WAKE ISLAND WILDCAT

WAKE ISLAND WILDCAT

By William L. Ramsey. 

1927. On a late November day a twenty-two-year-old man enters the Marines recruitment office in Denver. Henry Talmage Elrod, was a talented American footballer & had only recently dropped out of college. 

Following his basic training, he would be a Private at the North Island Naval Station & on the way to realising his dream of becoming a pilot.

There is much to wonder about the decisions Henry had just taken. The author, Henry's great nephew, says his older family's recollections could provide little in the way of answers. 

They could recall how Henry had a great love of flying after being taken on a flight as a boy.

It is fair to say that the art of flying didn't come naturally to Henry. His instructor's reports were very critical and he was rated as "barely passable." Despite warnings that improvement were needed & fast, it didn't materialise & he was subsequently dropped.

In the Marines, few people got a second chance. In Henry's case having an Admiral as a new father-in-law, certainly seemed to have been beneficial.

It would take him three years, then finally Lieutenant Elrod was on his way to serve in his new Squadron.

The book continues, following both his military & family life through the late 1930's & early 1940's. As the war in Europe continued & tensions with Japan grew, the US was busy establishing new bases.

Now a Captain in late 1941, Henry & his Squadron learnt that they were to receive the latest Grumman 'Wildcat' fighter plane. They were not so delighted however, when they were told that they were being sent hundreds of miles across the Pacific Ocean to a place called Wake Island. The aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, would take them to within a few hundred miles. All of the Squadron's twelve aircraft arrived safely.

The date was December 5th 1941. Just two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Only three days before the Japanese would attack Wake Island.

It is that time in my reviewing that I'm conscious of not going on & telling the whole story. 

What happened over those next few days is an extraordinary story of immense bravery against overwhelming odds. It wasn't until the war ended that the story of these events were fully learned.

Henry would become the first Marine aviator to recieve the Medal of Honor during WWII for his heroism.

In the 1980's the US Navy would name one of its new frigates, USS Elrod, in his honour. This ship would go on to serve all around the world, for the next thirty years. 

It is a fitting tribute to a brave man, much like this most excellent book.

The hardback edition is published by Stackpole Books. 

Published in the US in August & for UK readers in October.

I thank Stackpole Books for this review copy.