Takeoff
A Marine F4F turning up for takeoff at the end of the Henderson Field airstrip.
Takeoff
A Marine F4F turning up for takeoff at the end of the Henderson
Field airstrip.
Scramble!
A Marine F4F of VMF-121 rolls on the pierced-steel matting at
Henderson Field. It's easy to imagine that the specks in the center of the photo are
debris from a bomb blast, but it's more likely just to be dirt on the original photograph.
Patroling Cactus airspace
A pair of Wildcats cruise over Guadalcanal. It was not uncommon
for pilots in World War II to fly with the canopy open while not engaged in combat.
(Source:Air Classics magazine, August 1993)
A photo-recon Wildcat gets refueled
An F4F-3P of VMO-251 is serviced at Espritu in the New
Hebribes Islands in late 1942. Though used for reconnaissance at Guadalcanal, none of the
photo Wildcats saw combat. However, many of their pilots helped fill the ranks of the
understrength fighter squadrons until the entire squadron became operational.
Yet another Wildcat photo
This F4F is reported to belong to VMF-223, which was led by Maj.
Smith.
Waiting
Slung beneath his Wildcat's wing, Captain Loren D.
"Doc" Everton awaits the order to scramble.
Once more into the breach
Raising a cloud of dust, a Wildcat takes off, probably from one
of Cactus' auxiliary fighter airstrips.
(Source: "This Is Guadalcanal" by L.
Douglas Keeney and William S. Butler)
A crucial link in the chain
Men like the crew chief pictured above were critical in keeping
the worn Cactus aircraft flying. This F4F is being prepared for its next flight while the
scoreboard on the side of the fuselage records an impressive number of Rising Sun flags.
Some Wildcats were shared by multiple pilots, resulting in a compilation of kill marks,
while others were usually reserved for a certain pilot. (But there were no hard rules, as
there was rarely enough aircraft to go around.)
(Source:Air Classics magazine, August 1993)
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