Earl Hinz - Vilu War Museam, Gudalcanal

Earl Hinz Vilu Museum, Guadalcanal

Vilu War Museum

"This badly emasculated Wildcat has been saved in the Vilu War Museum and Village Cemetery"

  The Grumman Wildcat fighter plane could not compete on performance with the Japanese Zero, but those shortcomings were more than made up by the flying skills of the American pilots and the ruggedness of the airplane. The plane was fitted with some armor lowering pilot casualty rates. Although built as a carrier aircraft, most of its service in the Solomon Islands battles was off hastily prepared and hastily repaired airfields. Japan was already feeling the effects of the loss of many of its best pilots in the Battle of Midway while American forces still had its pool of well-trained pilots in established Army, Navy and Marine squadrons.
   The Wildcat operated from Henderson Field, which in 1942 was still under attack from Japanese ground forces and medium range bombers coming down the ìslotî. Make-do was the order of the day as the three flying services flew from Henderson Field as units of the ìCactus Air Forceî. For the US Forces in the beginning, mainly Marines, it was a do-or-die situation and they had to hold on until reinforcements could be brought in. They fought for control of the skies over Henderson Field as well as attacking Japanese ground positions, landPeliui ing craft, transport ships, and combat vessels. Wildcats in their hands did the job.

   Early in 1943 Gaudalcanal was secured and the US Armed Forces moved north up the Solomon Islands chain continually pushing the Japanese back. Much war equipment was leftİ behind, especially those items needing repair and not immediately useful in the campaign north. Deterioration of the abandoned equipment started quickly in the hot, humid environment of these tropical islands. What the local natives didnít take, turned to rust and dust and crumpled beyond salvage value. At the end of the war, salvers of different nations arrived salvage everything of metal that still existed. What could have been a real treasure trove of historical value, was carted off or cut apart for easy transport. The British government had no plan to memorialize the war by saving relics. A few private citizens gathered some of the relics and placed them in crude outdoor museums. This badly emasculated Wildcat has been saved in the Vilu War Museum and Village Cemetery approximately 15 miles northwest of Honiara.

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