Strana 57
Ens. Gordon Arthur Stanley, VF-27, USS Princeton (CVL-23), October 1944
Lt. L. A. Edmonston, VF-34, Nissan Island, May 1944
Gordon Arthur Stanley, born on July 13, 1921, in
Seattle, Washington, shot down eight enemy
airplanes in the course of World War Two, all
achieved while flying with VF-27. This unit
became famous thanks to its unique marking –
cat mouth and eyes, painted by Robert Burnell
on all noses of the Hellcats belonging to this
unit. Most of the Hellcats sporting the cat mouth
with eyes were destroyed on October 24, 1944,
during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The aircraft
ended up on the ocean bottom together with
Light Aircraft Carrier Princeton sunk by a single
bomb launched from a D4Y Suisei (Judy) dive-
bomber. Afterwards VF-27 operated aboard
CVL-22 Independence, however without the cat-
mouth and eyes markings.
VF-34 Hellcats went into combat in the Solomon
chain of islands at the beginning of 1944 and so
took part in the closing battles of this part of
the Pacific. They first flew off of Bougainville
and then, in the spring, of the coral island
of Nissan. There, these aircraft were given
a white spine and tail surfaces. Some pilots
took advantage of a relatively relaxed view on
the subject and decorated their aircraft with
various inscriptions and artwork. As was the
case with Lt. Edmonston, several pilots were
photographed on Nissan with their Hellcats, and
names such as PIGGY II, BEAUFORD BLUENOSE,
LOLLY and JEANE were documented.
KITS 09/2026
INFO Eduard
57
September 2026