The Fighting Corsairs: The Men of Marine Fighting Squadron 215 in the Pacific during WWII

by Jeff Dacus

From an historian and columnist in Leatherneck and Armor magazines, this is the exciting, personal account of a Marine fighter squadron in the South Pacific during the critical days of 1943 when the tide turned against the Japanese. Based on individual interviews and wartime documents, this is a thrilling narrative of the Marines who lived, and died, during the toughest battles of the entire war. It looks at the war through the eyes of some of the greatest fighter pilots of all time, including Bob Hanson, the “Maharajah of Rabaul” and highest-scoring Corsair pilot in history.

Genres: History, World War II, Aviation

296 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2020

Reviews

[João · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is clear with books like this one that we are entering an age when we are losing access to the things that humanize a time like WW2. The book covers a lot of the logistics, timeline and events of VMF-215's WW2 tours. We also get some general character traits, some occasional personal events, but because so much time has passed, we don't really get to truly know the people. I only ever remembered less than a handful of people throughout the book (possibly also due to sick toddler brain, hehe), because many of them were just names with a couple of adjectives sometimes attached.

Which is a bummer, but it's also hard to fault the author for it since people die and memories fade. I also wish there could've been more maps detailing the places as they became relevant, because I couldn't really read with access to google maps nearby.

Hadn't read one of these books in a while, and I was reminded of how poignant it is to read about how some pilots just vanished with their planes, never came back, and nothing was ever heard from them again. In VMF-215's case, so many times due to technical malfunctions... genuinely heartbreaking.

It's a decent enough book to read if you're interested in knowing what a squadron's regular activities were like during this time period, but there are many other accounts that touch on the human side of the war better than this one does (or could, at this point!).

[Robert F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a highly accurate telling of many incidents and profiles of many of the pilots of VMF-215. I know this as fact because Jim Neefus was my father and I heard many of them directly from him. This book was a real memory recall. There are, of course, many small details left out or perhaps not recounted to the author. But, all in all a great read.

[Piotr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good info and great stories, I just wish there was a bit more details.