The Fighting Corsairs by Jeff Dacus

Author:Jeff Dacus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LYONS PRESS
Published: 2020-07-20T00:00:00+00:00

BARAKOMA

VMF-215, with its new commander and replacement pilots, was ordered to the new airstrip at Barakoma Point on recently occupied Vella Lavella Island. Barakoma had a four-thousand-foot runway right on the eastern shoreline of the island. Carved out of the jungle by hardworking Sea-Bees of the 58th Naval Construction Battalion, revetments sat opposite the shore. Living quarters, consisting of tents, were well into the trees, separated by a great berm from the interior. Revetments and taxiways encroached into the vegetation. Like Guadalcanal and Munda, slit trenches and bomb shelters were constructed around the living quarters. The Marines were right where they left off. Primitive Barakoma resembled Munda in all respects.

On the very first day they arrived at their new home, Two Fifteen stood runway alerts and standing patrols. The early days on Vella Lavella served as a good break-in period, allowing pilots who had not flown much in several weeks a chance to get reacquainted with their powerful airplanes. Herb Williamson was able to work his new divisions and sections in basic tactics. New pilots used the time to get to know their new commander as well as the powerful Corsair. Some of the new pilots had only a few hours on the big Corsair and were given priority in flying time. At first, mild-mannered George Brewer was a little apprehensive whenever he took off, but he soon adapted to his new mount, “It was like a whole new world. We’d been flying F4F-3s [Wildcats]. The Corsair was just so much more of an airplane. We loved the Corsair.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.