Another British Cadet’s Odyssey Beyond Grosse Ile  

Cmd. Peter 'Hoagy' Carmichael was a British Fighter Pilot with the Fleet Air Arm of the British Navy flying the British Sea Fury during the Korean war. The Sea Fury was the Royal Navy's standard ship board fighter, where it was a highly successful ground attack aircraft. Although it was a piston engine fighter in the jet age the Sea Fury was not entirely outclassed, despite being more that 200 mph slower than the Communist Block MiG-15. Sea Fury's were still a dangerous foe if the jet found itself low and slow. On 9th August 1952, over North Korea, Lieutenant Peter "Hoagy" Carmichael of 802 Sqn  R.N in a Sea Fury fighter became the first British pilot of a piston engine aircraft to shoot down a MIG - 15 jet aircraft.

Looking back on the war, Carmichael recalled that oxcarts were one of the main road targets to go for. It was amazing how many of them blew up when you hit them with cannon fire! This was a manifestation of the allied policy of interdiction in which both heavy bombers of the USAF and the bomb- and rocket-armed carrier fighter-bombers of the Navy attempted to halt enemy troop and supply movements. It was not entirely successful, and the Communist armies were able to launch a large-scale offensive in the spring of 1953, as the possibility of a truce became stronger in the hope of making it appear as if the UN was suing for peace in order to avoid defeat. During this final period,

You have probably figured his connection with NAS Grosse Ile already. If you guessed he took flight training at Grosse Ile, you are right. He was based there in 1942 during the 2nd World War, where he carried out flight training. When he returned to Britain after the Korean War, after some years he and his wife June and his two children, Peter and Francis, settled down on the Island of Anglesey in North Wales, and built their own house. They called it 'Grosse Ile'. There you have it. My Uncle had very fond memories of the Base at 'Grosse Ile'. - Simon Thelwall