Australian servicemen listed as missing in action in North Korea
Of the 340 Australians killed during the Korean War, 43 were classified as ‘missing in action’ (MIA) and presumed dead. The MIAs belonged to all three services and are listed below.
The Army MIAs, who came from the three infantry battalions that formed the Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) at the time, resulted from the withdrawal of United Nations forces from North Korea at the end of 1950 and the set-piece battles of 1951, and from the intensive patrolling and raiding of the static warfare that set in from 1951 on. The RAAF and RAN MIAs comprised aircrew downed over enemy territory. Those from the RAN served with the Fleet Air Arm aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney. The two Australian units that fought throughout the conflict, 3RAR and No. 77 Squadron, RAAF, incurred the bulk of the MIAs.
Most of the engagements that ended in MIAs took place in either North Korea or what is now the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. Since the end of the war, North Korea has pursued an isolationist policy that has all but precluded MIA investigation teams locating, let alone recovering, any remains from its soil or from the DMZ.
Name | Service Number | Rank | Unit |
ARMIT, Ernest Donald | O22221 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron RAAF |
ASHE, John Berkley | 3/3706 | Corporal | 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
BOURKE, Edmund George | 2/401173 | Private | 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
BRADY, Francis | 4/400156 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
BROWNE-GAYLORD, DFC, Mark Astil Baren Henry Aytack | O23665 | Flight Lieutenant | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
CHALMERS, Peter Botley | O35079 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
CHRISTIE, John King | 5/2514 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
CLARKSON, DFM, Keith Elwood | Lieutenant | 805 Squadron, RAN | |
COLEBROOK, DFM, Maxwell Edwin | O5895 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
COLEMAN, Ronald James | Sub Lieutenant | 805 Squadron, RAN | |
COWPER, Lionel Henry Cadogan | O33831 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
ELLIS, Donald Campbell | O21261 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
FOOT, Thomas Randolph | 2/401322 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
GILLAN, Bruce Thomson | O33625 | Flying Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
GRIFFITHS, Leslie John | 3/10647 | Private | 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
HALL, John Rogers | 5/400213 | Private | Reinforcement Holding Unit (Army) |
HALLEY, John Beverley | O5309 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
HILLIER, Donald | O4425 | Squadron Leader | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
HODGKISSON, Joseph William | 5/400181 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
KUNKEL, William Rudolph | 1/1641 | Private | 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
LAWRENSON, DFC,AFC, Frederick James | O22005 | Squadron Leader | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
LORD, William Thomas Henry | 2/400437 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
McKANDRY, John Lawrence | 2/400919 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
MURPHY, William Kevin | 3/400143 | Corporal | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
NICHOLSON, John William | 2/400798 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
PURSSEY,DFC, Ian Goodwin Swan | O11561 | Flight Lieutenant | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
ROBERTSON, Douglas Merson | O5672 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
ROBERTSON, Donald Neil | O32536 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
ROBINSON, Richard George | O22422 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
ROOTES, Reginald Donald | 2/5124 | Private | 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
RYAN, Laurence Bonaventure | 3/37672 | Lieutenant | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
SAUNDERS, John Philip | 3/400868 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
SCURRY, Arthur John | 5/2103 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
SHENNON, Ronald William | 1/400304 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
SMITH, Francis Charles | 2/35020 | Lieutenant | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
SMITH, Kenneth Dudley | O33843 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
STEPHENS, Geoffrey Ingram | O647 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
STRANGE, Harold Thomas | A2997 | Sergeant | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
SURMAN, John Leonard | O32537 | Pilot Officer | 77 Squadron, RAAF |
TERRY, Lionel John | 3/400376 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
WALLACE, Thomas George | 3/400430 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
WHITE, Peter | 3/400608 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
WHITEHOUSE, Dennis Edward | 3/10796 | Private | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |