thedrifter
10-31-04, 06:38 AM
November 01, 2004
The Lore of the Corps
Campaign against single Japanese plane took weeks
By Robert F. Dorr
Special to the Times
In March 1943, the Marine Corps sent six F4F Wildcat fighters to Funafuti, an atoll in the British-owned Ellice Islands in the Southwest Pacific. One of the pilots was Capt. William P. Boland Jr., who waged a personal war with a solitary Japanese bomber — not in a single aerial duel but in a campaign that lasted weeks — before finally sending the enemy plane down into a South Pacific lagoon.
The bomber was a twin-engine Mitsubishi G3M Type 96, known to Americans as a “Nell.” Every day, the lone Nell appeared over Funafuti, scouting the island while Americans built it into a base to support the coming invasion of Tarawa.
A member of Marine Fighter Squadron 441, Boland scored two aerial victories. In a July 1976 letter, the late Maj. Gen. R.H. “Smoke” Spanjer, who was a junior officer during World War II, described Boland’s first kill:
“Capt. Boland and I were launched against a possible radar target,” Spanjer wrote. “We ended up in hot pursuit of four bombers. Our tired F4Fs had to strain to get into position for an attack. On our first pass, Boland shot down the lead bomber, which exploded under fire of his six .50-caliber [guns].”
After that, only one Japanese bomber appeared over Funafuti, but it appeared every day. In a 1977 letter, former Marine fighter pilot Norman L. Mitchell remembered it this way, referring to other islands near Funafuti:
“The Japanese were scouting down through Nanomea and sometimes as far as Nukufetau almost daily in a Nell,” Mitchell wrote. “Boland got aboard a PT boat and had the PT boat drop him off with a New Zealand coast watcher on the island of Nanomea, where he observed the Nell’s operation for about a week.
“During that time, we sent up a two-plane section of F4F Wildcats daily, and Boland would try from his position on the ground to vector our fighters to attack the Nell. This was not successful while Boland was on the island, but after a week Boland returned to Funafuti and his fighter pilot duties. About a week later, justice prevailed and Boland was the pilot who shot down the Nell.” An official history lists the date of Boland’s second kill, the long-sought Nell, as Aug. 8, 1943.
Historian William H. Bartsch, who interviewed Marines in 1976 for a planned — but never completed — history, said the Nell was from a Japanese unit called the 755 Kokutai and operated out of Tarawa. In November 1974, Bartsch visited the former Ellice Islands and found the wreckage of the Nell lying in the lagoon at Nui Atoll, not far from Funafuti.
Bartsch was unable to learn what happened to Boland after the war. The official record on the Marine pilot seemed sparse. He became a major, commanded VMF-215 from November 1944 to February 1945, and commanded VMF-321 from March to August 1945.
According to Virgil Elliott, a California artist who knew Boland, the Marine had a successful career in the dredging industry and became wealthy.
Boland died about five years ago, Elliott said, leaving his California home to a nephew.
Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is the author of numerous books on Air Force topics, including “Air Force One.” His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-446115.php
Ellie
The Lore of the Corps
Campaign against single Japanese plane took weeks
By Robert F. Dorr
Special to the Times
In March 1943, the Marine Corps sent six F4F Wildcat fighters to Funafuti, an atoll in the British-owned Ellice Islands in the Southwest Pacific. One of the pilots was Capt. William P. Boland Jr., who waged a personal war with a solitary Japanese bomber — not in a single aerial duel but in a campaign that lasted weeks — before finally sending the enemy plane down into a South Pacific lagoon.
The bomber was a twin-engine Mitsubishi G3M Type 96, known to Americans as a “Nell.” Every day, the lone Nell appeared over Funafuti, scouting the island while Americans built it into a base to support the coming invasion of Tarawa.
A member of Marine Fighter Squadron 441, Boland scored two aerial victories. In a July 1976 letter, the late Maj. Gen. R.H. “Smoke” Spanjer, who was a junior officer during World War II, described Boland’s first kill:
“Capt. Boland and I were launched against a possible radar target,” Spanjer wrote. “We ended up in hot pursuit of four bombers. Our tired F4Fs had to strain to get into position for an attack. On our first pass, Boland shot down the lead bomber, which exploded under fire of his six .50-caliber [guns].”
After that, only one Japanese bomber appeared over Funafuti, but it appeared every day. In a 1977 letter, former Marine fighter pilot Norman L. Mitchell remembered it this way, referring to other islands near Funafuti:
“The Japanese were scouting down through Nanomea and sometimes as far as Nukufetau almost daily in a Nell,” Mitchell wrote. “Boland got aboard a PT boat and had the PT boat drop him off with a New Zealand coast watcher on the island of Nanomea, where he observed the Nell’s operation for about a week.
“During that time, we sent up a two-plane section of F4F Wildcats daily, and Boland would try from his position on the ground to vector our fighters to attack the Nell. This was not successful while Boland was on the island, but after a week Boland returned to Funafuti and his fighter pilot duties. About a week later, justice prevailed and Boland was the pilot who shot down the Nell.” An official history lists the date of Boland’s second kill, the long-sought Nell, as Aug. 8, 1943.
Historian William H. Bartsch, who interviewed Marines in 1976 for a planned — but never completed — history, said the Nell was from a Japanese unit called the 755 Kokutai and operated out of Tarawa. In November 1974, Bartsch visited the former Ellice Islands and found the wreckage of the Nell lying in the lagoon at Nui Atoll, not far from Funafuti.
Bartsch was unable to learn what happened to Boland after the war. The official record on the Marine pilot seemed sparse. He became a major, commanded VMF-215 from November 1944 to February 1945, and commanded VMF-321 from March to August 1945.
According to Virgil Elliott, a California artist who knew Boland, the Marine had a successful career in the dredging industry and became wealthy.
Boland died about five years ago, Elliott said, leaving his California home to a nephew.
Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is the author of numerous books on Air Force topics, including “Air Force One.” His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-446115.php
Ellie