. Some bits and pieces here, other bits and pieces there. Or going down to actual archives/record centers, which is not possible for many.


"II.20 The records in this series are arranged roughly by aircraft incident. Significant "shoot down" and detention cases for which Klaus gathered documentation include the following:

• A U.S. Air Force RB-29 aircraft shot down by Soviet Union military forces north of Hokkaido, Japan, June 13, 1952.
• A U.S. Air Force RB-29 aircraft shot down by Soviet Union military forces north of Hokkaido, Japan, October 7, 1952.
• The detention of U.S. Air Force Col. John K. Arnold, Jr., and his B-29 aircraft crew in the People's Republic of China from early 1953 until August 1955. Arnold's plane was shot down near the North Korea-Manchuria border on January 12, 1953.
• A U.S. Air Force RB-50 aircraft shot down by Soviet Union military forces over the Sea of Japan on July 29, 1953.
• Also see RG 341 - scroll down a bit.

Source: http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/to...t%20of%20State

[knusel]

Good evening Gentlemen,

I'm interested in Korean War MiGs, too.
Did Stepan Naumenko fly a MiG-15 or a Mig-15bis when he scored his kills ?

Have a good start in the weekend,

Michael

[knusel]

Good morning Gentlemen,

Did Kim Gi-Ok fly a MiG-15 or a Mig-15bis when he scored his kills ?
http://aces.safarikovi.org/victories/kldr-ko.html

Have a good start into the Easter holidays,

Michael

[James A Pratt III]

The Osprey book on Mig-15 ace of the Korean war has Naumenko's unit 29 GvIAP getting MIg-15bis before it saw combat in Korea.

As for Ok I don't know. the claim list is interesting has anyone matched them up with US and Allied losses? Trying to match up claims and losses for the Communist side is a problem since you have Russian, PRC and North Korean fighters and AAA units

[knusel]

Good evening James,

in the meantime I too think that Naumenko flew the MiG-15bis.

The most promising candidate for a MiG-15 top ace seems to be Zhao Baotong who likely scored at least 5 of his 7+2sh in the earlier type.
Does anybody know how many pilots shared in his 2 shared kills ?

Cheers,

Michael