page_title: Vance Drummond
section_title: RAAF flying training and Korean War
hierarchical_section_title: Vance Drummond / RAAF flying training and Korean War
caption_attribution_description: Panmunjom, North Korea. RAAF pilots, Pilot Officer Vance Drummond (left) and Pilot Officer Bruce Thomson (right) at Freedom Village in the blue Chinese prison uniforms they wore during their captivity in prisoner of war camps in North Korea.
context_page_description: Vance Drummond, DFC, AFC was a New Zealand–born Australian pilot who fought in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He initially saw service in the New Zealand military, but joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1949 and graduated as a sergeant pilot in 1951. Posted to No. 77 Squadron in Korea, he flew Gloster Meteor jet fighters and earned the US Air Medal for his combat skills. He was shot down by a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 in December 1951 and imprisoned for almost two years. After returning to Australia he converted to CAC Sabre jets and in December 1961 became a flight commander with No. 75 Squadron; he subsequently led the squadron's Black Diamonds aerobatic team, and was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1965.
  Drummond was promoted to acting wing commander in December 1965 and posted to South Vietnam on staff duties with the United States Air Force. He joined the US Air Force's 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron, operating Cessna Bird Dog aircraft, as a forward air controller in July 1966. That month he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in rescuing a company of soldiers surrounded by Viet Cong forces.
context_section_description: On 23 October 1950, while a student with No. 1 Flying Training School in Point Cook, Victoria, Drummond ditched his CAC Wirraway into Lake Corangamite during a low-level exercise. He was at an altitude of 200 feet (61 m) when he went to adjust his compass and accidentally knocked his control column forward, causing the Wirraway to dip and strike the water. Drummond remained with the floating plane for two hours before being rescued by boat. The RAAF investigation found that although Drummond was technically at fault, the "glassy" surface of the water and the awkward position of the compass in the Wirraway were the prime causes of his "aquatic adventure". He was considered an above-average student and was not disciplined for his lapse.
  After graduating first in his class in February 1951, Drummond was posted to No. 78 (Fighter) Wing as a sergeant pilot. The wing operated North American P-51 Mustangs and De Havilland Vampires out of Williamtown, New South Wales. In August, Drummond was posted to No. 77 Squadron, based at Kimpo, South Korea. The squadron had gone into action a week after the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 and had recently converted from Mustangs to Gloster Meteor jet fighters. North Korea's Chinese allies operated a Russian-designed swept-wing jet, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, that outclassed all other fighters in the theatre except the new North American F-86 Sabre. The MiGs were often flown by seasoned Russian air force pilots, whose deployment was unofficial, and denied at the time by the Soviet Union. In its first months operating the Meteor, No. 77 Squadron conducted offensive sweeps up the Yalu River with USAF Sabres, bomber escort missions, and combat air patrols.
  Drummond was recommended for the US Air Medal for "courage, aggressiveness, tactical skill and devotion" in operations from 1 September to 28 October 1951. He was commissioned as a probationary pilot officer on 30 November. On 1 December, he was among a formation of twelve Meteors attacked by a superior force of Soviet-piloted MiGs; three Meteors, including Drummond's, were shot down. He ejected but was captured by the North Koreans and incarcerated in a prisoner-of-war camp. Drummond and four other prisoners broke out of the camp in April 1952 but were recaptured after two days. The North Koreans beat Drummond and another escapee, and put all five on trial; Drummond was sentenced to a month in confinement. He was promoted to flying officer on 30 November. An armistice ended the fighting on 27 July 1953, but prisoner exchange stretched over several weeks. Drummond was released on 1 September and repatriated to Australia shortly afterwards. His award of the US Air Medal was confirmed on 30 October 1953 and promulgated in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 5 November.
caption: Drummond (left) and fellow pilot Bruce Thomson in the uniforms they wore during captivity in North Korea, September 1953
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