Leyte (CV 32) - Naval Cruise Book

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Officers VMF 223 Men VMF 223 1 WffisMMM ii Men VMF 223

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TV TARINE Fighting Squadron 223 was first commis- - i - J - sioned in Hawaii May 1, 1942, with Capt. John L. Smith, who was later to win the Medal of Honor while leading his men at Guadalcanal, as the first Commanding Officer. It ' s first aircraft were F4F ' s and F2A ' s. In July, 1942, the squadron boarded the U.S.S. Long Island and late in August flew into Guadalcanal where it was one of the first two fighter squadrons to see action there. Capt. (now Lt. Col.) Marion E. Carl, later holder of the world ' s speed record, was another famous member of the original squadron. VMF-223 stayed in Guadalcanal until November, with its pilots establishing a brilliant war record. During this period the squadron engaged the Japanese pilots dailv and shot down over 150 enemv planes. Early in 1943, Lt. Col. Carl brought the squadron to the Solomons again. Flying F4U-l ' s, the squadron fought in enemy campaigns up through the chain of islands; Guad- alcanal, Munda, Vella Lavella, Bougainville. Then in early 1945, it jumped over into the Philippines, and finally into Okinawa in the summer of 1945 where it took part in the final attacks against Japan. The squadron returned to the United States, in early 1946, and was based at El Toro, California, for two years. During much of this time the squadron was a training unit for pilots being converted from torpedo bombing and dive bombing to fighter work. In June, 1948, the squadron was tran sferred to Marine Aircraft Group Fourteen at Cherry Point, North Carolina, and in July to Marine Aircraft Group Eleven. In early 1949, the squadron participated in the Carib- bean maneuvers, and during the past year prior to present cruise was on several qualification cruises in the Atlantic.

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T ESS than a month after the outbreak of hostilities be- ■ - tween the United States and the Empire of Japan, Marine Fighting Squadron 225 was set down on paper to begin its career of carrying the war to the enemy. It was originally commissioned on 1 January 1943 as a fighter squadron attached to Marine Air West Coast. The Squadron, ready for combat, shipped overseas to Espirito Santos i n October, 1943, stopping at Hawaii en route. Moving to the island of Guam, in the Mariannas, Two and a Quarter pilots and men gave their striking power in support of the capture of the Mariannas. In July, 1945, MarFightRon 225 was reorganized to perform the duties of a carrier squadron. In this status it has gained top recognition and has become a squadron well known in carrier circles. While operating off the U.S.S. SIBONEY (CVE-112) in 1947, the squadron set what it believes to be a record of operating intervals for CVE operations. The intervals were: thirteen (13) second fly- away, twenty-five (25) seconds catapult, and twenty-two (22) second landing interval. In July, 1948, under the command of Maj. C. M. Kunz, the squadron departed the United States for the Mediter- ranean Area which later proved to be the first of three cruises to run consecutively for the next nineteen months in that area covering 50,000 miles of ocean. The travelers of Two and a Quarter have made three crossings of the Atlantic aboard the U.S.S. SIBONEY, U.S.S. MIDWAY, and the U.S.S. LEYTE. This depicts the large and small of it amongst the carriers from the jeep, U.S.S. SIBONEY, and the battle carrier, U.S.S. MIDWAY. Mai. W. R. Bartosh became the commanding Officer in May, 1949. During the next three months, the squadron placed first in the competitive exercises of high-altitude gunnery, dive-bombing, and rockets with eleven other fighter squadrons of ComAirLant. The five-months cruise, which the squadron completed on 26 January 1950, was an appropriate anti-climax for a squadron which has performed aboard carriers in the pres- ence of high-ranking dignitaries abroad and in the United States.