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Korean War Air Losses & Incidents Database for All Nations Opposing North Korea
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List of Pages Related to Korea
Korean Air War: An Introduction




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You searched for: “levesque”

#NameFirst NamesRankMilitary ServiceHonoursStatusAircraft TypeTail NumberDateIncidentSquadronGroup or WingCircumstances Of Incident        Notes        Links        Photo          
1 LévesqueJoseph Auguste OmerFlight LtRCAF assigned to USAF (Canada)DFC (USA), American Air MedalF-86 SabreF000197941951-03-31334th Fighter Interceptor: Eagles
4th Ftr-Int Gp1 MIG-15 Victory

1950-12-01 - 1951-06-01. 71 sorties. It took him 10 years and two wars, but Canadian fighter pilot Omer Levesque finally got his fifth victory in the skies over Korea.

One of 22 pilots assigned by RCAF to USAF for combat experience

Flight Lieutenant J.A. Omer Lévesque, a Second World War veteran, was serving on exchange duties with the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing when it went to Korea. On March 30, 1951, while escorting B-29 bombers on a daylight raid, he destroyed a MiG-15. He was subsequently awarded both an American Air Medal and an American Distinguished Flying Cross, DFC.

On March 31, 1951, Levesque was with two squadrons of Sabres protecting a large flight of B-29s attacking the bridges spanning the Yalu River, the boundary between North Korea and its Communist Chinese ally. He was flying as wingman to Major E.C. Fletcher when suddenly the squad leader called out that bandits were coming from the right. The Sabres dropped their auxiliary fuel tanks as two additional MiGs were spotted at 9 o’clock, “off our left wings and above us a bit.” Levesque’s flight turned toward these two enemy planes, which separated and banked away to evade the pursuing Sabres. Levesque later reported: “My MiG pulled up into the sun, probably trying to lose me in the glare. This was an old trick the Germans used to like to do—but this day I had dark sunglasses on, and I kept the MiG in sight.” The MiG leveled off, likely not realizing Levesque was still on his tail. The Canadian adjusted his illuminated gunsight for deflection shooting and banked steeply to turn inside the MiG, triggering a twisting dogfight that quickly spiraled down from 40,000 feet to 17,000 feet. Levesque was about 1,500 feet from the MiG when he opened fire. His aim was good: Six streams of .50-caliber bullets smashed into the MiG, which rolled violently to the right and continued rolling until it crashed into the ground. “I started to pull up, and saw another MiG diving from above me,” he continued. “I climbed into the sun at full throttle and started doing barrel rolls. The MiG disappeared.” His combat with the MiGs concluded, Levesque faced another danger, this time from friendly fire: “I went right through the B-29 formation and they all shot at me! Thank God they missed. I waggled my wings and they stopped firing, but lots of shells had just missed me.” Levesque suddenly realized that his fuel was approaching “bingo,” the point where he had just enough to get him back to base at Suwon, South Korea. As he headed home, alone with his thoughts, he could take pride in the fact that he was at last an ace. Omer Levesque was awarded the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in the March 31 battle. He would complete 71 operational sorties with the 334th FIS before being sent home in June 1951.		Paradie Archive Database

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