Hey Jankees,
May I offer for your consideration Wildcat 8, flown by Captain Herbert C Freuler USMC as pictured in the painting, “It Began at Wake Island” by Shigeo Koike.
Close up.
The story behind the picture is interesting.
Taken from Facebook:
Captain Herbert C. Freuler of VMF-211 flew the final aerial sortie of the Wake Island campaign. Already wounded in the shoulder from an attacking A6M Zero, he limped his badly damaged F4F-3 Wildcat back to Wake Island. The photo of Freuler’s crashed aircraft was taken by Japanese SNLF men after the atoll had been surrendered by the American garrison.
"At 0800 on 22 December, 39 planes from the Soryu and the Hiryu ascended and headed into the gray skies above the beleaguered atoll. Their pilots expected to meet American fighters.
Second Lieutenant Davidson took off from Wake at 1000, cranked up his landing gear, and set out on the regular midday patrol. Engine trouble prevented Captain Freuler from getting aloft until 1030.
Shortly before noon, Davidson, patrolling to the north of Wake, radioed Freuler, then flying to the south of the atoll, informing him of approaching enemy aircraft. In spite the odds, both men gave battle.
Freuler engaged six carrier attack planes and dropped one, trailing smoke, out of formation on his first pass. As the group of Nakajimas broke up, he made an opposite approach and fired, flaming one Kate, which exploded in an expanding ball of fire about 40 feet beneath him.
As his controls responded sluggishly, and his badly scorched F4F’s manifold pressure dropped, he glanced back toward Wake and saw Davidson engaging several enemy planes. An instant later, a Hiryu Zero got on Freuler’s tail and opened fire. Bullets penetrated Freuler’s fuselage, both sides of his vacuum tank, the bulkhead, seat, and parachute.
After his plane was hit, Freuler threw his F4F into a steep dive—the Japanese pilot did not follow him—nursed it home, and landed with the canopy stuck in the closed position. Ground crews extricated him and took him to the hospital."-Robert Cressman-A Magnificent Fight
Freuler survived his ordeal as a Japanese POW and returned home to his family following Japan’s formal surrender on September 2nd, 1945.
Stated elsewhere, in the above painting Capt Freuler is attacking a “Kate” flown by PO Noburo Kani, who had been credited with the attack and sinking the USS Arizona 15 days earlier.
What’s interesting to me is that, despite what would ostensibly be a classic, “Hunter becoming the hunted” tale, Freuler undoubtedly wouldn’t have known who was flying the Kate, nor would I think the upper echelons necessarily know that Freuler shot down anybody until after the war. And after doing so, no Marine aircraft would again rise to defend the island.
That makes this one of those oddly poignant moments in history when none of the participants had any idea of the significance of their actions that day.
In any case, I appreciate that GotFriends has already made a very nice livery for Capt Elrod’s Wildcat 11, but I would love to see your treatment of the subject on another of the Wake Defenders aircraft.
I’m particularly interested in your interpretation of the cowling camoflage, shown in some pictures as being a sharp line, but in others as being a blended spray, perhaps even incorporating a mid-blue color.
From: " "The Magnificent Fight : The Battle for Wake Island by John Shaw.
As always, I appreciate your consideration. There are many deserving Wildcat airmen and squadrons that deserve the Jankees treatment and, considering GotFriends excellent work, I would certainly understand should you turn your attention elsewhere. 