Lieutenant Commander (LCdr) Cha of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy taking a photograph of the ...

Lieutenant Commander (LCdr) Cha of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy taking a photograph of the crash site of RAAF Mustang A68-757 in the area of Pukpyong, South Korea, in late December 1950 - early January 1951. Mustang A68-757 had been piloted by 031401 Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr) Graham Strout of 77 Squadron RAAF and his remains were recovered from the crash site. Sqn Ldr Strout, the first RAAF fatality in the Korean War, was posted missing after leading a raid by a section of four Mustang aircraft north of latitude 37 degrees 08 minutes north, on the east coast railway at Samchok on 7 July 1950. The RAAF Air Board had directed that a search team should be sent to locate Strout or his remains. At the time, the Pukpyong area was controlled by ROK forces and the recovery party was assisted by the ROK Navy. The team comprised Sqn Ldr Esmond New, an RAAF Presbyterian chaplain with extensive knowledge of Korea, its people and language from prior to World War II, and Sgt Tom Henderson, a World War II veteran of RAAF search and rescue in New Guinea, Java and New Britain. Sqn Ldr Stroud's remains were recovered and were later buried at the United Nations Cemetery at Pusan, South Korea.