VMF-511 was a relatively small squad with a mix of eight F6F-5N's, two F6F-5P's and eight F4U-1D Corsairs. They were part of MAG-51 and had trained to be part of Project Danny "Operation Crossbow", where they would attack V-1 launch sites in Northern France with the Tiny Tim Rockets. VMF-512, VMF-513 and VMF-514 were also part of the plan. This plan however never made it out of the briefing room as Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall stood up and walked out of the briefing: "That's the end of this briefing. As long as I'm in charge there'll never be a Marine in Europe."
They were then assigned to Marine Carrier Air Group 1 (MCVG-1) where it was partnered with VMTB-233 on USS Block Island (CVE-106) and shipped out March 20, 1945. They saw their first action May 10, 1945, attacking mortar positions on Okinawa and covered landing operations at Balikpapan. The squadron was part of the effort to reduce Shuri Castle and interdict small water craft.
The squads first and only air victor came on July 3, 1945 when 1st Lt. Bruce Reuter downed an E13A Jake floatplane in F6F-5N "Butch". These planes have the white block and bold "I" to identify them as USS Block Island aircraft, the "M" signifies USMC. No pilot was attributed to "Daisy June" although a picture with just a Pilot and Crew Chief exists.
511 f6f a by
whitemanLS1, on Flickr
511 f6f b by
whitemanLS1, on Flickr
511 f4u a by
whitemanLS1, on Flickr
511 f4u b by
whitemanLS1, on Flickr
