ROY M. du PLOOY, Lieutenant, SAAF

Killed in Action, Korea, 23 July, 1951

2/Lt. Roy du Plooy was flying No. 3 in Captain Freddie Bekker's, flight with 2/Lt. Green flying No. 2 , and 2/Lt. Halley No. 4. They were pre-briefed to conduct a weather reconnaissance of the West Coast, and had 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 near Ch'orwon and destroying it, the flight came under heavy anti-aircraft fire. The flight leader's aircraft was hit and burst into flames. As blazing wreckage broke away from it, Capt. Bekker, was seen to free the canopy, but the other pilots had to take evasive action and temporarily lost sight of each other in the clouds. Bekker was unable to escape the ensuing flames and crashed into the hillside in 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, then had pulled up and said he was baling out. He landed successfully in his parachute, and was seen to wave. It was decided that du Plooy would remain to cover Halley, and he carried out strafing runs against the Communist forces to keep them away from Halley until he was 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 then had to shuttle between the two points and continued to face heavy ground fire. The helicopter arrived too late for a rescue attempt, as du Plooy reported that he had seen the Communists capture Lt. Halley.

Just as Lt. du Plooy was leaving 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 became the first South African pilot to be awarded the U.S. Silver Star medal, posthumously, for his bravery in remaining over enemy territory to protect his squadron mate. The 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 losse