Ron Guthrie in a Meteor in Korea
Shot down over North Korea: Ron Guthrie’s story
THE Royal Australian Air Force was just cutting its teeth on jet fighters when the Korean War broke out. Ron Guthrie was one of a handful of Australian pilots with experience flying Vampire jets out of Williamtown RAAF base - near Newcastle, NSW - so he was an obvious choice to join the United Nations campaign against North Korea. It was a fateful posting that led to the young warrant officer becoming the first Australian jet fighter pilot to be shot down in the Korean War. Ron Guthrie, fighter pilot Guthrie had joined the RAAF in 1943 at…