Irons, Martin Corsair down! Tales of Rescue and Survival During World War II

The Vought F4U Corsair was the greatest fighter plane in the WWII Pacific theater. For its pilots, survival was not guaranteed. Enemy planes and antiaircraft fire were dangerous, but aerial mishaps, poor flying, mechanical gremlins, weather and bad luck took their toll too. American, British and New Zealander Corsair pilots often found themselves with just seconds to escape. Some disappeared as POWs. A few, such as Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, emerged alive at the end of the war. Others had to rely on their training and the means at hand to escape do-or-die situations. Coast watchers, submarines, blimps and air-sea rescues saved many. Even the French Foreign Legion smuggled a pilot to safety in the most daring Corsair pilot rescue of WWII. Others escaped death initially only to have to fight alongside their rescuers. Included are firsthand accounts from surviving pilots and tales of many of the great WWII Corsair aces.

Some disappeared as prisoners of war, others were able to fight their way back to their own lines, sometimes in adventurous ways, and not infrequently they were fished out of the water by special rescue teams or rescued from a deserted island. Included are reports of "Corsair" pilots from the Second World War who parachuted or made an emergency landing. They describe the circumstances that led to their plight and the events surrounding their rescue or survival as prisoners of war.