KILLER CORSAIR

Albert Wells, Death Rattlers Ace

- JAMES P. BUSHA

The Death Rattlers, VMF-323, was destined to become one of the best-known U.S. Marine Corps fighter units of World War II, and the pilots who flew Corsairs for it are justifiably proud of their time. Albert Wells remembers his time with the Rattlers.

Death Rattler indoctrination

In 1943, I was a 21-year-old green Second Lieutenant when I joined VMF-323 at El Toro as a replacement. The original squadron had gathered earlier at Cherry Point where they began forming a Marine Fighter squadron called the Death Rattlers VMF-323. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any fighters: the early pilots had to learn fighter tactics in SNJ trainers before F4U Corsairs began to trickle in. The Squadron CO was a 23-year-old “boy” Major named George Axtell Jr. Although he was the same age as most of us—and the youngest CO of a fighter squadron in the Marine Corps—he was a no-nonsense commander who instilled discipline in all of us and made us the best damn Marine Fighter Squadron of the war! Although most of us feared him, and endured his wrath, he was a damn fine CO even though he placed me under arrest twice.

The first time was when we were training at Camp Pendleton and I came back with a bunch of wires hanging from the belly of my Corsair. By the time I landed, Major Axtell had received a phone call from a local farmer that one of his Corsairs was “flat-hatting” and snipped some wires. He asked what I did and I told him I must have flown between two mountaintops and sliced a wire—of course, he didn’t believe my bold-faced lie as I was confined to my bunk for 10 days.

Behind his back we called him the “Big Ax”—and boy, could he wield it when he was angry!