Black Sheep: The Definitive Account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Bruce Gamble (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 1998

With their renowned squadron leader Greg “Pappy” Boyington, Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 214 was one of the best-known and most colorful combat units of World War II. The popular television series Baa Baa Black Sheep added to their legend—while obscuring the truly remarkable combat record of the Black Sheep and Boyington. A retired naval flight officer and former historian for the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, Bruce Gamble provides a highly readable account that serves to both correct and extend the record of this premier fighting force.






From the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Only one U.S. air squadron has ever been featured in a network TV show: Marine Fighter Squadron 214, which, along with its commander, Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, became familiar through the 1970s series Baa, Baa, Black Sheep. The squadron completed two tours in the Solomon Islands and compiled a distinguished combat record before Boyington re-formed it in August 1943 in response to a temporary shortage of fighter squadrons in the Solomons. The new pilots, Gamble shows, were neither youngsters nor misfits as portrayed in Boyington's memoirs and the TV scripts. Gamble, a retired naval officer, describes the equipment, doctrine, operational conditions and personal relationships that shaped the squadron from its creation in 1942 through its Solomons experiences, to its recommissioning and assignment to the carrier Franklin. The war ended for the squadron when Franklin was crippled by a Japanese bomber in March 1945. According to Gamble, Boyington's achievements as squadron leader were substantial, if not as prodigious as he claimed. Boyington emerges here as an alcoholic egomaniac but also as a first-class pilot who earned the respect, though not always the admiration, of his men until he was shot down and captured in January 1944. A sensitive revision of a controversial legend, this book stands out as one of the best extant squadron histories and as a significant contribution to the literature on air power. 43 b&w photos and five maps.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Marine Fighting Squadron 214 has gone down in history as the Black Sheep, thanks to the colorful memoirs of its best-known commander, the ace Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. Exuberantly unreliable, those memoirs covered only one of the squadron's three incarnations. In the first, the squadron, cobbled together in the war's desperate early days, was known as the Swashbucklers and saw combat at Guadalcanal. In the second phase, the group of respectable replacements was assigned the squadron number and made a mighty name as the Black Sheep under Boyington, despite his drinking and brawling. Version three was a late-war collection of marine pilots that was knocked out of action on its first day in combat by the damage to its carrier, the USS Franklin. A model, warts-and-all unit history, Gamble's retires all previous books on squadron 214, showing that Boyington was not the only oddball in it and that the early Corsair fighter was nearly as dangerous to its pilots as to the Japanese. World War II, marine, and aviation collections--acquire! Roland Green

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press (June 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891416447
• ISBN-13: 978-0891416449
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,562,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A native of central Pennsylvania, Bruce Gamble is an award-winning author and historian specializing in highly readable narratives about World War II in the Pacific.

During his career as a Naval Flight Officer in the closing years of the Cold War, Bruce logged nearly 1,000 hours as a navigator in EA-3B Skywarriors, including deployments aboard aircraft carriers in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. While serving as a flight instructor in 1988, he was diagnosed with a malignant spinal cord tumor. He underwent a complicated surgery and was medically retired from the Navy the following year.

Starting over as a wheelchair user, Bruce began volunteering at the National Naval Aviation Museum and eventually worked part-time as the staff historian for the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. Over the next several years he collected oral history interviews and wrote numerous articles for Foundation magazine. Bruce then made the leap to freelance writing and published his first book, The Black Sheep, in 1998.

With a total of four titles now in print, Bruce is gaining recognition as one of the top authors on the air war in the Pacific. His narrative style and use of human-interest vignettes have earned critical acclaim in publications such as Publishers Weekly and Booklist. In addition to writing, Bruce does a substantial amount of public speaking. He is also the featured historian in documentaries produced by the History Channel, Fox News Channel, PBS, and the Pritzker Military Library.

Bruce earned two literary awards in 2010: the Admiral Arthur W. Radford award for excellence in naval aviation history and literature, presented by the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, and a Gold Medal in the history category from the Military Writers Society of America.

Bruce is a member of the Authors Guild and holds life memberships in the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation and Paralyzed Veterans of America. Cancer-free for more than twenty years, he lives near Panama City, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The True Baa Baa Black Sheep, January 23, 2000

By 

Scott Anderson "Sharpsburg" (Shepherdstown, WV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Sheep: The Definitive Account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II (Hardcover)

This study of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 really hits home to a fellow follower of the televison series. I too stayed up late to watch the series and waited with great anticipation to see "Pappy" and the gang take on everyone and everything and win the battle.

I never read Boyington's book and would like to pick up a copy to check his facts against those listed in this book. As a student of the Civil War I've come to realize, that the older men get, the more fierce the battles they fought.

Within these pages Mr. Gambles eye for detail sheds new light on the air war over the Solomons. My only concern is the finite level of detail used to put forth this work. One can tell the level of research was exhausting, however, it should not be as exhausting to go through the book. Also, the repetitive nature of Boyington's faults needs not to appear quite so often. 20/20 hindsight is not only usefull for statistical research but damaging as well, so let's not forget the men of the 214 that went to battle and lost their lives for the very liberties we now enjoy!

Take Boyinton's accounts with a grain of salt and allow the man his glory. He gave America hope during a time in which we needed a hero.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Chronicle, January 15, 2000

By 

John P. Richardson "reverendlinux" (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Sheep: The Definitive Account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II (Hardcover)

I remember my parents allowing me to stay up late on school nights to watch Baa Baa Black Sheep on TV. Being an 8 year-old boy, the planes were the biggest draw for me; but the portrayal of Pappy and the Black Sheep left a mark in my memory. In high school I read Boyingtons book but could find no others on the squadron worth reading so my view of the VMF-214 was admittedly a skewed one. Until now.

Mr. Gamble does a fine job putting the Black Sheep into perspective. His level of detail shows the depth of research he undertook yet his writing style flows smoothly and does not bog down the story. I learned much and enjoyed every chapter. My only complaints would be that he seemed a bit vindictive at times towards Boyington and more pics showing the differences in aircraft that he describes throughout the text would have been appreciated.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you wanted to know and more!, October 12, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Sheep: The Definitive Account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II (Hardcover)

Bruce Gamble's account on the History of the famed VMF-214 provides a detailed look into the lives of Marine fighter pilots during the Pacific War in WWII. From the formation of the squadron thru to it's most recent history, you really get a sense of what it must have been like. This book is a perfect companion to Boyington's, Baa Baa Black Sheep or Frank Walton' s, Once They Were Eagles. Gamble's extensive research includes numerous interviews with surviving members of 214. Having read Boyington's and Walton's books, I expected that Gamble would address the 'story telling' that Boyington was know for, and he does. The Black Sheep were not the bunch of untried misfits that they have been made out to be and Gamble goes the distance in clearing that up. My only problem with his work is that, at times, he seems to take pleasure in proving out Boyington to be a liar. I think most of us would accept that Boyington was telling his story, as he saw it. Certainly he added details to 'enhance' his exploits in the war, but so what? Gamble is right to point out differences when he sees them but the final judgement should be with the reader. Greg Boyington has been credited with 28 air victories during the war. Gamble, and others, have shown that three of his Flying Tiger kills did not likely take place, fair enough. Gamble goes further to say that Boyington's final two victorys should also not count since they were not witnessed, or supported by Japanese records. If that requirement was applied to other aces of the war then there scores would suffer as well. It is enough to say that Boyington most likely had 25 kills, but has claimed and been credited for 28. Let the man rest in peace. Once you get past that, Bruce Gamble's book is a must read for WWII aviation fans.