FRED M. BEKKER, Captain, SAAF

Killed in Action, Korea, 23 July, 1951

Captain Freddie Bekker, with 2/Lt. Green flying No. 2, 2/Lt. du Plooy No.3, and 2/Lt. Halley were pre-briefed to conduct a weather reconnaissance of the West Coast. They proceeded up the Han Gang River at approximately 1500 ft. At the mouth of the river they turned east and the weather steadily got worse, with the cloud-covered, hilly terrain swept by heavy rains, and the clouds often lowering to 500 feet, making finding of their targets very difficult.

After finding a bridge across the Imjin River and destroying it, the flight came under heavy anti-aircraft fire. The aircraft of the leader, Capt. Bekker, was hit and burst into flames. As blazing wreckage broke away from it, the other three pilots had to take evasive action and temporarily lost sight of each other in the clouds. Bekker was unable to escape and crashed into the hillside with his Mustang. Lt. Green swooped low to confirm that there was no hope of his leader's survival, when a parachute floated down past him.

Lt. Halley had also gone down to inspect the crash site of Capt. Bekker when he, too, was hit by ground fire. He pulled up and said he was baling out. He landed successfully, and was seen to wave. It was decided that du Plooy would remain to cover Halley, and carried out strafing runs against the Communist forces to keep them away from Halley, until he ran out of ammunition. Green, meanwhile, had ascended to establish better radio communication with Air Rescue. Because of the difficulty in giving the exact location of the downed Halley, Green had to call for the rescue helicopter to rendezvous with him at a more recognizable point some ten miles away. He had to shuttle between the two points and continued to face heavy ground fire. The helicopter arrived too late, as du Plooy reported that he had seen the Communists capture Lt. Halley.

As Lt. du Plooy left the scene, he was heard to call "I've been hit, I've been hit..." The wreckage of his aircraft was later found, but there was no sign of Lt. du Plooy. Halley was taken prisoner and was released at the cessation of hostilities.

Lieutenant du Plooy was to be the first South African pilot to be awarded the Silver Star. This weather reconnaissance mission of 23 July, 1951, had been one of the most expensive operations of the Korean War in terms of crew and aircraft losses. Two pilots had been killed, one was captured, and three F-51 aircraft had been lost.