They weren't in it until the Pacific War was almost over. They were only in it because of Winston Churchill making a fuss and the desires of the British Admiralty. British participation in the Pacific War was not requested by the U.S. Navy.

@@Johnnycdrums true, the Brits hand there hands quite full beforehand. The armored flight decks of the Royal Navy came in handy at Okinawa when the Americans had our wooden flight deck an explosive target for the Kamikazes. They bounced off the RN ships. I really think the British efforts against exploits have been forgotten in the Far East, like Kohima or The whole Burma campaign. China was Japan’s personal Vietnam War of WWII. As an American, I see how the Navy & Marines are really good at marketing themselves & their past exploits. I went to college for Marketing as my major, history is how you tell it.

@@toddkehoe7482 ; Go to "Kings And Generals" channel on You Tube, they cover every tittle of both campaigns. Even among WWII aficionados, many battles of the Burma Campaign, and especially along the Kokoda Trail (Kokoda Track Campaign) seem to blend together. In order to get the big picture of the conquest you have to cover everything during and after 7/8 Dec. 1941 almost simultaneously. The Marines didn't have to build it up too much, as big Naval battles, Naval/Marine Aviation combined with island hopping made for better copy than seemingly never ending grinding jungle warfare.

@@toddkehoe7482 American triumphalism, hubris, self-promotion and distortion is at the heart of the ill-feeling towards US forces that's often characterised their allies' views of them, especially in World War II, but also afterwards. Americans don't seem to understand or believe that this animosity exists, but I have heard such views expressed by Brits, Aussies, Canadians and Kiwis who have had plenty of experience with "the Yanks". It's a pity, since the same people say that many individual US servicemen are outstanding people.

Just like you don't hear over 2/3 of the BPF's carrier aircraft were Lend Lease or almost all the escort carriers were Lend Lease. Or RN armoured deck carriers were repaired and upgraded in US yards virtually free under Lend Lease from March 41. Or USS Wasp was launching Spits to Malta for the second time in two months when the Navy was losing one fleet carrier, one destroyer and one fleet oiler at Coral Sea preventing the Ozzies on New Guinea from being out flanked.

Beats anything that is put out on TV these days

For the same reason you don't see much about RAF Coastal Command in British docu's after mid 1942 because most of their aircraft were Lend Lease from that time.

Hammy was from Nelson, BC and is well-remembered by his hometown as well as the University of British Columbia, which he had attended before the war. Many Canadians served in the Fleet Air Arm or RAF. Lt Hampton Gray had the misfortune to be killed pressing an attack the same day that Nagasaki was bombed, a week before VJ Day. There is a monument to him in Onagawa, Japan near the bay where he and his Corsair were shot down.

Don't forget the Royal Australian Navy which provided destroyers and cruisers for both USN and RN aircraft carrier task forces throughout the Pacific and Indian Ocean campaigns. Commentators seem to also forget the RAAF and Australian Army contributions. NB. The first defeat of the Japanese land forces was inflicted upon the Japanese at Milne Bay, New Guinea and combined the Army, militia, and RAAF.

Trudeau would likely have a stroke to listen of “heroic exploits”by Canadians during WW11.

Yes, but this is what they thought then. In reality the USN also demonstrated the curved landing approach early on but initially decided it didn’t want to retrain pilots because it had plenty of Hellcats in the pipeline. Once the Corsair’s ground attack utility became obvious, they changed their mind.

Thank god for thoughtful men like Eric 'Winkle' Brown and men like him who refined the circular approach. The Corsair is stlla wonderful aircraft, it's a pity the few that were bought by the British couldn't get spare parts from the yanks......they had their own problems, but it's interesting when going gets tough it's 'America First'.

@@scottmurray5600 Over 2,000 Corsairs were Lend Leased to Britain. "First and foremost, they note that they have written off the main body of Lend-Lease, amounting to something of the order of £4,000,000,000 to £5,000,000,000 net" 16 to 20 billion USD. below 678 Hansard ANGLO-AMERICAN FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS HL Deb 17 December 1945

@@scottmurray5600 ARTICLE V The Government of the United Kingdom will return to the United States of America at the end of the present emergency, as determined by the President, such defense articles transferred under this Agreement as shall not have been destroyed, lost or consumed and as shall be determined by the President to be useful in the defense of the United States of America or of the Western Hemisphere or to be otherwise of use to the United States of America. Yale Law A Decade of American Foreign Policy 1941-1949 Master Lend-Lease Agreement

@@scottmurray5600 "when going gets tough it's 'America First'." From June 1940 F4 Wildcats were "transferred", sold and Lend Leased to Britain. In June 1942, 3/4 of the fighters on Midway Island were Brewster Buffalos. In May 42 when the USN lost one fleet carrier, one destroyer and one oiler at Coral Sea preventing the Ozzies on New Guinea from being out flanked, USS Wasp was launching Spits to Malta for the second time in two months.

Because the RN did not have anything better, the USN had the Hellcat.

Our family found out that a family member had been killed a week after the war ended, as they were disarming german paratroopers

@@scrubsrc4084 Oh God. That’s awful. I can’t imagine how that must feel. Utterly devastating. You’d feel so bitter. Well, I would.

@@geordiedog1749 there mist have been so many across Europe, there were over 20 from both his regiment and the germans in that one event

@@scrubsrc4084 That’s so tragic.

@@scrubsrc4084 Good grief. Has this ever been written about, do you know?

My dad worked on those and served on the BH Richard in the late 40s early 50s..so many deck stires. He was a mechanic and drove the tractors that hauled away the wrecks.

Because it had the Hellcat for carrier ops.

@@nickdanger3802 The USN did not deploy the Corsair on carriers after initial trials in 1943 because of poor visibility. The Fleet Air Arm developed new procedures which allowed them to operate the Corsair from their smaller carriers. The USN copied this in late 1944.

@@nickdanger3802 ...and Nick, the FAA did not receive a Corsair for a start up training unit until June 1943. They performed carrier qualifications on the USS Charger in Chesapeake Bay. VF-12 had completed their carrier qualifications in May 1943, and had solved the oleo strut problems and the stall issue with a stall strip. VF-12 did the with one of their officers and a tech rep. The claim that the FAA solved the landing issue is inaccurate. As you point out, simplifying the supply chain for carriers and and land based Marine aircraft resulted in the Marines operating ashore quite effectively and the Hellcat was more than satisfactory meeting the existing Japanese threat. VF-17 deployed on the Bunker Hill in Dec '43 with the Corsair, but was pulled off when the Bunker Hill stopped at Pearl Harbor, because of the supply chain complexity.

@@billballbuster7186 There is no evidence, anywhere to say that the USN copied FAA techniques in 1944. VF-12 fully carrier qualified in the Spring of '43, using the circling technique on the USS Charger BEFORE the FAA even had any Corsairs (first training squadron established in June '43) and their tech reps had solved the oleo strut problems along with adding a stall strip to lower the stall speed on the carrier approach. The major difference that the FAA qualified with in July '43, (also on the USS Charger), was their Batsman signaling, which was in some respects completely the opposite from the USN LSO. VF-17 deployed with the Corsair but was pulled off the Bunker Hill at Pearl Harbor to un-complicate the supply chain issue in Dec '43. VF17 with Tom Blackburn continued out to the Pacific and became an iconic land based Corsair outfit. I'm not trying to be combative, and my sources for this are "The Kamikaze Hunters" by FAA Corsair pilot, Will Iredale. It's an excellent book and contains great reference material for the FAA and the BPF. Anecdotally, Iredale said that by clipping the wings for the shipboard versions of the FAA's corsairs, their slow speed characteristics became even more favorable.

@@markbauer1096 The Corsair was operated in combat from Royal Navy carriers first. British mods included Clipped Wings to reduce sink rate, Raised seat and Bubble Canopy ("Malcom Hood"), wiring shut the cowl flaps and reducing fluid leaks along the fuselage. The US Navy deck qualifications were problematic and lasted from August 1942 to July 1943. By this time the Royal Navy had already qualified the aircraft. Then the Corsairs were assigned to the Marines for shore base operation. There seems to have been a debate going which were pro and con Carrier use. The pro faction finally winning out in April 1944. The first deployment of a carrier based Corsair Squadron was December 1944. If the Corsair was sent to shore base squadrons for logistic reasons, why the U-turn in 1944?

Heh, it can be a struggle to find appropriate footage ...

@@ArmouredCarriers It works, yesterday was the anniversary of the first episode of the series so you've done a tribute to that as well. 🙂

Specifically from carriers. And only initially. They flew them fine from land. Eventually the USN began operating them from carriers in 44-45.

They could fly it just fine however they just did not develop a good carrier landing approach and that resulted in an unsustainable and unacceptable number of crashes on deck. The British tried a different approach, no pun intended, and it lessoned the deck crash numbers for the Corsair. The Corsair got a second chance as carrier aircraft thanks to the Royal Navy.

@@timothyirwin8974 Because the RN did not have anything better, the USN had the Hellcat.

@@nickdanger3802 And the British also acquired Hellcats as well shortly after. The Brits got the Corsair quick and easy as many were available at the time.

I think Pappy Boyington would taken exception to someone saying that a Marine could not fly a Corsair.

The British navy pioneered and perfected the use of the Corsair on aircraft carriers.

@@Holland41 Because it did not have anything better, the USN had the Hellcat.

Yes, it was a deliberate amalgam of the US Navy's white bars with the blue circle that had been adopted by the RAAF. No way to confuse it with a "meatball" ... but friendly fire was nevertheless still a "thing".

@@ArmouredCarriers I was an Army Warrant Officer helicopter pilot and in Vietnam the little people would shoot at the lead aircraft but it was #2 or #3 that would take the hits. In 1981 I was flying Chinooks in S. Korea and one of our aircraft missed a turn to visit the NORTH Koreans and came back with some extra holes to prove it. We then told the South Koreans to shoot IN FRONT of any of out aircraft to warn them and that scared me more than the NOKOs did!!!

Changed it as it kind of ‘jolted’ attention from the narrative IMHO

The US Marines flew the Corsair, successfully off land, neither the USM or the USN could fly them off carriers. The after research and modification the RN flew them off carriers, the RAF taught them how to land.

I believe he, as a naval pilot, was talking about naval aircraft.

Richard Basehart.

The British Pacific Fleet (actually a task force) operated in the Pacific from about March 45.

@@nickdanger3802 Yes after 5 years of fighting in the Atlantic, Mediterranean the north sea and in to the Artic sea. With four years keeping the Indian Ocean open. Running supply's through to Russa by sea and land fighting from the Artic wastes of Norway to north Africa. Four years of fighting the Japanese on land not on the islands! Fighting for two years alone against the fighting men not just Germany but of Holland, France, Scandinavia along with men from all over Europe forming probably the most formidable fighting force in modern times the fighting wing of the SS. Add to the above other countries of Europe fighting on the side of Hitler including a division from Spain that ended up in Russia. How selfish the Empire of some 60 to 65 million not helping our ally out more in that vast ocean of the Pacific. The usa of some 140 million must have suffered terribly struggling against the might of Japan as we here safe in our little island homes just played around with electronics to come up with the first electric computer, mucking about with micro wave radar, among other thing we take for granted in the modem world, and that Bristol aircraft company just mucking about making an aircraft the Churchill gave to Bell in the usa with a funny tail that the Bell designers, that put a rocket engine in instead of the jet Bristol had put in, didn't know what it was for until Chuck Yeager and his team of engineers figured it out. How embarrassing for us here in the UK to find out the country had only just sorted its finances, after paying for the first world war, that we were basically brock after two years of fighting alone and had to go to our cousin across the sea, cap in hand, for help which we only finished paying back around 2007 or 08. I am so pleased that the world today gets along in harmony with the usa leading the way. It's so nice to a peace loving land like yours living without strife just as your political leaders and historians have been telling you and yours from 1740s till today. Yes and a special thanks too GooGle for high lighting in red letters some of the more important point.

@@paulgreen6980 Up to 1942 Britain controlled 25 per cent of the planet. From March 41 RN carriers, battleships and cruisers were repaired in US yards virtually for free under Lend Lease. Britain was "alone" for one year and Hitler declared war on the USA because FDR had been propping up Britain from 1939. Microwave radar was developed at MIT Rad Lab using the cavity magnetron Britain "gave" to the USA. As of 2006 Britain still owed the USA 4.4 billion 1934 USD. 21 billion USD of Britains Lend Lease debt was written off in 1945. Britain paid off the five billion USD loaned by the USA and Canada in 1945 in 2006. 1948-52 Britain received 2.7 billion in Marshall Aid (ERP). On the assumption you are referring to the Miles M52 project, Attlee was PM when it was cancelled. HMG had sufficient funds for the Bristol Brabazon luxury air liner, Saunders Roe luxury flying boat and peanut farming in Africa. That Time the British Tried to Save Its Empire with Peanuts (And the Hilarity that Ensued) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gNeglrh-uK3RaZ8.html

No. The RN wanted the last one.

All US carrier aircraft were radial engine.

@@nickdanger3802 I don't recall saying that us naval engines where not radial I said there was American aircraft with out radial engines

Good point. But it was issued by the British Admiralty to a dominion pilot fighting aboard a British warship …. Perhaps the Empire’s last VC? But your suggestion of “the last VC” probably fits best. I will change it.

Absolutely. Those Leathernecks did amazing work with the Corsair out of the mud of the Pacific islands. But, in defence of the old Fleet Air Arm salt, he was referring to flight deck operations in 1943.

The Fleet Air Arm used Seafires, Fireflys and Sea Furys in Korea. At least one MiG 15 was shot down by a Sea Fury. The British didn't use Corsairs post WW2, since they were part of Lend-Lease and had to be either given back or paid for. Many were just pushed into the sea.

@@muzza881 "First and foremost, they note that they have written off the main body of Lend-Lease, amounting to something of the order of £4,000,000,000 to £5,000,000,000 net" 16 to 20 billion USD. below 678 Hansard ANGLO-AMERICAN FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS HL Deb 17 December 1945

Yes, I sometimes have to splice in some heritage flight stuff due to the lack of available historical footage.

@@ArmouredCarriers No worries, it's an outstanding channel. You do a fantastic job. Mark

No tyres means driving on metal rims.

There's only so much raw historical footage floating around, unfortunately.

Yes. But these were the kind of stories soldiers, sailors and aircrew of all nations told themselves at the time to boost confidence and comradery. And that needs to be both remembered and understood, as it can - and does - filter through the history books to become "fact". A similar pitfall of remembered history is context. These people absolutely knew what happened to themselves. But they relied on scuttlebut and rumour for the bigger picture - something that was often masked by secrecy.

The US Navy couldn't. In the Royal Navy they found out that if you approached your carrier in a turn, you could land your Corsair on a carrier. Because of the position of the cockpit, you couldn't see the carrier if you approached straight.

@@bwarre2884 Correct but the struts also needed to be modified and a held off landing was required.

They’re not narrators. They are average Joes remembering their personal experiences. So they have no media training as shock-jocks or influencers.

@@ArmouredCarriers I like your other videos. Just didn't care for this one. At least I'm honest.

@@stevewheatley243 Fair call.

@@ArmouredCarriers I subscribed. We good now?😂

@@stevewheatley243 Sure thing. Always happy to take constructive criticism.