Before “Rabbit” Moranville was shot down over Indochina in January 1945, he and “Gunner” were inseparable
On January 12, 1945, VF-11 “Sundowners” F6F Hellcats attacked Tan Son Nhut airport in French Indochina from the USS Hornet (CV-12). Using 5-inch High-Velocity Aerial Rockets (HVARs) and 0.50-cal machine guns, F6F pilots strafed Japanese aircraft that were parked and fired their projectiles into buildings and hangars. Lt. (JG) H. Blake Moranville was in charge of Lt. James S. Swope’s division’s second section.
Because of the similarities between his last name and that of a well-known pre-war baseball star, Moranville earned the nickname “Rabbit.” He was a 21-year-old ace with six wins under his belt.
According to Barrett Tillman and Henk Van der Lugt in their book VF-11/111 ‘Sundowners’ 1942-95, Moranville joined VF-11 as its junior pilot in July 1943 after receiving his U.S. Navy wings.
In October 1943, the unit traded its F4F-4s for F-6F-3s. Not long after acquiring Hellcats, the ‘Sundowners’ also acquired a mascot. All pilots had to qualify on the pistol range, and the small-arms instructor gave Lt. Gordon Cady one of a litter of Boston Bull Terrier pups. The dog was given the name “Gunner,” and Cady assigned Blake Moranville, the squadron’s newest pilot, to take care of him.
Before the mission of January 12, 1945, Blake and “Gunner” quickly grew close.
Moranville F6F-5 BuNo 70680, call sign “Ginger 30,” was struck by ground fire while making a low-level pass over the target. Hey “Rabbit,” you’re on fire! called Moranville’s wingman as he pulled off the target.
Oil was leaking from the fighter’s Pratt & Whitney R2800, and it caught fire before quickly burning out. Moranville felt he had only a few minutes left in the air because his engine gauges showed falling oil pressure and rising temperature. He was flying 75 miles before his engine gave out as he departed from Tan Son Nhut in the southwest. ‘I saw a big rice paddy and decided to belly in there’, Moranville recalled. ‘I set up a landing pattern and locked my canopy back, tightened my shoulder harness, and dropped my tailhook – the latter would tell me when I had gotten down to within a few feet of the water. I kept my flaps up until I’d cleared a row of trees’.
After successfully landing, Moranville was led by helpful villagers to temporary safety. A Vichy official was summoned, and he took the aviator to Saigon’s main prison, where American pilots were kept separate from the Japanese. Moranville’s squad eventually made it to Dien Bien Phu and was airlifted to safety in China after walking to safety with a regiment of the French Foreign Legion.
The fact that “Rabbit” was spotted walking around his airplane on the day that Moranville went down helped allay some fears, and five days later Hornet learned that he was with the French. However, the school’s mascot “Gunner” was dejected over the death of his owner. They happily met up again in Nebraska a few months later. The aviator discovered that “Gunner” was actually his dad’s dog when he got home.
The following video tells the tale of H.B. “Rabbit” Moranville, a VF-11 fighter ace, and his dog “Gunner.”
VF-11/111 ‘Sundowners’ 1942-95 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.