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6182 NEW!
Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat
Charles "Windy" SHIELDS, Silver Star (5 Victories) VF·41 "Red Rippers" USS Ranger (CV 4) Guantanamo Bay January 1941
A 1/48th Scale Diecast model from Carousel 1

The US Navy Fighter Squadron "Red Rippers" was formed as VF-5 in 1927 and has subsequently been designated as VF-4, VF-41, and currently VF-11. The F4F-3 first entered service in December 1940 with VF-4 (re-designated VF-41 in January 1941) on the USS Ranger, and Lt. Charles "Windy" Shields participated in this deployment. During the winter months of 1939-40 and 1940-41, the Atlantic fleet was based in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The peace-time US Navy was unconcerned with camouflage, and wing upper surfaces were painted "yellow-orange" to make it easier to spot crashed aircraft. Each carrier's aircraft featured a different tail color-green for those of the USS Ranger. As the threat of war increased, the Navy's combat aircraft were camouflaged during 1941. The USS Ranger, the oldest carrier in the US fleet, was unsuitable for Pacific operations because of its short range and small size, so it remained in the Atlantic. American and British forces invaded Morocco, a territory of Nazi ally "Vichy" France in November, 1942. The USS Ranger supported the landings at Casablanca, code-named "Operation Torch." On 8 November 1942 Shields shot down four French aircraft: a Dewoitine D.520, two American-made Curtiss Hawk 75's, and an American-made Douglas DB-7 bomber, before Shields was attacked by four more Hawks, which shot down his F4F -4. While hanging from his parachute, Shields was strafed by the French fighters, but they missed and he was captured by Vichy troops. French resistance collapsed three days later, and with the Vichy surrender, Shields was freed to rejoin the Ranger. He was awarded the Silver Star. VF-41, re-designated as VF-4, trained on F6F's and was sent to the Pacific, first on the USS Bunker Hill, then on the US S Essex. In November, 1944 the Essex and VF-4 supported the American invasion of the Philippines. On 25 November 1944, when Shields' wingman attacked a Japanese Kawasaki Ki.61 "Tony" decoy, both F6F's were attacked by six more Kawasakis. Shields and his wingman each splashed a Kawasaki before the remainder fled, then they landed safely on the Essex. Later that day, the Esse: was struck by a kamikaze but remained in action. Lt. Charles Shields finished the war with five victories scored against French and Japanese enemies.

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