Im oliver north. Welcome to war stories. Were at the National Museum of naval aviation. And this is the flighter flown by vmf214, the squadron known as the black sheep. For 84 days between september of 1943 and january of 44, the men of the black sheep squadron used this aircraft. In 1976, their exploits become a tv series called ba ba black sheep. As youre about to discover, the only real things in it were the name of the squadron and the corsair that they flew. The bloody battle for guadalcanal marked the beginning of a new strategy for allied forces in the pacific. The campaign was originally a defensive move to secure australia. But with a stunning defeat of Japanese Forces there, a bold new war plan began to develop. And the key to its success ran through the japanese strong hold of the island of new britain. This is where the first offensive is getting going for the war. Historian bruce gamble is the author of the biography of pappy. The pacific was closed until this island would
Pacific, the island of new georgia had been seized from the japanese. Munlda has a reputation for being a malaria hell hole. What was it like . Miserable. Terrible. Did you get malaria . No. I got hepatitis. It was nice, because it was the first time i really saw those nurses, giving alcohol back rubs and all that stuff. At munda, the only females they saw were the insects and i will and liz sards. The welcoming committee arrived at 0100 in the form of a bombing raid. They would send bombers at night to drop bombs on the americans so they couldnt sleep. Three times that evening alone. By 0400, the exhausted squadron was out on the flight line for another days run. Ed harper earned himself the nickname the mole for his ability to dig into the side of his foxhole. He would soon learn another. The nickname was the sleeve. The sleeve was a target that the aerial planes pooled. Boyington gave me that title after i got shot up the first time. It was october 17th. The black sheep were over th
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