"Hammerin’ Hank"

It was a cooler day than usual in Rebecca, Georgia, when on September 27, 1905, a son was born to a farmer by the name of Robert Harrison Elrod and his wife, Margaret Isabelle Rainery Elrod.

 

As the proud parents gazed down at their first child a look of amazement came over their eyes. After some conversation they named him Henry Talmage Elrod. Growing up on a farm sparked his curiosity and hard work ethics. No job left undone, nor done poorly.

 

Henry wasa a bright lad, and while growing up had a strong interest in aviation spurred on by the barnstormers who came through the area. As he watched the aerial aerobatics he found himself yearning to take to the skies himself.

 

As Henry (now normally addressed as 'Elrod') grew up, his family moved to Thomasville, Georgia, where Elrod found himself active playing baseball and football for the local high school, When he graduated from high school he won a scholarship to the University of Georgia where he wanted to study engineering.

 

But, after one year at Georgia University Elrod transferred to Yale University to complete his engineering degree. After three years of college, Henry T. Elrod enlisted as a Private in the United States Marine Corps in San Diego, California, on December 1st, 1927. 

The USMC basic training facility in Quanitco, Virginia.

 

Elrod was inducted into the USMC (United States Marine Corps) and sent to basic training in Quantico, Virginia. He then continued his service in San Diego, CA, and was promoted to Corporal.

 

Elrod was then assigned to Marine Observation Squadron 8 (VO-8M) in March of 1930. This was a unit of the West Coast Expeditionary Force based at NAS San Diego. In July of 1930, Corporal Elrod was transferred to the Marine Barracks at the Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., where he was “under instruction,” training as an officer candidate.

 

On February 10, 1931, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, and after he received his commission from April 21st, 1933, Lieutenant Elrod was assigned to NAS Pensacola, Florida, to undergo flight training.

 

Lieutenant Elrod married Miss Elizabeth Hogun Jackson at St. John’s Church, Mobile, Alabama, on May 10th, 1933. Elrod apparently had a bit of a hard head and had problems following alll the rules to the letter. 

 

While at NAS Pensacola, FL, Elrod found himself flunking his first flight test because of his attitude. You, see he considered himself a daredevil in the cockpit, and after being given a second chance he finally just barely passed in 1935. Elrod did graduate from flight training and receive his wings as a Naval Aviator in February of 1935.

 

His first assignment as a pilot was to the Marine Corps Base Quantico where he wore many different hats: as a Marine pilot, school officer, personnel officer, and welfare officer. In July of 1938 he joined an aviation squadron in San Diego, CA, followed by a move to his next duty station in Hawaii in 1940.

 

In Hawaii he joined the Marine Fighter Squadron 211 (VMF-211). Up to this time, he was credited with 3 years, 5 months of sea service.  On December 9, 1941, Elrod and the squadron of 12 launched off of the USS Enterprise in their Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats.

 

Grumman XF4F-3 prototype (Bureau # 0383) photographed during flight testing, 21 July 1939.

Specifications:

• Crew: One
• Wingspan: 38 feet
• Length: 28 feet
• Heigh: 1 foot, 1 inch
• Empty weight: 4,694 pounds
• Gross weight:  5,876 poounds
• Powerplant: One 1,200 hp Wright Cyclone R-1830 radial engine
• Maximum speed: 318 mph
• Ceiling: 35,000 feet
• Maximum range: 900 miles
• Armament: 6 each .50 calibre machine guns and 500 pounds of bombs

 

Their orders? Head to Wake Island, some 2,300 miles from Oahu, and home of a strategic military base in the mid-Pacific.

 

Wake Island

Aerial reconnaissance photographic mosaic of Wake Island, 3 December 1941. (U.S. Navy)

 

Wake Island is located west of the International Date line, and on December 8, 1941 (December 7 in Hawaii), a group of 36 Mitsubishi G3Ms from the Marshall Islands appeared over Wake Island and commenced to bomb the island. Eight of the 12 Wildcats were destroyed as the other four were out on patrol at the time, including Elrod.

 

A Japanese Mitsubishi G3M "Nell"bomber in World War II.

Mitsubishi G3M Bomber Specifications:

• Crew: 5 or 7
• Wingspan: 82 feet
• Length: 54 feet
• Height: 12.1 feet
• Empty weight: 10,946 pounds
• Maximum Takeoff weight: 17,659 pounds
• Powerplants: 2 830hp Kinsei engines
• Service ceiling: 32,500 feet
• Maximum speed: 300 mph
• Cruise speed: 232 mph

 

The 500 Marine defenders of Wake Island were about to become the first Americans to come face-to-face with enemy soldiers in World War II. As the Japanese bombers, with fighter escorts, were approaching the island, Elrod and 3 others were patrolling the skies above looking for trouble. And, they found it.

 

Elrod was a pro, with fourteen years in the Marines and he wasn't about to just sit there in his cockpit when there was a fight to be had. He slammed the stick forward, dove through the clouds, and came face-to-face with a formation of 22 Japanese Nell class bombers and the infamous and deadly A6M 0 (the Japanese Zero).

 

Elrod charged head on into the group of bombers and fighters, weaving through the tracer fire and spweing out a steady stream of fire from his 6 Browning .50 caliber machine guns mounted in his wings. 

 

Elrod picked out targets and avoided the enemy gun fire, doing his best to disrupt the enemy formations as they were unloading their explosives on the Marine positions across the island. Hmmerin' Hank, as he came to be known, shot down a pair of Zeroes and scored the first two confirmed kills on Japanese aircraft in World War II.

A photograph of a Japanese A6M 0 Zero in flight over clouds.

Specifications of the A6M 0:

• Crew: 1
• Wingspan: 39 feet 4 inches
• Length: 29 feet 9 inches
• Height: 10 feet
• Propulsion: 1 Nakajima NK1C Sakae 12 950 hp radial engine
• Speed: 331 mph
• Service ceiling: 32,808 feet
• Empty weight: 3,704 pounds
• Maximum Takeoff weight: 5,313 pounds
• Armament: Two 7.7 mm fixed light machine guns in the engine cowling and two 20 mm Type 99-1 Mk.3 cannon located in the wings It could also carry two 60 kg bombd ot onr 250 kg bomb for kamikaze attacks

 

The Japanese flew multiple raids with the goal of destroying all of the bases' military equipment and infrastructure. On December 11, 1941, the horizon filled with a dozen Japanese destroyers and a cruiser of the Japanese invasion force steaming toward Wake Island.

 

At 5 am the next morning Elrod was back in the air again, with a pair of 100 pound bombs strapped to his wings, swerving and barrel-rolling around like a madman. Elrod avoided the danger, but soon one of the enemy gunners scored a hit on his aircraft lighting up all kinds of warning lights and sounds.

 

Pushing on Elrod made one more pass at the Japanese destroyer Kisaragi, a 1,468 ton warship that was shelling the coastal Marine positions with four 120 mm guns. Diving through the hell storm Elrod lined up his bombs and released them onto the stern of the destroyer.

 

As it turned out, the Kisaragai had a double load of depth charges on its stern which exploded when hit with Elrod's bombs, cracked the ship in half, and promptly sank. Again, Elrod was the first American fighter pilot to take out an enemy warship in the war.

A photograph of the Kisaragai as it split apart.

 

Elrod's plane was severly damaged which forced him down to land, but deadly accurate fire from the Marines and a determined resistanced drove the Japanese attack back. The enemy fleet withdrew to the Marshall Islands to regroup, letting everyone, including Elrod, to get the first sleep he had in three days.

 

The Japs Invade Wake Island

 

By the 23rd of December all of the Marine's ships and aircraft had been destroyed, leaving just under 500 men to try and hold off a Japanese invasion fleet with two aircraft carriers, a couple of cruisers and a gaggle of destroyers. 2,500 hardcore Japanese troops from their Special Naval Landing Force  that were going to make it Wake Island's last stand.

 

The Marines are dug in on Wake Island waiting for the Japanese landing force.

A painting of the Japanese landing on Wake Island during World War II.

 

Even without an airplane to fly, Elrod was a perfect example of a Marine rifleman before he is anything else. Elrod was ordered to take command of a platoon of infantry and to hold the extreme flank of the American position.

 

The Japanese hit the beach hard with officers charging through the surf with katanas (Japanese traditional swords known for their curved, single edge blade and long grip), leading battle-hardened warriors screaming into the fray with rifles and bayonets. 

 

Hammerin' Hank was there, ordering his gunners to fire and to never stop firing the guns. He ordered his civilian troops to constantly sprint back and forth between the ammo dump and the gunners, making sure the Marines working the machine guns always had bullets and supplies. Elrod made it his personal mission to provide covering fire for those civilians.

 

Elrod stood tall in full view of the enemy, providing a curtain of suppression fire with a captured Japanese machine gun, defying the enemy attack, inspiring his troops to fight on with everything they had.

 

Sadly, as the Japanese forces attacked the Marine positions from every direction, Elrod was struck in his chest with a bullet, dropping him to the sand. The Japs swarmed over the defensive positions capturing, or killing, the defends, finally seizing the island.

 

They would hold Wake Island until the end of the war.

 

Capt. Henry T. Elrod was poshumously promoted to Major, and became the first Marine Corps aviator to receive the Medal of Honor. Today, the main road leading to the Marine Corps Office Candidate School is named in his honor, as is an awesome-looking guided missle frigate, the USS Elrod.

A photograph of the USS Elrod (FFG-55). (U.S. Navy)

 

Read the official record of Elrod, Henry T. here:

Medal of Honor Citation for Capt. Henry T. Elrod, USMC.

 

Capt H T. Elrod’s Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, Bu. No. 4019, squadron markings 211-F-11, on Wake Island.

 

After the war Maj. Elrod's remains were removed and placed in Arlington National Cemetery.

 

Arlington National Cemetary

 

If this story doesn't bring a tear to your eye and lump in your throat, you ain't human my friend.

 

I hope you enjoyed this trip through some of the history of aviation. If you enjoyed this trip, and if you are new to this newsletter, sign up to receive your own weekly newsletter here: Subscribe here!

 

Until next time, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you, Hersch!