Spence's loss was a heavy blow to the squadron, and Cresswell's first task after arriving in Japan on 17 September 1950 was to restore morale. Pilot Jim Flemming recalled that Cresswell "led from the front", undertaking four sorties on 20 September, his first day of operations. No. 77 Squadron transferred from Iwakuni in Japan to Pohang, South Korea, on 12 October to support UN troops advancing northwards from the Pusan Perimeter following General Douglas MacArthur's amphibious landing behind North Korean lines at Inchon. On 20 October, the squadron became a component of the RAAF's newly established No. 91 (Composite) Wing, headquartered at Iwakuni, but was under the operational control of the US 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group. Cresswell believed that the Iwakuni-based wing headquarters was not always in tune with frontline requirements, and he often dealt directly with Lieutenant General Sir Horace Robertson, BCOF commander and the theatre's senior Australian officer, and the RAAF's Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Scherger, former commander at Wagga Wagga.