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| USMC MAW-2 MAG-12 VMF-223 |
Pilot 1st Lt George A. Davis, USMCR (rescued) Crashed December 13, 1943 Aircraft History Built by Vought. Delivered to the U.S. Navy (USN) as F4U-1 Corsair bureau number 17452. Disassembled and shipped overseas to the South Pacific (SoPAC) and reassembled. Wartime History Assigned to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC). Assigned to Marine Air Wing 2 (MAW-2), Marine Air Group 12 (MAG-12), Marine Fighter Squadron 223 (VMF-223) "Bulldogs". No known nickname, nose art or markings. Mission History On December 13, 1943 at 6:00pm took off from Torokina Airfield on western Bougainville piloted by 1st Lt George A. Davis led by F4U Corsair piloted by Captain David H. Pepper on a mission to strafe Ballale Island while bound for Barakoma Airfield on Vella Lavella Island. The weather was clear with unlimited visibility. The pair strafed Ballale Island approaching from the west out of the sun at 13,000' diving at 60° and opened fire from 4,000' to 1,200' reaching a speed of 350-400 knots while strafing across the length of the island with unobserved results. After the strafing run, the pair encountered heavy and medium anti-aircraft fire from the edge of the island and this Corsair was hit causing the engine to vibrate and smoke. Damaged, Davis managed to fly away before he was forced to ditch into the sea roughly 8-10 miles southeast of Alu Island (Pirumeri) in the Shortland Islands (another source says 20 miles away). Landing with full flaps and the wheels up, the plane sank in only a few seconds and submerged. Meanwhile, F4U Corsair piloted by Captain Pepper circled over his ditched plane until he saw Davis emerge, took a bearing then flew towards the Treasury Islands where he attempted to radio "Terrier Base", nearest friendly installation but his radio transmitter was not working properly. Instead, he returned to land at Torokina Airfield to report the loss and coordinate a rescue. Fate of the Pilot After the ditching, Davis managed to exit the sinking plane and only sustained minor injuries in the ditching. At the surface, he inflated his life vest and life raft and after sunset, he paddled to keep warm and tried to get further away from enemy territory. On December 14, 1943 at dawn, he was only 400 yards off Alu Island (Pirumeri), likely because sea currents pushed his life raft towards the island. Search Meanwhile, during the night, a crash boat, likely a PT Boat searched for Davis without result. On December 14, 1943 a pair of Corsairs took off from Barakoma Airfield to search for him but were unsuccessful. In the early morning, a flight of four P-39s spotted his life raft and directed a PBY Catalina to the location. Rescue On December 14, 1943 at 5:55am spotted by PBY Catalina commanded by Lt(jg) F. A. Tanner from VP-14 that landed southeast of Alu Island (Pirumeri at roughly Lat 7° 8' S Long 155° 55' E. While landing and preforming the rescue, the Catalina was targeted by gunfire from a shore battery on Poporang Island, likely 140mm Naval Guns but was not hit and successfully rescued Davis then took off at 6:10am. Afterwards, the Catalina landed at Torokina Airfield and later that same day flown to Rendova Island then took off again and flown to Barakoma Airfield. References Navy Serial Number Search Results - F4U-1 Corsair 17452 NARA VMF-223 War Diary December 1-31, 1943 page 8, 16, 17 (Page 6) "December 13, 1943: (cont'd)... Captain Peper and Lt. Davis took off from Torokina at 1800 to return to Barokoma." (Page 16) "Individual Record of Pilots: Davis, George A., Jr. / 1st Lt. / 1 Damaged" (Page 17) "Squadron Report of Friendly and Enemy Losses... Friendly plane losses type Bur.No. F4U-1 17452" NARA VMF-223 Aircraft Action Report (AAR) December 13, 1943 pages 29-33 Thanks to Jim Sawruk for rescue information Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated December 14, 2022 |
 F4U  Rescue Location in Google Earth |
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