Editing Gloster Meteor (section)

===Australia===

[[File:77 Sqn (AWM JK1025).jpg|thumb|upright=.9|No. 77 Squadron RAAF pilots and Meteor aircraft in Korea, c. 1952.]]

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) acquired 113 Meteors between 1946 and 1952, 94 of which were the F.8 variant.<ref name= "ADF Aircraft Serial Numbers: RAAF A77 Gloster Meteor F 8">[http://www.adf-serials.com/2a77.shtml "ADF Aircraft Serial Numbers: RAAF A77 Gloster Meteor F 8."] ''adf-serials.com.'' Retrieved: 8 August 2010.</ref> The first RAAF Meteor was an F.3 delivered for evaluation in June 1946.<ref name ="bb 69">Butler and Buttler 2006, p. 69.</ref>{{#tag:ref|Upon the announcement of Australia's decision to procure the Meteor F.8 in 1950, Australian prime minister [[Robert Menzies]] stated: "The Meteor is regarded as the most modern type of jet fighter now available and will give a striking power, speed, and manoeuvrability of a kind to add enormously to our air strength.<ref name = "shack 77">Shacklady 1962, p. 77.</ref>|group=Note}}

Australia's F.8s saw extensive service during the Korean War with [[No. 77 Squadron RAAF]], part of [[British Commonwealth Forces Korea]]. The squadron had personnel from the RAF and other Commonwealth air forces attached to it. It had arrived in Korea equipped with piston-engined [[North American P-51 Mustang|Mustangs]]. To match the threat posed by MiG-15 jet fighters, it was decided to reequip the squadron with Meteors.<ref name ="bb 69"/><ref>Shacklady 1962, pp. 74–75.</ref> Jet conversion training was conducted at Iwakuni, Japan, after which the squadron returned to the Korean theatre in April 1951 with about 30 Meteor F.8s and T.7s. The squadron moved to [[Gimpo International Airport|Kimpo Air Base]] in June, and was declared combat ready the following month.<ref>Andrews 1965, p. 5.</ref> More advanced designs, such as the F-86 Sabre and [[Hawker P.1081]], were considered but would not be available within a realistic time frame; the Meteor proved to be considerably inferior in combat against the MiG-15 in several respects, including speed and manoeuvrability at high altitude.<ref>Andrews 1965, pp. 6–7.</ref>

On 29 July 1951, 77 Squadron began operating their Meteors on combat missions. The squadron had mainly been trained for [[Ground attack aircraft|ground attack]] and had difficulty when assigned to bomber escort duty at sub-optimum altitudes. On 29 August 1951, eight Meteors were on escort duty in "[[MiG Alley]]" when they were engaged by six MiG-15s; one Meteor was lost and two were damaged.<ref name ="Andrews 6">Andrews 1965, p. 6.</ref>{{#tag:ref|According to anecdotal accounts, [[Warrant Officer]] Ron Guthrie destroyed a MiG-15 in this engagement. He was shot down during the dogfight and captured by ground forces. During his interrogation, two Soviet pilots told Guthrie, through an interpreter, that he had downed a MiG-15. He survived internment and was released on 3 September 1953.{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}}|group=Note}} On 27 October, the squadron achieved its first probable followed by two probables six days later.<ref>[http://www.raaf.gov.au/airpower/publications/pathfinder/Pathfinder_9_Oct04_lores.pdf "RAAF Airpower."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524134012/http://www.raaf.gov.au/airpower/publications/pathfinder/Pathfinder_9_Oct04_lores.pdf |date=24 May 2006 }} ''raaf.gov.au''. Retrieved: 23 March 2010.</ref> On 1 December the [[Battle of Sunchon (air)|Battle of Sunchon]] took place between 14 Meteors and at least 20 MiG-15s – in North Korean markings but operated secretly by the elite Soviet 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (176 GIAP). The Australians lost three Meteors, with one pilot killed and two captured,<ref name ="Andrews 7"/> while claiming one MiG destroyed and one damaged. Russian records and accounts, which became public after the end of the Cold War, suggested that no MiGs from 176 GIAP were lost.<ref name="seidov">Igor Seidov & Stuart Britton, 2014, ''Red Devils over the Yalu: A Chronicle of Soviet Aerial Operations in the Korean War, 1950–53'', Solihull, England; Helion & Company, pp. 272–276.</ref>

[[File:Meteor F8 77 Sqn RAAF at Kimpo c1952.jpg|thumb|left|RAAF Meteor F.8 ''A-77-570'' undergoing maintenance at [[Gimpo International Airport#Korean War|Kimpo air base]] (K-14) during the Korean War.]]
At the end of 1951, due to the superiority of the MiGs in air combat&nbsp;– as well as the Meteor's favourable low-level performance and sturdy construction, RAAF commanders had 77 Squadron returned to ground-attack.<ref name ="Andrews 7">Andrews 1965, p. 7.</ref> In February 1952, more than a thousand ground-attack sorties were flown and these continued until May 1952, when 77 Squadron switched to fighter sweeps. The last encounter between the Meteor and the MiG-15 was in March 1953, during which a Meteor piloted by Sergeant John Hale recorded a victory.<ref name ="Andrews 8">Andrews 1965, p. 8.</ref> By the end of the conflict, the squadron had flown 4,836 missions, destroying six MiG-15s, over 3,500 structures and some 1,500 vehicles. About 30 Meteors were lost to enemy action in Korea, the vast majority shot down by anti-aircraft fire on ground-attack operations.<ref name="ADF Aircraft Serial Numbers: RAAF A77 Gloster Meteor F 8"/>

The RAAF began introducing the locally-built [[CAC Sabre]] powered by the Rolls-Royce Avon, in 1955, which relegated Meteors to training and secondary duties. A number of Meteors would be assigned to the reserve [[Citizen Air Force]], while others were configured as pilotless drone aircraft or for target towing. [[No. 75 Squadron RAAF]] was the last Australian squadron to operate the Meteor; notably, it had operated a three-unit aerobatic team, named "The Meteorites".<ref name ="Andrews 9">Andrews 1965, p. 9.</ref><ref name ="bb 70">Butler and Buttler 2006, p. 70.</ref>