Marine Fighting Squadron 471 (VMF-471) was a short-lived fighter squadron of the

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during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The squadron served as a

Fleet Replacement Squadron A Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS), is a unit of the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps that trains United States Naval Aviator, Naval Aviators, Naval Flight Officers (NFOs) and enlisted Naval aircrewman, Naval Aircre ...

tasked with training new naval aviators to fly the

Vought F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Vought, Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production con ...

. The squadron did not participate in combat action during the war and was decommissioned after approximately 16 months of service on 10 September 1945. No other Marine Corps squadron has carried VMF-471's lineage and honors since that time.

History

Marine Fighting Squadron 471 (VMF-471) was commissioned on 15 May 1944 at

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by authority of CominChf confidential dispatch serial 081915 AvPlngDir 24-KV-44. The squadron originally fell under the command of Marine Aircraft Base Defense Group 43. On 23 July 1944 a detachment from the squadron was sent to a new base, Marine Corps Outlying Field Camp Pendleton, California. For the flight there, 23 of the squadron's F4U Corsairs formed the numbers 4 - 7 - 1 in the sky and flew from MCAS El Centro to

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

, CA in order to get to get filmed by

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cameras and then continued on to MCOLF Camp Pendleton. On 10 October 1944, personnel and equipment from VMF-471, minus aircraft, were transferred to Marine Aircraft Base Defense Group 46 at

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro and was then adjacent to the city of Irvine. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps Av ...

, CA. The squadron fell in on the aircraft that belonged to VMF-482, a squadron that had recently been decommissioned. On 16 October, the squadron was officially designated as a training squadron. In December, the detachment at Pendleton which at its peak had 31 F4U Corsairs and 3 SBD divebombers rejoined the squadron at MCAS El Toro. On 10 September 1945, authorized by Marine Fleet Air, West Coast (MFAWC) dispatch 072333 dated 8 September 1945 and Commanding General, MWAFC dispatch 08184 dated 8 September 1945 the squadron was decommissioned.VMF-471 War Diary for September 1945

Accidents

*31 August 1944 - 2ndLt James W. Randell was killed in a crash involving 3 x F4U Corsairs in the vicinity of El Centro, CA. *26 October 1944 - 1stLt Richard C. Englund's F4U Corsair was declared lost at sea when he failed to return from a training mission.

Notable former members

* John F. Bolt - the only U.S. Marine to achieve ace status in two wars and also the only Marine jet fighter

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

served as an instructor with the squadron.

Commanding Officers

The following

naval aviator Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seaborne aviation encompas ...

s served as commanding officers of VMF-472 during its existence: *1stLt Harold G. Sandbach - 15-21 May 1944 *Capt Warren J. Turner - 22 May 1944 – 8 June 1944 *Maj Robert B. Fraser - 9 June 1944 – 30 November 1944 *Maj Horace A. Pehl - 1 December 1944 – 20 May 1945 *Maj Arthur T. Werner - 21 May 1945 – 15 June 1945 *Maj John R. Spooner - 16 June 1945 – 5 July 1945 *Maj Robert J. Holm - 6-23 July 1945 *Maj Hugh I. Russell - 24 July 1945 – 10 September 1945

Unit awards

A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. VMF-471 was presented with the following awards:

Citations

References

;Bibliography * * * * {{US Marine Corps navbox Fighting471 Inactive units of the United States Marine Corps Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945