An Eye in the Sky

By Mias van Pletzen

An Eye in the Sky is the story of John Pfuhl an aerial reconnaissance photographer and navigator. He was involved in the Korean War and Second World War. The story extremely interesting, and the way things were woven together is intriguing. This is a book written by someone who is, amongst other things, passionate about aircraft. Aircraft always play an important role in any war. 'Eye in the sky' includes many historical facts about the Korean War which would have been unknown to the reader otherwise. The book is also written from a personal point of view as there was a close relationship with and interest in the descendants of the character(s). It is definitely worth the read. When the Author started doing research on the Korean war, all I knew about the war was that it took place in the early 1950s. Ironically, I later read that, in the United States of America, the Korean war was called the “forgotten war”. Mias’ enquiring mind was stimulated by his neighbour and friend Helga’s fond memories of her late father, John Pfuhl, who was a navigator and photographer in the Korean war. The then Union of South Africa was one of 21 countries that were involved in the war and were backed by the United Nations. While helping Helga to find books that had information on her dad, Mias started to dig deeper and this book is the end result. He combined facts on the war with personal anecdotes about John and also included a bit of fiction where he tried to imagine the impact that the war had on the ordinary people of North and South Korea. I am sure it will be treasured by John and Helga’s family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mias van Pletzen
• Release date: Feb 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9780620872034

Mias van Pletzen

I studied Electrical Engineering and focused on electronics. I specialized in two-way radio communications. I published the following articles and books:- Satellite Communications: Today and Tomorrow. Published in QUANTUM Journal for Electronic Engineers, March 1999.- Radio Planning: Planning A Radio System to Optimize Frequency Spectrum Usage. Published in QUANTUM Journal for Electronic Engineers, May 2000.- GEO, MEO, LEO ... What In The Universe Are These? Published in ELECTRON Journal Electronic Journal of the SA Institute for Electronic Engineers, July 2000.- IP over Satellite. Published in QUANTUM Journal for Electronic Engineers, October 2000.- Broadband Technologies. Published in QUANTUM Journal for Electronic Engineers, Jan 2001- Radio Propagation calculations. Published in QUANTUM Journal for Electronic Engineers, March 2001- Internet Protocol: Present and Future. Published in QUANTUM Journal for Electronic Engineers, August 2002- Satellite Communications - as seen from the satellite. Published in ELECTRON Journal Electronic Journal of the SA Institute for Electronic Engineers, July 2003.- Russian Aircraft Encyclopedia, September 2013.- Eye in the Sky, March 2020.

Book preview

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Mias van Pletzen

An Eye in the Sky

The story of John Pfuhl

an Arial Reconnaissance

Photographer and Navigator

© Mias van Pletzen 2020

Eye in the Sky

Published by Mias van Pletzen Publishers

Centurion, South Africa

[e-mail]

ISBN 978-0-620-87198-3

eISBN 978-0-620-87203-4

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Thanks go to the Louw and Smith children

for the use of family photographs.

Cover design by Mias van Pletzen

Layout by Boutique Books

Dedication

I dedicate this book to Clive Pfuhl.

Foreword

When my brother started doing research on the Korean war, all I knew about the war was that it took place in the early 1950s. Ironically, I later read that, in the United States of America, the Korean war was called the forgotten war.

Mias’ enquiring mind was stimulated by his neighbour and friend Helga’s fond memories of her late father, John Pfuhl, who was a navigator and photographer in the Korean war. The then Union of South Africa was one of twenty-one countries that were involved in the war and were backed by the United Nations.

While helping Helga to find books that had information about her dad, Mias started to dig deeper and this book is the end result. He has combined facts about the war with personal anecdotes about John, and has also included a bit of fiction where he tried to imagine the impact that the war had on the ordinary people of North and South Korea.

Congratulations on completing this book, Mias. I am sure it will be treasured by John and Helga’s family.

Joyce Jordaan

The Challenge

What aircraft were used during the Korean War? Helga asked.

I do not know, but I think it might have been Mustangs and Mig-15s, I replied. That was my total knowledge of the Korean War. I did not know the dates, nor did I know the reason for the war.

Helga explained that her dad, John Pfuhl, had been a reconnaissance photographer in that war, as part of the South African Air Force in Korea. She’d attended the funeral service of Jock Lello.

Her story evolved. A friend had purchased two books, titled No. 2 Squadron in Korea, by Winston Brent. The book contained two photos of her dad. She would like a copy of the book. More, John Pfuhl had also served in the Second World War.

Her questions forced me to the internet to search for the book. With a couple of printouts, I went back to her. If I could not get hold of the book, I could at least provide her with some information regarding the war. She scan-read through some pages and said, This is excellent material for a novel. All you require in addition is a simple love story.

She mentioned that she had inherited many war photos from her dad. He’d captured these photos during the war.

The next evening, I telephoned her and made an appointment. I wanted to examine those photos. All I requested was a cup of coffee. I brought the snacks. I accepted the challenge. Where could one find a more authentic story than this, with the facts of the war and a genuine person having been involved in it?

Why was Korea divided? Who were the two Korea’s leaders? Why were America and the Soviet Union involved? These questions led to more questions about John. According to Helga, her dad was a navigator and photographer. Helga did not know exactly what her father had done during either The Second World War or the Korean War. Why did he go back to war? What was his function in both wars? She said they’d never talked about any of the wars.

Helga turned around and handed me a cup of coffee. The communist aggression must be resisted, she said. This phrase was most commonly used in the 1960s and 1970s. Although I was born ten years after the outbreak of the war, I recalled the phrase. The Cold War was building up and the Soviet Union expansion policy had got momentum. One of the photographs showed a memorial board erected at the Wonju Imperial Bridge dedicated to the American soldier who’d died fighting against the communist aggression.

After Helga’s death, her husband Tobie provided me with the opportunity to look through all the photographs, photo albums and memorabilia she’d left behind. These photos and items answered many questions. Furthermore, they shed some light on John’s Second World War experiences. This story of John gained momentum after I had worked through two boxes of photographs, news articles, some empty envelopes and other items. I carefully examined these items to be used in this book.

Helga and Tobie

Helga and Tobie were my neighbours, and I have to share some of the memorable moments I’ve experienced with them.

I had not met Helga before she married Tobie. Helga Smith and Tobie Louw were married between 1989 and 2001. Both had been divorced. After Helga passed away, Tobie recounted how he met Helga. They were at a function. Tobie noticed a lady for just a moment before she disappeared into the crowd. He remembered her shoes. He knew he wanted to be friends with her. At some stage, he sat down to tie a loose shoelace. The following moment the lady with the shoes stood in front of him. Instantly he looked up. This was the woman he had been looking out for. He knew he would wed her.

Helga had studied for a degree in public management and administration. The language Afrikaans was one of her primary subjects. For many years Helga lectured in Afrikaans at Centurion College. At some point, the college discontinued the subject, but Helga got the opportunity to teach Computer Literacy instead. Helga was always enthusiastic about the work and challenges. As an Afrikaans lecturer at the College – now called Tshwane College – her influence on her students was tremendously valuable. She sometimes described these experiences to us.

During her student years, Helga took up photography at the University of Pretoria. She was a diligent photographer when she moved in as my neighbour. Photography was in the Pfuhl family’s blood. One of Helga’s daughters is an accomplished photographer.

Helga moved in as my neighbour in November 1998. That was three months after I’d moved in. On many occasions we enjoyed a brief chat in front of our garages. During one of these chats, I decided to invite them for a cup of soup and bread. Helga and Tobie accepted the invitation. The evening of Saturday the 28th of July 2001 was an extremely cold winter Saturday evening. This date marked the beginning of countless visits and moment sharing.

When looking at photographs of Helga’s father, his smile was notable and so like Helga’s characteristic smile. She always had a story or a question two. Helga said her father’s personality had drawn people towards him. Everyone wanted to talk to him. I experienced the same with Helga.

Helga, with her enquiring mind, inevitably saw the positive in every situation. Every visit enriched me.

When I told Helga that I would go to Russia to take photographs of their aircraft, she seemed to be more excited than I was. Helga and Tobie and were overseas at the same time. They visited one of Helga’s daughter in the United States, and I went to Russia. Soon after my return, I was trimming the grass in my garden when Helga offered me a cup of coffee. We sat on the veranda and she produced a map instead of the coffee. She spread it on the floor to show me where they had walked. After a brief explanation she returned with the coffee and said: Mias, humankind is on the earth to travel and explore the world. This one sentence summarised her outlook on life.

Helga told us that, as an innocent child, she’d blown up their kettle. She’d switched the kettle on without water. She said she was fearful that her father would be furious when he arrived home and found that the kettle was not working. She decided to switch off the kettle and filled it with water. When John arrived home, she informed him what had happened and her corrective actions. That softened John’s heart.

Through the years of friendship, there was evidence that Helga and Tobie belonged to each other. For example, they made independent decisions to support an orphaned boy in Moldavia. When they compared their decision, they’d adopted the same boy. Their dreams and focusses were the same. Helga was only one week older than Tobie. Her birthday was on the 23rd of August 1951, and Tobie’s birthday was the 31st of August 1951.

During Tobie’s divorce case, he received guardianship over his three daughters. He parented them and they turned out to be lovely ladies. When the daughters’ mother passed away, Helga stood in to assist them.

Tobie was very meticulous in everything that he did. He worked at the South African Railways as a payment officer.