The Korean Kid

The Korean Kid is the story of Jim Kichenside and the Australian pilots who took to the skies in the ‘forgotten war’ on the Korean peninsula. Within a week of the North Korean invasion of the South on June 25, 1950, No.77 Fighter Squadron RAAF were in the air: the first United Nations air unit committed to the defence of the overrun South. Of the 340 Australians who perished in Korea, 41 were from 77 Squadron. In 1952, Jim Kichenside was the youngest pilot in 77 Squadron, at just 21 years of age. He entered the Korean theatre with just 8 hours of training on his Meteor jet. Dubbed ‘The Korean Kid’, Jim’s is a story of youth and resilience, of luck and loss, of young men thrust into a war against impossible odds – the first war of the jet age.