USN Marine Fighting (Night) Squadron VMF(N)-541 'Bat Eye Squadron' emblemUSN Marine Fighting (Night) Squadron VMF(N)-541 'Bat Eye Squadron'

Airbase strip at Falalop Island Ulithi Atoll home to Marine Air Group 45 01

Airbase strip at Falalop Island Ulithi Atoll home to Marine Air Group 45 02

Airbase strip at Falalop Island Ulithi Atoll home to Marine Air Group 45 03

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 F(N)55 Falalop Island Ulithi Atoll May 1945 01

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 F(N)59 Falalop Island Ulithi Atoll May 1945 01

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 F(N)59 Falalop Island Ulithi Atoll May 1945 0A

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 F(N)59 Falalop Island Ulithi Atoll May 1945 0B

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 F(N)59 Falalop Island Ulithi Atoll May 1945 0C

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 F(N)63 Falalop Island Ulithi Atoll May 1945 01

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 White FN55 at Peleliu Sep 1944 01

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 White FN56 at Peleliu Sep 1944 01

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 White FN59 at Peleliu 1944 02

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 White FN59 at Peleliu 1944 03

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 White FN59 center at Peleliu 1944 01

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 White FN59 with night radar at Peleliu 1944 01

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 White FN62 at Falalop Island Ulithi Atoll 1944 01

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 White FN62 on patrol near Palau 1944 01

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 White FN78 FN80 FN81 FN84 and FN77 flying over Japan 1945 01

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-541 coded F(N)59 Falalop island Ulithi Atoll May 1945

Pin-up girls were not common on aircraft of the US Marine Corps. Exceptions existed on aircraft used by VMF(N)-541. This Marine Corps unit was equipped with Hellcat nightfighters and fougt against Japanese air forces over Palau Islands and the Philippines. From May 30, 1945 on, the airfield at Falalop island became the new unit´s home. From this airbase, the unit flew patrol missions over the US Navy's forward base at Ulithi Atoll. VMF(N)-541 aircraft were adorned with the combat name 'Bat Eye', despite the fact that bats don´t use their eyes for night flying.

Pin-up girls, tedy malůvky spoře oděných slečen a dam, se na letadlech ve stavu americké námořní pěchoty objevovaly velmi výjimečně. Jednou z mála jednotek, která tuto praxi zdobení letounů tolerovala, byla VMF(N)-541. Tato jednotka, vyzbrojená nočními Hellcaty, prošla boji na souostroví Palau, zúčastnila se bojů na Filipínách, aby se v polovině ledna 1945 vrátila zpět na Peleliu (část Palau). V té době se pyšnila 23 sestřelenými stroji nepřítele. Od 30. května 1945 se jejím domovem stalo letiště na ostrově Falalop, odkud se podílela na obraně kotviště v atolu Ulithi fungujícího jako předsunutá základna pro plavidla amerického námořnictva. VMF(N)-541 nesla bojové jméno Bat Eye, tedy Netopýří oko, i přesto, že netopýři k nočnímu lovu oči vůbec nepoužívají.

 Additional Information Eduard plastic models - http://www.eduard.com/

 Falalop, Ulithi, Yap, Micronesia Map

IL-2 Sturmovik Cliffs of Dover - COD/CLOD skins - No 3d model at this stage
 
IL2 Sturmovik Forgotten Battles (FB), Ace Expansion Pack (AEP), Pacific Fighters (PF), 1946 skins
 

The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II

Chronology of the USN in WWII
  1939   1940   1941   1942   1943   1944   1945

    Bibliography:

  • Barrett Tillman, Hellcat: The F6F in World War II, Naval Institute Press, 1979
  • David McCampbell article from National Aviation Hall of Fame website
  • Edward Sims, Greatest Fighter Missions, Harper and Brothers, 1962 - This sequel includes U.S. Navy and Marine Corps pilots
  • Barrett Tillman, Hellcat Aces of World War 2, Osprey

    Magazine References: +

  • Airfix Magazines (English) - http://www.airfix.com/
  • Avions (French) - http://www.aerostories.org/~aerobiblio/rubrique10.html
  • FlyPast (English) - http://www.flypast.com/
  • Flugzeug Publikations GmbH (German) - http://vdmedien.com/flugzeug-publikations-gmbh-hersteller_verlag-vdm-heinz-nickel-33.html
  • Flugzeug Classic (German) - http://www.flugzeugclassic.de/
  • Klassiker (German) - http://shop.flugrevue.de/abo/klassiker-der-luftfahrt
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://boutique.editions-lariviere.fr/site/abonnement-le-fana-de-l-aviation-626-4-6.html
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://www.pdfmagazines.org/tags/Le+Fana+De+L+Aviation/
  • Osprey (English) - http://www.ospreypublishing.com/
  • Revi Magazines (Czech) - http://www.revi.cz/

      Web References: +

  • History of RAF Organisation: http://www.rafweb.org
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F4U Corsair
  • http://warbirdregistry.org/corsairregistry/corsairregistry.html
  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/
  • http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/ Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum New York NY
  • http://www.airzoo.org/ Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum Kalamazoo MI
  • http://www.lsfm.org/aircraft/hellcat.htm Lone Star Flight Museum Galveston TX
  • http://www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/aero/aircraft/grumman_f6f.htmNational Air and Space Museum Washington DC
  • http://www.naval-air.org/ National Museum of Naval Aviation AS Pensacola FL
  • http://www.neam.org/ New England Air Museum Windsor Locks CT
  • http://www.planesoffame.org Planes of Fame Air Museum Eden Prairie MN
  • http://users.ids.net/~qam/qam/ Quonset Air Museum North Kingston RI
  • http://www.aerospacemuseum.org/ San Diego Aerospace Museum North Kingston RI
  • http://www.planesoffame.org/ The Air Museum Planes of Fame Chino CA

 

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