Warbird Information Exchange

I am looking to see if anyone has any pictures of 40th Fighter Interceptor Squadron personnel or aircraft (F-51s) from when the unit was stationed at Johnson AFB Japan prior to and during the Korean War. A distant cousin of mine, 1LT Woodrow Burton, was a pilot in the Squadron from 1947 until October 1950 when he was shot down by AAA north of Pyongyang. He bailed out of his stricken F-51 (44-74072), only to be quickly surrounded my North Korean civilians. Below is the sworn statement from the mission flight leader, MAJ Neil Roberts Johnson:

"On 2 October 1950 I was flying #1 position of a four ship flight assigned to strafe and rocket targets of opportunity in the area North of Pyongyang, Korea. We had been in the area approximately forty five minutes and had expended nearly all of our ammunition on gun positions and vehicles. At the time of the accident we were fifteen mile northeast of Pyongyang in string formation at about eight hundred feet. LT Burton behind me in #2 position called "mayday". I immediately pulled out to the side and saw LT Burton's aircraft covered with coolant and streaming smoke. Captain Arasmith in #3 position pulled up on his wing and told him to bail out. LT Burton climbed to one thousand feet, jettisoned the canopy, and bailed out. He landed about 4 miles east north east of Pyongyang and was immediately surrounded by several civilians. The remaining three ships circled the area for ten minutes while LT Burton waved that he was alright. We reported the accident to the controller in the area. After failing to find the gun position that had shot down LT Burton, we returned to Base."

s / Neil R. Johnson
Major, USAF

LT Woodrow "Woody" Burton was never heard from again and was declared KIA at the end of hostilities in 1954 (and posthumously promoted to CAPT). MAJ Johnson was killed in December 1950, nearly three months after the above incident. Any help in locating photographs of the men and aircraft of the 40th from this time period would be fantastic, as I have only been able to obtain a grainy xerox-copied portrait CAPT Burton from the Air Force.

Here's a good start for you.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/40th-Fighte ... e_internal

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Zero Surprise!!...

Thanks for the link!

A lot of really neat shots....this one a survivor. This Mustang is the "Shark of Zambales" and on display in the Philippines today.

https://www.facebook.com/12139951466722 ... =3&theater

This is very special in that it is an early TF-80C or T-33 in Korea. They did fight there, and introduce pilots to the difficulties of Air to Ground work in the new jets. They may also have had a very nascent role in a fast FAC operation that was very new. So much of the use of the T-33/TF-80C in Korea was not recorded. Spectacular shot to have for history though.

https://www.facebook.com/12139951466722 ... =3&theater

This one is neat as you can see Mustang 44-73870 in the center...that's the one that was flown by a Korean pilot who defected north! the plane is preserved today in Bejing, China.

https://www.facebook.com/12139951466722 ... =3&theater