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Cpl Steven Ryan (LoneWolf)
to remember
Marine Capt Ernest Allen Powell, Jr..
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Contact Info
Home Town Memphis
Last Address 212 E. Parkway, N. Memphis, TN
MIA Date Jul 15, 1943
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Sea
Location Solomon Islands
Location of Memorial Manila American Cemetery - Taguig City, Philippines
Marine Fighter Squadron 122 (VMF-122) was commissioned on March 1, 1942 at Camp Kearny in San Diego, California. Outfitted with the F4F Wildcat, the squadron, then known as the "Candystripers", saw their first combat tour in October 1942. During this tour they were part of the Cactus Air Force at Henderson Field and also operated out of Espiritu Santo. In April 1943, while under the command of Major Pappy Boyington, the squadron transitioned to the F4U Corsair and accounted for 35½ kills. The squadron's first combat tour ended on July 23, 1943.
Captain Ernest Powell became a World War II Marine Corps ACE, credited with shooting down 5 enemy aircraft in aerial combat. Three days after his Navy Cross mission, he was himself shot down and listed as Missing in Action.
POWELL, Ernest A, CAPT, O-010969, USMC, from Tennessee, location Solomon Islands, date of loss July 18, 1943 + POWELL, Ernest Allen, 10969, POW&MPDet, HQUSMC, Washington DC, July 19, 1945, missing-killed in action + POWELL, Ernest Allen, Captain, O-010969, USMC, from Tennessee, Manila American Cemetery + POWELL, Ernest Allen, Captain, USMCR. Wife, Mrs. Ethel W. Powell, 212 E. Parkway, N., Memphis, TN
Captain Ernest Powell, pilot, was declared Missing in Action on 18 Jul 1943.
Body Not Recovered
Other Comments:
Navy Cross
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to First Lieutenant Ernest Allen Powell (MCSN: 0-10969), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Pilot of a Fighter Plane in Marine Fighting Squadron ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO (VMF-122), Marine Air Group FOURTEEN (MAG-14), FIRST Marine Aircraft Wing, in aerial combat against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands Area, on 15 July 1943. When his division made contact with a large number of Japanese twin-engined bombers over Rendova Island, Captain Powell immediately went into action and, boldly intercepting a Zero which was attempting to disrupt the attack by one of our fighters on a hostile bomber, made a head-run on the enemy fighter and exploded it in mid-air. Veering his course, he promptly engaged a Japanese bomber and disintegrated the hostile plane with one burst of fire. Undeterred by a dangerously low supply of ammunition after forcing a third enemy pilot to bail out of his blazing plane, Captain Powell daringly engaged his fourth plane and sent it crashing down off the coast of Kolombangara. His superb airmanship and gallant fighting spirit throughout this action and daring numerous other hazardous missions reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service. Action Date: July 15, 1943
Northern Solomon Islands Campaign (1943-44)/Battle of Bougainville
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
January / 1944
Description After New Georgia, the next major operation was an invasion of the island of Bougainville, which was approached by landings at Mono and Stirling in the Treasury Islands on October 25-27, 1943. A Marine division landed on the west coast of Bougainville at Empress Augusta Bay on November 1, 1943. The Marines were followed within the month by an Army division and replaced in the next month by another Army division.
It was late November before the beachhead at Empress Augusta Bay was secure. This beachhead was all that was needed, and no attempt was made to capture the entire island. Allied planes neutralized enemy airfields in the northern part of the island, and the Allied command made use of its naval and air superiority to contain the Japanese garrison on Bougainville and cut its supply line to Rabaul by occupying the Green Islands (February 14, 1944).
Despite these measures, the Japanese maintained pressure against the beachhead, mounting an especially heavy but unsuccessful counterattack as late as March 1944. Success at Bougainville isolated all Japanese forces left in the Solomons. The Japanese sustained comparatively heavy air and naval losses during the campaign, which further crippled the Japanese Combined Fleet and had a vital effect on the balance of naval power in the Central Pacific.
