Reading tips on the Korea theater

[LuftManu]

Hey guys!

Creating this topic as we can recommend and suggest different books to learn more about this conflict. 

I'll start with this one:

Korean Air War: Sabres, MiGs and Meteors, 1950–53, Michael Napier.

In this book we are presented with the air war from a very practical point of view, with lots of pictures, pilot reports and conflict data as the conflict progresses. I really liked how it starts the book by commenting on the orography of Korea and how this will also affect the flights.

 

I've read very little about the Korean theater of operations, but this one is probably the best introduction for me. 

Then, Schiffer Military and Osprey books. They never fail!

 

I have one also coming named Last War of the Superfortresses: MiG-15 versus B-29 in the Korean War 1950-53: 52 (Asia@War) by  Leonid Krylov. Probably getting into more detail about the raids and tactics from the MiGs to get the Superfortresses. 

 

Kind regards,

 

 

[Irishratticus72]

Slim pickings here.

Almost forgot..

[LukeFF]

The latest Osprey books are very good. I referenced them a lot when writing the (many) playable units we are going to have in career mode. 

[CountZero]

https://media.defense.gov/2010/May/26/2001330297/-1/-1/0/AFD-100526-045.pdf

 

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/1000korea/

http://aces.safarikovi.org/victories/doc/usaf.korean.war.victories-by.unit.pdf

 

https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/osprey-aircraft-of-the-aces-004-korean-war-aces/60172525

 

Maj. Gen. Frederick C. “Boots” Blesse; Double Ace; 'No Guts, No Glory.'” this one was good even for ww2 tactics online fun read

 

 

Squadron-Signal 6035 - Air War over Korea A Pictorial Record

 

 

 

i have thouse ones in pdf, was good for missions in IL-2 and seow campaigns

 

also this was good for various differances betwen types of F-86s

https://finescale.com/~/media/files/pdf/online-extras/sabre/sabretable.pdf

Edited June 29, 2024 by CountZero

[Artfactial]

Thanks for this post and the suggestions.:)
A couple of years a go I found a website with tons of archival declassified, publicly available, US military research and report documents. I spend a couple of days downloading but mainly on a few chosen topics, I'm sure there is still a lot of Korean war material on there.
Anynone have any idea of the site I'm thinking of?

[LukeFF]

7 minutes ago, Artfactial said:

Thanks for this post and the suggestions.:)
A couple of years a go I found a website with tons of archival declassified, publicly available, US military research and report documents. I spend a couple of days downloading but mainly on a few chosen topics, I'm sure there is still a lot of Korean war material on there.
Anynone have any idea of the site I'm thinking of?

 

Koreanwar.org? 

[Artfactial]

No, that's not it, it's an archive with documents with a range from interwar to the war on terror, it was huge.
That site looks fantastic too though, thanks.:)

[Luger1969]

This book from Osprey gave a good general understanding/uberstanding 😇 of the aircampaign over Korea...not finished reading but i liked it for the connection, lots of furture potential in the theater from the base Il2 korea release

 

Btw as a South African i am proud of 2 squadron the flying cheetahs in korea

Edited July 3, 2024 by Luger1969

[Avimimus]

This is an interesting interview with the perspective of one of the Russian Mig-17 pilots:

Interview with Porfiriy Borisovich Ovsyannikov. Part 2 – Lend-Lease

 

Note: The entire collection of 'lend lease' interviews is really worth reading - a real treasure.!

[Artfactial]

I found it!
It's the United States Military Academy Library!
I'm not sure how well know this archive is, but it's got a wealth of documents and books (100s of thoushants), many freely available.:)
That's 65 documents on the Korean war available online alone.
 

Edit:
Hum not so sure now. There appears to be far less research and military documentation than I previously found.
Still, a good collection.

Edited July 5, 2024 by Artfactial

[Artfactial]

YES! I've got it for real this time!
I luckily saved an entire page instead of just downloading the file.
It's the Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library, its digital collection is truly staggering.

Here's 443 freely available studies, treatises, reports and documentation of the Korean War.
Their WW2 collection is enormous as well.

[LukeFF]

Thanks!

[BlitzPig_EL]

The discussion of the terrain and climate section of the report in the armor section should be a must read for the dev team.

[Lofte]

Let's hear opposite side

 

[352ndOscar]

The United States Air Force In Korea 1950-1953

https://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329903/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-022.pdf

 

….great set of maps included with accompanying historical account.

[migmadmarine]

Pleasantly surprised to find that the USMC has the whole of "Whirlybirds: US Marine Corps Helicopters in the Korean War" available to read online. Seems like a good read, expand the understanding of their use at the time some. 

https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Whirlybirds US Marine Helicopters in Korea PCN 19000410500.pdf

Edited July 16, 2024 by migmadmarine

[LukeFF]

5 hours ago, migmadmarine said:

Pleasantly surprised to find that the USMC has the whole of "Whirlybirds: US Marine Corps Helicopters in the Korean War" available to read online. Seems like a good read, expand the understanding of their use at the time some. 

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Whirlybirds%20US%20Marine%20Helicopters%20in%20Korea%20%20PCN%2019000410500.pdf

 

Yes, if you look around you'll find a lot of official USMC unit histories free for downloading. They were quite helpful when writing up those particular unit biographies.

[Sgt_Joch]

In terms of the air war over Korea, here are two basic books I liked:

 

1. “Crimson Sky, The air Battle for Korea” by John Bruning. It is a lot of stories, individual accounts, mostly from the 1950-51 period. Interesting because it also includes stories from Soviet pilot memoirs so you get a view from the other side. Gives you a flavour of what the air war was like.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Sky-Battle-Korea-History/dp/1574888412

 

2.”Officers in Flight Suits, The story of American Air Force Fighter pilots in the Korean War” by John Sherwood. Follows the career of a dozen U.S. pilots who flew in Korea from flight school to combat and after. Gives a good feel for what it was like to be a USAF pilot in that time.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Officers-Flight-Suits-American-Fighter/dp/0814780385

[Rjel]

Strictly from an aviation point of view, I've always enjoyed the Squadron Signal softcover books, although the last couple I've bought had a lot of misidentified photos in them. But overall, a good series. I've thumbed through my copy of MiG Alley (not my copy shown) hundreds of times over the last 40 years or so. Some good pilot comments and stories, lots of photos and aircraft profiles. 

 

[Picchio]

I loved every bit of these and personally, his accounts are nearly the single reason I am interested in the project (I know, Cassada isn't about the Korean war, but I think it is well worth reading):

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Trooper117]

Yes, I've got 'The Hunters', read it 3 times now... I enjoyed the film version too, but the book is better!

'Gods of Tin' I've yet to read...

[cellinsky]

All Osprey Publishing titels are informative well illustrated and unbiased reads. Highly recommend them. Affordable and available for download as well.
https://www.ospreypublishing.com/

[Dauntless]

I noticed, the first one in the list, AD Skyraider! 

[FeuerFliegen]

So I know we're talking books here, but has anyone seen the 17 episode documentary from 2015 titled "Battlezone: The Korean War" ?

 

 I just found it on Amazon Prime; although it says it's currently unavailable.  It's nearly 7 hours long.

[Trooper117]

You can find the Battlezone series on YouTube...

[Gunfreak]

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver's books

MiG Ally about USAF in  Korea.

Holding the line about US  Navy/Marines and Royal navy in Korea.

He uses American, British, North Korean, Chinese and Soviet sources.

[Aapje]

Here is the link to No Guts, No Glory, which was mentioned above:

 

https://www.simhq.com/_air/PDF/NGNG.pdf

[No105_Swoose]

On 8/4/2024 at 11:22 AM, Gunfreak said:

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver's books

MiG Ally about USAF in  Korea.

Holding the line about US  Navy/Marines and Royal navy in Korea.

He uses American, British, North Korean, Chinese and Soviet sources.

Yes indeed!  I’m currently reading MiG Alley and it’s outstanding.  Totally changed how I thought about the air war, e.g. US air dominance and high air-to-air kill ratios.  It was a hard fight.

[LukeFF]

Just picked this one up as a reference for the team: https://www.amazon.com/Bully-Able-Leader-Fighter-Bomber-Korean/dp/0811710262

 

[Gunfreak]

On 8/9/2024 at 7:59 PM, No105_Swoose said:

Yes indeed!  I’m currently reading MiG Alley and it’s outstanding.  Totally changed how I thought about the air war, e.g. US air dominance and high air-to-air kill ratios.  It was a hard fight.

 

Yes, he shot down a few sacred cows in that book.

I've more or less gone through all his books. He has like a full 6 book epic about the air war in the Pacific from pearl harbour to the end of the war. Perfect book for plane nerd. All his books go into great details about the aircraft used. The development, testing, improvements. His 3 books on Vietnam are also great.

And I'm closing on the end of clean sweep about 8th fighter force. In Europe from 42 to end of the war.

[Lofte]

[Elem]

I'm half way through this right now. Very detailed and in-depth on all aspects of the Soviet forces. I can't recommend it highly enough.

 

[Estnische]

I can recommend this one. A good overview of the air war.

 

 

Don't buy from this link though. I bought it for $50 AUD.

 

https://www.amazon.com.au/Air-Korea-1950-1953-Robert-Jackson/dp/076030551X

 

_________

 

This one I would not recommend unless you find some hidden gems. His first-person point of view about how horrified he is as to how the grossly exaggerated kill claims of the USAF made the service look unprofessional. Maybe it is a 10 page magazine article, but not 300+ pages.

 

 

https://www.amazon.com.au/F-86E-Sabre-Russian-MiG-15-Air-ebook/dp/B085Q3PR2J

Edited November 22, 2024 by Estnische

[AFKAMC]

A few more (some have been mentioned already):

 

Air War Korea 1950 - 1953 by Robert Jackson (Airlife)

 

MiG Alley: Air to Air Combat Over Korea by Larry Davis (Squadron/Signal Publications)

 

The Wings of Fame series has a number of articles by Warren Thompson (you'll be seeing more below by Thompson)

Volume 1 - Fighter Combat over Korea Part 1: First Kills

Volume 2 - Fighter Combat over Korea Part 2: Jet Aces

Volume 3 - Fighter Combat over Korea Part 3: A Year of MiGs

Volume 4 - Fighter Combat over Korea Part 4: The Final Year – Air Battles of 1953

Volume 11 - MiG Maulers – F-86 Sabre in Korea, 1950-53 (Larry Davis and Warren Thompson)

Volume 13 - B-26 Invader in Korea

Volume 16 - Superfortress in Korea – Boeing’s B-29 at war in the Far East

Volume 20 - Heavy Haulers – USAF Transport Aircraft in the Korean War

 

Osprey Aircraft of the Aces

Volume 4 - Korean War Aces by Robert F. Dorr, Jon Lake and Warren Thompson

Volume 70 - F-86 Sabre Aces of the 51st Fighter Wing by Warren Thompson

Volume 72 - F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4th Fighter Wing by Warren Thompson

Volume 82 - Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War by Leonid Krylov and Yuriy Tepsurkaev

 

Osprey Combat Aircraft

Volume 78 - F4U Corsair Units of the Korean War by Warren Thompson

The Osprey Combat Aircraft includes several similar titles, e.g. F-51, F-80, B-29, F9F, etc.

 

Osprey Duel

F-86 Sabre vs MiG-15 Korea 1950-53 by Douglas C. Dildy and Warren E. Thompson

F9F Panther vs Communist AAA: Korea 1950–53 by Peter E. Davies

 

Osprey Aviation Frontline Colour Series, all by Warren Thompson

Volume 1 - F-51 Mustang Units over Korea

Volume 2 - F-86 Sabre Fighter-Bomber Units over Korea

Volume 3 - F-84 Thunderjet Units Over Korea

Volume 4 - B-26 Invader Units Over Korea

Volume 5 - F-80 Shooting Star Units over Korea

Volume 6 - F-86 Sabres of the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing

 

Asia@War Volume 52 - Last War of the Superfortresses: MiG-15 versus B-29 in the Korean War 1950–53 by Leonid Krylov and Yuriy Tepsurkaev

 

The following are general histories and not Korea-specific:

 

Schiffer published a number of "Photo Chronicle" volumes, including some on the lesser known US types

Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star by David R. McLaren

Lockheed F-94 Starfire by Marty J. Isham and David R. McLaren

Republic F-84 Thunderjet, Thunderstreak, and Thunderflash by David R. McLaren

 

Crowood Aviation Series

Boeing B-29 Superfortress by Steve Pace

Douglas AD Skyraider by Peter C. Smith

Douglas A-26 and B-26 Invader by Scott Thompson

Ilyushin IL-2 and IL-10 Shturmovik by Yefim Gordon and Sergey Komissarov

North American F-86 Sabre by Duncan Curtis

 

The North American Sabre by Ray Wagner (Macdonald Aircraft Monographs)

There are plenty of other titles by various authors on the F-86 Sabre!

 

MiG-15: Design, Development, and Korean War Combat History by Yefim Gordon and Vladimir Rigmant (Motorbooks Warbird History)

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15: The Soviet Union's Long-lived Korean War Fighter by Yefim Gordon (Aerofax)

 

Finally, the original edition of Rowan's MiG Alley PC game included a copy of the following official document:

The F-86 vs. The MiG 15 Feb-May 1952 Korea by Squadron Leader W. Harbison (Central Fighter Establishment)

[Alexmarine]

For both the USAF and USN air campaigns we have the great works of Thomas Cleaver

 

For the Soviet side, I can never stop recommending Igor Seidov full chronicles of the Soviet Air Force 64th Air Corp which is the most complete work up to this date bar actually reading through the original units reports

[Phil_Ciborowski]

Just finished Mig Alley and Holding the Line, and am partway through the Yalu River Boys and I can say I completely enjoyed reading them and am enjoying reading the latter.  I am also reading Terror of the Autumn Skies- and while not Korea, its an amazing book so if you want some WWI reading, grab that one. 

 

Reading the two books by McCleaver has me in the mood to build some Korean War birds, and am excited to play this latest IL2.

 

I think the last dedicated Korean Air War game was Sabre Ace back in the late 90s? (I could be wrong).

[Lofte]

3 volumes of declassified work by R. Futrell from 1952-56 about the actions of the US Air Force in Korea.

1. Robert F. Futrell - United States Air Force Operations in the Korean Conflict, 25 June-1 November 1950 >>> 

2. Robert F. Futrell - United States Air Force Operations in the Korean Conflict, 1 November 1950 - 30 June 1952  >>>

3.1 Robert F. Futrell - United States Air Force Operations in the Korean Conflict, 1 July 1952-27 July 1953 (p.1-180)  >>>

3.2 Robert F. Futrell - United States Air Force Operations in the Korean Conflict, 1 July 1952-27 July 1953 (p.181-361)  >>>

Edited March 17 by Lofte

[Stonehouse]

I've a copy of this in pdf, large section on operations in Korea years 1950-56. Can't recall where I downloaded it from. Have to try to find the URL.

 

[Sokol1]

On 8/12/2024 at 1:54 PM, Lofte said:

 

Interesting reading, seems that KPAF did more than what Wiki say:

 

"... a strike was conducted on Suwon Airfield by 3 Il-10s and 6 Yak-9s, destroying an American C-54 Skymaster on the ground."

"... the KPAF only shot down 3 US aircraft in air combat (a B-29, an L-4 and an L-5)."

[Juri_JS]

That's what I am currently reading.

 

A very interesting read. The only available first hand account written by a North Korean pilot. It's unfortunate that our knowledge of the KPAF during the war is still very sketchy. Even Douglas Dildy the author of "Fury from the North" had no access to North Korean documents and had to use  American and Soviet sources.