Captain Bryan Taylor Luscombe MID - 5/07003

 

Captain Bryan Taylor Luscombe is one of three Old Haleians, (past students at Hale School in Perth), who died in the Korean War. Hale School established a memorial grove for all ex-students who died in conflicts from the Boer War to this present day and these three West Australian pilots who were killed over Korea are remembered there. Luscombe was an army pilot, while one of his fellow Old Haleians, Richard Roslyn Sinclair was a navy pilot and the other, Maxwell Edwin Colebrook was a pilot in the Airforce.

Luscombe’s father worked for the Bank of NSW which meant Luscombe attended schools in many towns in NSW, moving every few years, until the family moved to Perth in the early 1940s. Luscombe, who was known as Joe, attended Hale School from 1942 to 194.  At Hale he was a prefect in his final year and captain of their cricket team.  After leaving school Luscombe entered the Royal Military College in Duntroon. [1] After graduating from Duntroon, he was one of one of six young lieutenant/captains who volunteered for flying training as Air Observation Post pilots in 1950. [2]  He received his ‘wings’ in September 1951.  When the Korean War began one pilot was to join RAF Air OP Flight 1903.  Luscombe and another pilot who trained with him tossed a coin to see who would go. Luscombe won. [3]

In Korea the mountainous terrain meant Air Observation Flights were vital for reconnaissance and artillery direction, as well as ferrying high ranking army personnel.  The Royal Air Force (RAF) sent two Light Aircraft Flights to Korea.  1903 was the first one and began their flying operations over Korea in early August 1951.[4] RAF Air OP Flight 1903 used Auster Mark 6s, a very basic aircraft described by one of the flight mechanics as simply a metal frame covered with canvas, that they sewed up or patched if it got a hole in it. [5]

Luscombe married Shirley Hutcherson in Sydney in October 1951, prior to leaving for Korea that November.  He was the only Australian in his air observation group and was known as the ‘Digger Pilot’. [6] Luscombe flew in Korea for over six months and had flown over 320 hours before he was briefed to fly a sortie at dusk on 5 June 1952 to observe and photograph enemy batteries north of the Imjin River. During this flight enemy schrapnel hit and severed the port rudder cables of Luscombe’s aircraft, which crashed into a cliff killing him instantly.[7] Luscombe was 24 years old.

A few days prior to his death Luscombe had his portrait drawn by Australian war artist Ivor Hele. This portrait was presented to his widow after his death.

Portrait of Luscombe by Ivor Helle, 1952 
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C372559. Accessed 25 October 2023

Hele also made a quick sketch of Luscombe's memorial service at what is now the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea. 

Sketch of Luscombe's memorial service by Ivor Hele. 
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C287039.  Accessed 25 October 2023

After his death Luscombe was mentioned in dispatches for his courage and determination in Korea with 1903.[8] During the Vietnam war the First Australian Task Force’s airfield at Nui Dat, South Vietnam was named after Luscombe.[9] The Luscombe Bowl was built on this Army airfield as a makeshift entertainment venue for troops in Vietnam.  A replica of the Luscombe Bowl now forms part of the Vietnam Memorial in Seymour, Victoria and houses interpretive displays reflecting the experiences of Australian troops in Vietnam. [10] 

Luscombe Airfield at Nui Dat, Vietnam in 1967.
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1259423
Accessed 25 October 2023

 Captain Joe Luscombe’s name lives on in the memorials remembering his death as the first Australian army pilot to be killed in Korea.

 

References

[1] The Memorial Groves. Memorial Grove Flipbook. P. 78.  https://www.oldhale.com/History/Memorial-Groves.  Accessed 11 October 2023.

[3] Ibid.  

[4] The Korean War. The Army Flying Museum Hampshire. https://armyflying.com/the-collections/online-exhibitions/the-korean-war/.  Accessed 25 October 2023.

[5] Korean War Veterans Digital Memorial. Youtube video with Dennis Grogan, flight engineer with the 1903 Independent Air Observation Post Flight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAg_h3jzbbQ. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023

[6] PILOT KILLED (1952, June 9). Barrier Miner p. 1. Retrieved October 17, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49246389

[8] Published in the London Gazette in 1952-10-03 and in the Commonwealth Gazette in 1952-10-16. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1543527. Accessed 25 October 2023

[9] History of Australian Army Aviation from Boxkite to Blackhawk. http://diggerhistory.info/pages-army-today/rar-sasr/army-aviation.htm.  Accessed 25 October 2023.

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