Corsairs

An illustrated combat history of the Corsair. The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was a carrier-capable fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II. In August 1943, desperate for new pilots in the South Pacific, the First Marine Wing appointed the unconventional fighter ace Major Greg Boyington to pull together a newly formed squadron from a mix of experienced combat veterans and untested novice pilots. The Marine Corps gave him just four weeks to turn this motley group into a fighting force ready for combat. Equipped with the Corsair, they called themselves 'The Black Sheep', and under Boyington's leadership, were the first to lead fighter sweeps over the major Japanese base of Rabaul. In a period of just eighty-four days Boyington's pilots recorded 273 Japanese aircraft destroyed or damaged, sank several ships, destroyed many ground installations and numerous other victories. This book details the series of deadly dogfights which took place over Rabaul with details of the various aerial encounters in late December 1943, . Content includes: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville; The Black Sheep; The Jolly Rogers; Corsairs over Rabaul; the last defenders of the Bizmarck Barrier. About the Series Air Battles is a series of books focusing on World War II air battles of specific aircraft and units. Each volume contains information on the planes involved, lists of scores, pilot reports and portraits, colour profile artwork and maps. Over 50 photographs feature in each book, with free extras for modellers, such as masking foil and decal sheets.