The southwestern Pacific theater of operations was, for the Allies, a tough place to conduct a war. Supply lines were long, the enemy was tenacious, and the environment was very hard on both equipment and men. It was also where the F4U Corsair was first used in combat. In fact, the plane was basically limited to land base operations until quite late in 1944. This was for several reasons. One is that it wasn't the easiest aircraft to land on a carrier deck. Not only was it difficult to see over the long nose, but it had a tendency to 'bounce' when it hit the deck. Another is that the F6F Hellcat was more than adequate to the task and easier to fly and land on carriers. Add to it that carrying another fighter type only added to the issues with supplies that had to be stocked aboard ship and this as much as anything kept them from the flight deck until late in the war. However, the Marines, who for the most part liked the plane, had a chance to swap out their nearing-obsolescent F4F Wildcats for a plane with much better overall performance.

It was in the Solomons that the Corsair entered combat in February of 1943 with VMF-124. Then there was a steady influx of units into the theater with those squadrons rotating out leaving their planes for an incoming squadron. That means that these planes saw a lot of hard service and near the end of their useful life, very much looked like it. During this time there were changes to the national insignia as well as changes to the paint scheme. It is interesting for modelers to note that the 'intermediate blue' in the tri-color camouflage scheme was basically the same 'upper surface blue-grey' used when the Corsair was first built. In total, 18 USMC squadrons, two USN squadrons and several RNZAF units flew the plane in the Solomons with several of these units going on to other theaters as the war progressed.

The book covers each of these squadrons in greater or lesser detail, showing each squadron's common markings and colors along with a number of great photos and profiles based on those photos as you can see by the example provided on the left. Each full color profile provides information on that particular aircraft. No lengthy pilot stories or background history on this as it concentrates on the aircraft and units involved in the conflict. In addition to photos and profiles, you are provided an introductory section on the plane and the theater of operations as well as some nice art work, the latter spread throughout the book.

It all makes for a superb reference book for the modeler and enthusiast. I very much like this series and look forward to each new volume. Most highly recommended.

November 2021

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