80 Years Ago this month: 77th Naval Construction Battalion insignia on the cowling F4U Corsair at Bougainville, February 1944. Note the M1911 in the shoulder holster of the aviator to the right in case he wound up in the “walking club” and a bubble canopied F4U-4B in the background. During the period the image was captured, the base was home to Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) which included VMF-211, 212, 215, 218, 222, 223, VMSB-235, 244, and VMTB-134, and 232. The plane painted was White 77 (possibly BuNo 17677?), with the cowling design applied by hand by T. Preuit, of the 77th’s Sign Shop.
Via The U.S. Navy Seabee Museum
The 77th NMCB was formed stateside at Camp Peary, WV on New Year’s Eve 1942 and shipped out just eight months later for points West via Port Hueneme in August 1943. Bound for Guadalcanal, the battalion’s first echelon began arriving in Vella La Vella by 25 September and from there transferred as a body to Bougainville starting that same December.
There, for the next four months, they constructed the YOKE field as well as a myriad of buildings and support facilities for MAG 24.
They were aboard when what was known as the three-week-long “Battle of Bougainville Perimeter” took place, with ‘Bees conducting 24-hour armed patrols while they worked and enduring nearly 1,000 Japanese artillery shells close to their camp, their personnel spending almost all of their off time sheltering in slit trenches.
M1903 Seabees in the 77th Naval Construction Battalion armory cleaning & checking their rifles
“At chapel services, attendance held up well despite the shelling,” noted the 291-page WWII cruisebook for the battalion.
Once that was accomplished, the “Double Seven” moved on to Emirau and Sangley Point, ending the war in the P.I.
Inactivated on 15 October 1945, the battalion earned 22 purple hearts, an NMCM, and three bronze stars for heroism.
