Korean War 'Mig Killer': Bill Simmonds, RAAF

Bill Simmonds was from Bunbury, Western Australia. A pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 77 Squadron, during the Korean War he flew P-51 Mustangs before converting to the Gloster Meteor jet fighter. On the 8th of May 1952 he became one of the few Australian 'Mig Killers' of the conflict after shooting down a Communist MIG-15 while escorting US bombers over North Korea. He went onto a distinguished career in the RAAF. He was seconded both to the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and US Air Force (USAF) and was a member of the 77 Squadron aerobatic team before retiring at the rank of Air Vice Marshal. This episode contains elements of an interview recorded for the television series 'Australians at War', available at the 'Australians at War Film Archive' (UNSW/2563).

You can listen to Korean War 'Mig Killer': Bill Simmonds, RAAF online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Korean War 'Mig Killer': Bill Simmonds, RAAF is an episode from Backyard Battlefields.

This episode is 17:26 long.

This episode was published on Apr 30, 2026.

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