Pilot Roster Needed for Marine Scouting Squadron Sixty Four VS-64 in the Solomons

[Jeffrey Ethell Collection]

I need to track down a pilot roster for VS-64 flying SBD-5 Dauntless on anti-sub patrols in the Solomons at Segi Point and Vella Lavella, 1943 - 1944.

The only pilot I have a name for is "Audie" pictured above at the bottom of the "V" and below:

Note the Turtle emblem of VS-64 below the cockpit.:

Thanks for any help

Jeffrey Ethell Collection

 

[Dana Bell]

How were you related to Jeff?

 

[Jeffrey Ethell Collection]

Since you asked "How were you related to Jeff?"

I'm not related to Jeff Ethell although I sometimes think we are kindred spirits because like him I seek out and purchase images on WWII Aviation subjects particularly the rare color images. Here is an example of a recent purchase of a color slide that will be added to the Jeffrey Ethell Collection.
35mm RED Kodachrome Aircraft Slide - B-29 Superfortress 44-69739 at Tinian 1945 | eBay

I guess I have the right to use the name "Jeffrey Ethell Collection" because I'm the current owner of the WWII Color Archive that Jeff setup back in the 1980s through 1990s. I purchased the Color Collection and website (ww2color.com) of close to 20,000 images (mainly 35mm slides and 4 x 5 transparencies) from the Ethell family back in 2017. Since then I have been flat out like a lizard drinking scanning the thousands of unscanned slides and processing the scans Jeff did for his ww2color.com website. While the scans were very high quality having been done on a Nikon ED 9000 at 4000 dpi unfortunately Jeff didn't clean the slides first. So they have to be cleaned up in Photoshop to remove all the dust spots, dirt, fibers and other detritus that marrs the image. This job will take at least another year to complete but eventually all the color material will be hosted at Flickr.com here: Jeffrey Ethell Collection

Compare the difference between dirty slide and cleaned slide:

Of course, the trick with image processing is to take care not to wipe the antenna wires, whip aerials and other details that might be mistaken for dirt, scratches and hairs. I think I wiped a few B-17 nose whip aerials before I realized they were part of the aircraft and not a hair. Yipes!

I'm currently doing an audit of the many unpublished images in the Collection which haven't been added to the Excel database that Jeff setup to keep track of all the information about a slide. This spreadsheet will be made available to anyone who purchases a USB memory stick ay ww2color.com.

The VS-64 Collection is unpublished but it will be seen first in a Japanese publication on the SBD Dauntless slated for release by end of this year. There is much more of this unpublished material to come and I think WWII aviation enthusiasts will be surprised at the breadth of the collection that Jeff amassed over a period of more than 20 years.

Watch this space.

James Ford
Digital Media Consultant
Jeffrey Ethell Collection @ ww2color.com

 

[Dana Bell]

Hi James,

Good job! I'm glad the collection ended up in such capable hands - looks like you're going to do great things with it.

I wanted to be sure you had a legit claim to the title before offering you a hand. Right now the National Archives are still closed, but when they reopen I'll pull the VS-64 war diary for you and get the list of assigned pilots for you. It looks like that will take a bit longer.

In the meantime, here's my artwork of the squadron insignia from my OS2U book:

Cheers,



Dana

 

[R Leonard]

VS-64 was not a Marine squadron. VS-64 was one of quite a few Inshore Patrol Squadrons, U S Navy, which came about in March 1943 when the District Patrol Squadrons were redesignated, removed from district control and assigned to fleet air wings.
That being said, here's a couple of VS-64 rosters.

 

[Jeffrey Ethell Collection]

Hi James,

Good job! I'm glad the collection ended up in such capable hands - looks like you're going to do great things with it.

I wanted to be sure you had a legit claim to the title before offering you a hand. Right now the National Archives are still closed, but when they reopen I'll pull the VS-64 war diary for you and get the list of assigned pilots for you. It looks like that will take a bit longer.

In the meantime, here's my artwork of the squadron insignia from my OS2U book:

View attachment 597312

Cheers,



Dana

Hi Dana.

Thanks for the offer of getting the VS-64 War Diary from NARA. It is not just NARA that is closed virtually all the major archives including the Smithsonian are closed so if you can't access the material online you just have to wait.

Also, the colors of the VS-64 turtle are a revelation as I only had a black & white line drawing.

I have kept quiet about acquiring the JEC for the last 2 and a half years mainly because I needed to audit the Collection and get the new ww2color.com website up. Now that the new website is up I will be more vocal about the Collection in the WWII Aviation forums as most people think that since the demise of the old website ww2color.com was gone forever. I can assure you, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, it is back for good.

James

 

[Jeffrey Ethell Collection]

VS-64 was not a Marine squadron. VS-64 was one of quite a few Inshore Patrol Squadrons, U S Navy, which came about in March 1943 when the District Patrol Squadrons were redesignated, removed from district control and assigned to fleet air wings.
That being said, here's a couple of VS-64 rosters.

View attachment 597314View attachment 597315

Rich,

Many thanks for that info. Those officer rosters are exactly what I needed. If Dana can digup the War Diaries perhaps he can find the Pilot Rosters.

You say they were assigned to a Fleet Air Wing - that would be FAW-10 at Segi Point, New Georgia Island right?

James

 

[R Leonard]

VS-64 shows up lumped together with all the other 38 VS squadrons world-wide under the heading "Inshore Patrol Squadrons" until February 1944 when assigned to FAW-1.

VS-61, operating out of Perth, was assigned to FAW-10 at the same time.

 

[Jeffrey Ethell Collection]

VS-64 shows up lumped together with all the other 38 VS squadrons world-wide under the heading "Inshore Patrol Squadrons" until February 1944 when assigned to FAW-1.

VS-61, operating out of Perth, was assigned to FAW-10 at the same time.

Thanks Rich,

VS-64 moved to Vella Lavella in Feb 1944 so that was when they were assigned to FAW-1.

I'm sorry I can't make any more scans available here as I have given the Japanese Publisher exclusive rights for 1 year from date of publication of the FAOW book on the SBD Dauntless which is set for release 1 December 2020. They didn't acquire rights to the above 3 images.

James

 

[Jeffrey Ethell Collection]

Guys,

Located the VS-64 War Diaries at Fold3.com : War Diary, 5/1-31/44 › Page 1 - Fold3.com

No pilot roster there. Might have to seek some help to do a thorough NARA search and that will cost a bit as a researcher can charge upwards of $70 per hour. Of course no point in doing that now as NARA is closed due to COVID.

Thanks for your help.

James

 

[R Leonard]

Guys,

Located the VS-64 War Diaries at Fold3.com : War Diary, 5/1-31/44 › Page 1 - Fold3.com

No pilot roster there. Might have to seek some help to do a thorough NARA search and that will cost a bit as a researcher can charge upwards of $70 per hour. Of course no point in doing that now as NARA is closed due to COVID.

Thanks for your help.

James

In Fold3, look is the War Diary section in the letter "C" and find "COMSCORON 64"

 

[Jeffrey Ethell Collection]

Thanks Rich,

You are a champion, Sir. It takes someone with "local" knowledge to navigate the strange search pathways that are at Fold3.com. Why the search term 'VS-64' only brings up the 1944 War Diaries I'll never know.

That is probably as good as I'm going to get although I still don't have the full name of pilot 'Audie'. Was it a nickname as in he looks a bit like "Audie" Murphy? Or was it a contraction of his real first name eg. Adolph could become "Audie"? Maybe it is his 2nd name. Some people prefer their 2nd name to their first.

Could officer Ensign Adolph MAUSER (USNR Executive) be Audie?

What about Ensign Edward SCHULZE (USNR) as Audie can be a variation of Edward?

I thought the usual spelling of AUDIE might apply but one photo of ace pilot "Bull" Meechum has a pen inscription "To Audy from Bull". Lt. Col. Wilbur "Bull" Meechum was an F4U Corsair ace with VMF-214 in the Solomons.

So Audy might be the correct spellling of his first name.

Any ideas?

James

 

[Jeffrey Ethell Collection]

Have some info on Lt. Adolph MAUSER from US Navy Casualties at www.naval-history.net:

MAUSER, Adolph, Lieutenant Junior Grade, O-129983, USN, from Illinois, Sep-44, Manila American Cemetery (bm)

MAUSER, Adolph, Lt., (jg), USNR. Parents, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Mauser, Route 1, Box 186, Zion, Ill (na)

MAUSER, Adolph, LTJG, O-129983, USNR, from Illinois, location Solomon Islands, missing, date of loss September 19, 1943 (pm)

I don't think this is Audy as the photos of him were taken at Vella Lavella where VS-64 was based from Feb 1944. The dates are out.

However, I should try and locate the MIA Report for him. It will be at Fold3.com - somewhere!

The other possible identity was Lt Edward B. SCHULZE but he is not on the US Navy Casualties List which means he survived the war.

Found his obituary from January 1998, stating he was a US Navy aviator during WWII. Obituary doesn't mention his name as Audy.

Credit: Southtown Star, Tinley Park, Illinois .

The search goes on as have now eliminated the 2 possibilities.

 

[J Smith]

I realize I'm late to the party, but I just now stumbled on this thread. While I do not have any pilot rosters, I do have some information you may be interested in. My grandfather was assigned to VS-64 from September or October of 1943 to June of 1944. He was a radio operator/tail gunner. I have his flight logs that have several of the pilot's names, as well as dates and remarks about the nature of each mission. It would take me a bit to find them, but I have a few photos as well.

 

[JCH1952]

I need to track down a pilot roster for VS-64 flying SBD-5 Dauntless on anti-sub patrols in the Solomons at Segi Point and Vella Lavella, 1943 - 1944.

View attachment 597266

The only pilot I have a name for is "Audie" pictured above at the bottom of the "V" and below:

View attachment 597267

Note the Turtle emblem of VS-64 below the cockpit.:

View attachment 597268

Thanks for any help

Jeffrey Ethell Collection

My Dad was a member of Scouting Squadron Detachment, Ringbolt, later Scouting Squadron 64. US Navy. It was formed on Dec 5, 1942 from the orphaned catapult seaplanes after the Battle of Tassafaronga. Initially they flew SOC Seagulls, and were based briefly at Gavitu-Tanambogo and then on Florida Island. Dad was a PhM3c from the USS New Orleans. They lost a lot of aircrew, so he volunteered to fly in the 2nd seat on combat missions. One of the pilots was giving him flying lesson, but the pilot, on a mission, hit the trees at the end of Henderson Field and died. Dad strafed enemy troops on Guadalcanal and they bombed a submarine and spotted an oil slick.. There is a book about the squadron called "Slingshot Warbirds".