VMF-214

[walika]

VMF-214

 

Type 1 - "Swashbucklers". Australian embroidered on wool. About 6" high. Made mid-1943. Solomons Campaign.

 

 

 

 

Type 2 (1st Blacksheep tour) - Australian embroidered on wool. Sep 1943-January 1944. Patch from the Lorsch jacket. (I have seen subsequent reproductions/copies of this patch.)

 

 

 

Type 3 - (2nd Blacksheep tour) - American embroidered on wool. 5 3/4 x 4 3/4". 12 stars, no "214". [Millstein refers to this as "Second Issue" Blacksheep.]

 

Type 4 - (3rd Blacksheep) Carrier-based unit on board USS Franklin. This patch is pictured in Millstein. Note that it is smaller than other issues, only 4 3/4" tall x 3 3/4" wide at top. 12 stars. Made late, 1944.

 

Type 5 - American embroidered on wool. 6 1/4" x 5". Note slight variation in design. 11 stars, with "214". The star below sheep's head is not present. Likely post-war.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VMF-214 operated during WWII in three incarnations: the Swashbucklers in early 1943, Boyington's "Black Sheep" (Sep-January, 1944), and the carrier-based (USS Franklin) unit in 1944-45. The squadron was aboard on March 19, 1945, when a Japanese dive bomber hit the USS Franklin. 724 crewmen lost their lives on that day, one of the worst ship's losses of the war; some VMF-214 enlisted men were among them (but no pilots). [see: Bruce Gamble's The Black Sheep: The Definitive Account of VMF-214 in World War II.]

 

Fortunately, we have the flight jacket of Frederick "Fred" Samuel Lorsch, who flew with the unit under Pappy Boyington, Sep-Dec, 1943, while based in the Solomons. The Museum of Flying has his original flight jacket which shows the 1st generation of the patch, which Millstein refers to as the "First issue Blacksheep", Australian wool. Below are images from the Internet of Lorsch's patch and jacket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[manayunkman]

Totally excellent as usual.

 

Great reference and why this forum is necessary.

[jerry_k]

Here is interesting photo of Capt. John Fidler, LSO on the USS Gilbert Islands with M422a jacket and Swashbucklers patch.

 

Photo is from great site of Adam Lewis: http://www.adamsplanes.com/

 

 

Regards,

Jerry

[Matt-M]

Am I mistaken? Or was there only 1 week R&R in Australia between Boyington's pilots 1st and 2nd tours...

[jerry_k]

Okay, guys, now the question is if anyone has seen wartime pics from the VMF-214 patch with the designation of the squadron 214? 

Here are stateside screens from 1944 and any of these patches has designation 214... Which only further reinforces my belief that all the other patches are simply commemorative patches — of course, they may be from the 1940s.