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Field Day for ‘Fighting 6’

All Hands Magazine — December 1942

VF-6 — “Fighting Six” — was the fighter squadron of USS Enterprise (CV-6), the most battle-tested carrier in the Pacific by the end of 1942. The Enterprise and her air group had been at Midway, at the Eastern Solomons, at Santa Cruz, and in the grinding sea battles off Guadalcanal. By December 1942 the Guadalcanal campaign was entering its decisive phase, and Fighting Six had earned a hard-won reputation in combat against veteran Japanese naval aviators. This two-page feature from the December 1942 Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin recounts a successful combat action — a “field day” — in which the squadron took a heavy toll of Japanese aircraft.


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Field Day for Fighting 6 — All Hands December 1942, p. 41
Field Day for Fighting 6 — All Hands December 1942, p. 42