The wide offensives of earlier years had ground to a halt by the time Don Stewart arrived in Korea. In their place, a network of trenches, fortified outposts, and deeply entrenched artillery duels now spanned the Korean Peninsula’s narrowest line.  The United Nations' push had stalled and the Communists had surged reinforcements. In this static battlefield, airpower became the leverage point, used not for grand breakthroughs, but for the grind of attrition as the war continued through its brutal routine.

Don originally attested into the South African Air Force on December 28th, 1943 and commissioned and qualified as a pilot exactly three months later.  He was immediately posted to No. 70 Operational Training Unit in Sandur, Egypt. There he completed his training on multi-engine aircraft. In July 1945, he joined No. 44 Squadron in Bari, Italy, as a transport pilot. Although the war in Europe was over, the Allied presence in Italy remained vital for logistical support. For the next six months, Stewart flew transport runs across the region moving men, equipment, and supplies in the often-overlooked phase of military occupation and rebuilding.

He returned to civilian life after being demobilized in 1946 and took a job with African Consolidated Theatres, the theater chain of its parent African Consolidated Films which held a monopoly on American film acquisition and distribution throughout South Africa, Rhodesia and Kenya.  After the South African decision to commit a squadron to Korea, Don left his clerical job in cinematic entertainment and in December 1951 re-attested to volunteer as a pilot once again.  He signed for a ten-year short service contract and after a conversion course where he adjusted to the nimble trainers and fighters, he was off to Korea.  By the time of his arrival in July 1952, Lieutenant Stewart was seasoned but untested in combat. At the time, the 2 Squadron was deeply embedded in front-line support for United Nations operations. Operating out of K-46 airfield, the pilots of the Flying Cheetahs flew the now-aging North American P-51 Mustang, a machine originally built for high-speed engagements but adapted in Korea for low-level strike missions. Its range and versatility made it ideal for the rugged Korean terrain even in an age of the emerging jet fighters.

Deep ravines, jagged ridges, and dense forests made targeting difficult and evasive flying nearly impossible. The narrow valleys allowed little room for maneuver, and flak guns—often hidden on slopes above likely approach routes—could catch Mustangs in deadly crossfire. The piercing flak had already claimed several pilots of the squadron since their commitment to the United Nations’ fight.  From the air, every ridgeline looked the same and Communist infantry cleverly melted into the terrain when they wished to remain invisible.

The Fifth Air Force had experienced hard months of flying before Don arrived, with 243 fighter-bombers lost by April 1952, many of them Mustangs. The replacement rate could not keep up and 2 Squadron's strength had dropped to just 12 aircraft by mid-year. Maintenance crews scrambled to keep the Mustangs airworthy while pilots rotated through exhausting schedules. Stewart was frequently assigned to "strip alert"—dawn and twilight standby shifts requiring aircraft and pilots to be ready for immediate takeoff to support frontline troops. 

From July through November 1952, Stewart flew armed reconnaissance, close air support, interdiction, and flak suppression sorties. These flights were often dual-purpose: striking trenches or mortar pits on the way out and rail junctions or convoys on the way back. Many of these targets lay within the deadly arc north of Kumhwa, where Operation Showdown required constant air cover.

Most missions went smoothly.  On September 5th, Don led a flight as part of a larger Fifth Air Force operation aimed at a mine and ore-processing plant at Tamgi, northeast of Kunu-ri. The Flying Cheetahs carried 500lb bombs to crack the structure before follow-up waves dropped incendiaries. The site was nestled in a narrow valley, flanked by anti-aircraft nests and ringed by mountains.  Fortunately, a preceding strike wiped out all changes of enemy retaliation and the flight hit their target with no adverse encounters.

October brought intensified ground fighting. The battles for White Horse Hill and Arrowhead, fought between the 6th and 15th October, were some of the fiercest of the war. United Nations forces flew over 669 close-support sorties in support of these engagements, 61 of them by 2 Squadron. Stewart’s missions during this period were focused on artillery suppression, anti-personnel strikes, and low-level rocketing of trench lines. It was high-stakes flying: rapid approaches, precise firing, and immediate, sharp climbs to evade.

In late October 1952, Stewart and Vic de Villiers launched on a four-aircraft strike northeast of Kaesong.  The mission became an example of persistence, as everything seemed to go wrong from the beginning.  Mechanical failures forced two Mustangs to abort before takeoff, leaving Stewart and de Villiers to press on alone. The controller’s marker was lost in heavy cover of smoke over the target, leaving them blind and dangerously close to United Nations lines. The pair resorted to relying entirely on radio directions from the ground.  To further complicate the already soured mission, the two pilots faced intense crosswinds and incoming small arms fire.  Even against the difficult circumstances, they covered ninety percent of the designated target with bombs and rockets and returned to base remarkably successful.

His last month of flying was much the same until his departure on November 25th.  He reverted to flying transport planes for the next few years with 28 Squadron.  Nearly a decade after his Korean deployment, he concluded his ten-year commitment with the South African Air Force and promptly joined the Royal Rhodesian Air Force. From January 7th to September 30th 1962, Stewart served with No. 3 Squadron as a transport pilot until retiring for domestic reasons, but quickly sought reappointment in the South African Air Force on his return to the Union. At the time, he was thirty-seven years old and his application raised internal debate.  A memorandum from Air Force Headquarters noted that granting Stewart a permanent commission could set an “undesirable precedent,” potentially encouraging other short-service officers to resign, collect their gratuities, and reapply under better terms. Moreover, concerns were raised about an age imbalance in the officer corps, with Stewart’s cohort already nearing the upper limit for active flying service.

Despite these objections, his service record evidently spoke for itself. The Air Chief of Staff acknowledged his value as an experienced and immediately deployable VIP pilot. Stewart was ultimately approved for a three-year short service appointment in the Permanent Force beginning in May 1963 with the rank of Lieutenant.  However, later that same year, Stewart submitted his resignation. In a letter dated November 13th, he explained that his appointment being temporary and given his lack of seniority and interest in a permanent commission, there was no future for him in the force. He requested release effective February 1964 and to be placed on the Reserve of Flying Officers.  Don moved on fully to civilian aviation, working as an airline captain for Commercial Airways Ltd in Johannesburg after his military career.  Passengers boarding a routine commercial flight would have had no idea that their quiet airline captain had once flown high adrenaline sorties to dive bomb into the ravines of North Korea through flak and smoke on missions from which not all returned.