Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless Ace of Spades, VMSB-231, Marshall Islands, 1944 (1:32)

he SBD was considered out-dated and the US had planned to replace the Dauntless but the attack on Pearl Harbor changed all that. By the end of WWII the SBD had become one of the most famous dive-bombers ever built. Even though the SB2C Helldiver was slowly replacing the Dauntless it continued to play a significant role in the major battles of the Pacific. The final large action for the SBD was the Battle of the Philippine Sea in 1944. By the end of production 5, 936 Dauntless had been manufactured.

VMSB-231 nicknamed the '_Ace of Spades'_ had the oldest insignia in the Marine Corps dating back to WWI. Based in the Marshall Islands from 1944 '_ 45 the squadron operated from Majuro Atoll. Their mission was to bomb the smaller islands in the chain that had initially been by-passed. Maj. Elmer Glidden and M/Sgt James Boyle flew SBD-5 '_White 1'_. Major Glidden was the services leading dive-bomber pilot having flown SBD'_s at Midway and Guadalcanal. On Majuro he flew another 77 combat dives for a war total of 104.