Do you know the title of this book: about an F4U Corsair pilot?

[unrepentant]

I'm trying to find a book I think read when I was in high school (class of '68). I think it was published in the 1950s. I'm sure the book wasn't published after 1970. I thought the title was:

"Whistling Death: Corsair!" or "Corsair! Whistling Death"

but I can't even find an internet page claiming it's out of print. The author is NOT:

Martin Bowman
Jay Frank Dial
Boone Guyton
nor Edward Young

It's not a book about the development of the F4U Corsair, it's essentially a book co-authored by a publisher for a WWII Marine Corps vet who essentially published his diary as a narrative about a Corsair squadron campaigning in the Pacific. It's not unlike "God is My Co-pilot", except that it's written by a pilot based in the New Guinea- Rabaul area during the war.

One thing that is distinctive about the book is there is a passage near the end where the veteran pleads with his readers; he asks (I'm paraphrasing now) that if anyone knows about the whereabouts or fate of his wingman to please contact the publisher or the author. I can't remember the name of the pilot/author nor his wingman. As I recall, he got separated from his wingman in cloud cover while they were returning to base; essentially, his wingman was there, and then the next minute he was gone forever. The author didn't see a smoke trail nor any Japanese combatants in the sky and can't account for the wingman's disappearance.

If you know the name of the book or the author, I'd sure appreciate your response. Thank you.

 

[37L1]

Terry's Corsair Books I've found

Scroll down to "Whistling Death" Are you sure it's not this one by Guyton?

Whistling Death-The Test Pilots story of the F4U corsair by Boone T. Guyton
ISBN: 0887407323

Guess not, doesn't follow the story line you referred to. Good luck.

 

[unrepentant]

Terry's Corsair Books I've found

Scroll down to "Whistling Death" Are you sure it's not this one by Guyton?

Whistling Death-The Test Pilots story of the F4U corsair by Boone T. Guyton
ISBN: 0887407323

I'm almost positive this isn't the book nor author. I don't remember "my author" testing planes (nor even being in the service) before the war started. If Wikipedia is to be believed, Guyton spent his war years at home testing and developing warbirds for combat and didn't serve in a combat unit in the Pacific.

However, I will spend some time dedicated to sifting through the list you linked. Thank you VERY much for that! Brian

 

[37L1]

Here's another list, includes out of prints, hope it helps. I was a military aircraft junky in high school.

YellowAirplane.com: F4U Corsair Books, F4U Books, World War 2 Airplanes

F4U Corsair Books, the bent wing fighter used by pappy boyington, airplane books, F4U Books, F-4U

003e3c4.netsolhost.com

 

[unrepentant]

THANK YOU!!

 

[JoshPutman]

If you figure out what it is, let us know.

 

[Darayavaus]

here's an obvious candidate, published 1958:

".....Boyington was tactical commander of the flight and arrived over the target at 8:00 AM. He was seen to shoot down his 26th plane, but he then became mixed in the general melee of dogfighting planes and was not seen or heard from during the battle, nor did he return with his squadron. Boyington's wingman, Captain George Ashmun, was killed in action."

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Biography by the legendary WWII Marine Corps fighter pilot.

www.goodreads.com

 

[Darayavaus]

Above and Beyond or Semper Fi In the Sky; both published later, but they repeated known stories from 41-45 which could have been written in earlier publications

 

[unrepentant]

Thank you, Darayavaus. It wasn't "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep". I read that, too, back in 1966; I remember because I read some of Boyington's Japanese phrases to a classmate, Chris Asami, for translation.

But you've given me an idea...

It seems obvious to me that I must be disremembering the title because none of the titles in 37L1's lists ring "that bell". However--it's possible that a book jacket cover could have recommendations for other titles from their (current) time. I'll check that out if I can, and also see if the local library has copies of "Above and Beyond" and "Semper Fi in the Sky".

Thank you.