History of Marine Corps Aviation

Central Pacific Operations

History of Marine Corps Aviation AcePilots Main Page WW2 Marine Aces

Even before the demise of Rabaul was imminent, a major push through the central Pacific began on November 20, 1943, with the assault on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. This had a significant effect on the relationship between Marine Aviation and Marine ground forces. The Marine divisions were, of course, the spearhead of the amphibious assaults but, in the bypassing strategy in the central Pacific, the distances were so much greater that there was no way that shore-based Marine Aviation could provide what it did in the Solomons.

While Marine Aviation was equipped with carrier-suitable aircraft, both it and the Navy were caught in a bind, the Marine Corps with respect to carrier training and the Navy regarding availability of ships for the Marine flyers. The net result was that Marine Aviation was relegated to the backwaters of the war, almost entirely from the reduction of Rabaul in early 1944 until the Philippines and Okinawa in 1944 and 1945. There wasn't another chain of islands like the Solomons in all the right places in the central Pacific, or a division of carriers that could take Marine squadrons into the many amphibious assaults that marked the central Pacific route to Japan.

The Marshalls

Even so, several MAGs were displaced forward from the Solomons and from Hawaiian areas, notably to Roi, Engebi and Majuro in the Marshalls, and later to Peleliu, Tinian and Guam.

The American forces captured Majuro, Kwajalein, and Eniwetok - the key atolls of the Marshall Islands - in February, 1944. Marine Air went ashore and immediately began pounding the Japanese garrisons on the by-passed islands of Maloelap, Wotje, Mille, Jaluit. These were not glamorous operations but were important and possibky deadly all the same. Almost every day the Corsairs of the VMFs and the SBDs of the VMSB squadrons delivered bomb loads onto the enemy-held islands, which were not defenseless. The 14,000 Japanese troops on the four islands were well-equipped. On Maloelap alone they employed over 70 AA guns, 10 coast-defense guns, and a few howitzers. Early in the campaign, while they still had aircraft at Ponape, 370 miles from Eniwetok, they launched night bombing raids. The Marines of VMF(N)-532 went up to intercept. Capt. Howard Bollman and Lt. Ed Sovik made rare night kills on the night of April 14.

But throughout 1944 and into 1945, the Marine aviators in the Marshalls flew their missions, avoided the AA, and gradually wore down and starved out the Japanese, who did not surrender until V-J Day.

One Marine pilot who flew these missions was Lt. John Glenn of VMO-155, who later flew Sabre jets in Korea, became the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, and was elected Senator from Ohio.

Marine Carriers

In late July 1944, General Vandegrift made an extensive inspection trip to the Pacific. On his return through Pearl Harbor, conferences were held with Admirals Nimitz, Tower and Sherman; General Rowell, Commander, Marine Air Wings, Pacific; Brigadier General Thomas, Director Plans and Policies; and Brigadier General Harris, Director of Marine Aviation. The decisions reached brought significant changes in the employment of Marine Aviation for the balance of the war.

There was a revalidation of the primary role of Marine Aviation as the support of Marine ground forces, with a recommendation that a division of six Commencement Bay-class escort carriers be manned with Marine Aviation squadrons for the purpose. The six carrier groups would be trained at MCAS Santa Barbara, Calif. Each group would be composed of one VMF squadron with 18 planes and one Marine torpedo-bomber (VMTB) squadron with 12 planes, under a Marine Air Support Group known as Marine Carrier Groups, Aircraft, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific.

By the time the units were assembled, trained and qualified aboard their ships, the war was drawing to its end. The first of the Marine escort carriers (CVEs) to deploy was Block Island, which arrived off Okinawa on May 10, 1945. In addition to attacks on Japanese installations in the Okinawa area, she also supported the Marine divisions on the island. She was joined by the Gilbert Islands on June 1, and both participated in strikes in the Okinawa area and in the Balikpapan invasion. Two more Marine CVEs came out before the end, Cape Gloucester and Vella Gulf. All four Marine CVE participated in various aspects of the wind-down of the war, Block Island and Gilbert Islands taking part in the surrender of Formosa and the evacuation of approximately 1,000 allied POWs who had been imprisoned there.

Sources:

U.S. Marine Corps Aviation, by Maj. Gen. John P. Condon, at the excellent U.S. Navy Historical Center's public domain web site

History of Marine Corps Aviation in WWII, by Robert Sherrod - the authoritative reference work on this topic

VOUGHT F4U CORSAIR - large photos of Corsairs at www.voughtaircraft.com, first of ten pages

Corsair Aces of World War 2, by Mark Styling One of the many well-thumbed Osprey 'Aircraft of the Aces' books in my collection. Fairly strong emphasis on U.S. Marine Corps use of the F4U, but also with chapters on the U.S. Navy's fliers and British Corsairs. It features interviews with Marines Ken Walsh, Jim Cupp, Rog Conant, Bob Owens, and Ed Olander (of the Black Sheep Squadron). Also Roger Hedrick of the Jolly Rogers is interviewed at length. As always with this series, the B&W period photos are great, like the one "with the crew chief standing by with a fire extinguisher in case of an emergency" when starting the engine. Just like at LaGuardia airport! Also includes 24 color plates of Corsairs from various units (although the nose art decorations aren't much by 8AF standards), and the tables of Corsairs in both branches of the service. Buy ''Corsair Aces of World War 2'' at Amazon.com