Marine Aircraft Group 23

  March 1942 to November 1945

  United States of America

TYPE: US Navy unit

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: MCAS Ewa, HI (1942), Henderson Field, Solomon Islands (1942), NAS San Diego, CA (1942-1943), MCAS El Toro, CA (1943), MCAS Ewa, HI (1943-1944), NAS Midway (1944-1945)

FORMER NAME: Nil

SUBSEQUENT NAME: MATSG-23 (when reactivated in 1982)

MAG-23 was formed at MCAS Ewa, HI on 1 March 1942 as part of the 2^nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW-2). The group was the first Marine aviation group to go to combat, becoming the forward echelon of MAW-1 as it landed its first units at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands on 20 August 1942. Later joined by US Navy and USAAF squadrons, it formed the core of the "Cactus Air Force" that secured the island after its capture from the Japanese. During the first four weeks of fighting at Guadalcanal, MAG-23 pilots shot down 192 Japanese planes, at the cost of 25 of their own.

From Guadalcanal, MAG-23 was transferred to NAS San Diego, CA where it served as a part of Marine Air, West Coast from 18 November 1942 to 9 January 1943. The group was then transferred to MCAS El Toro, CA. On 19 September 1943, the group went back to MCAS Ewa, HI and remained there as part of Marine Air Hawaiian Area until May 1944. On 8 May 1944, MAG-23 moved to Midway Atoll where it remained until the war ended. After the war, MAG-23 returned to the West Coast and was decommissioned on 1 November 1945.

October 1944* to December 1944*

• Curtiss R5C-1 Commando: 39575