“Button,” Espiritu Santo

Letters from home tell of Noje’s just reaching Africa and time for the final cleanup. His squadron is going on to India. Still flying those lousy B-26s, I presume.

Lew Larson is marrying my cousin Eileen, for which I am delighted as they are good match in brains, personality and looks.

Just got word that we are all to return to Guadalcanal tomorrow. The three planes out today have been ordered to land there from their patrol. Sounds pretty urgent. (?)

I think I’ll close this diary and begin on my fifth one.

My one prayer is that if anything happens to me, that this diary reaches my parents, even if it even if after the war is over.

Forgot to mention that the regulations against owning a personal camera has suddenly become very strict, due wholly to the following interesting incident; on the last big Jap dive-bombing strike at Tulagi, one of the Aichi 99 dive bombers which is been shot down landed close to being one of our ships. The ship quickly broke out a sling and hauled the wrecked plane close aboard before it had time to sink. The bodies of the pilot and gunner were removed and searched, the former yielding, among other things, a roll of undeveloped film in a container (36mm). This film was later developed and produced an excellent set of photographs of Aichi squadron based at Kahili. Planes taking off; formations in the air, planes waiting in line for the order to take off, ground crew and pilot details. (The Jap pilots are now definitely wear parachutes.) I must obtain copies of these prints, if possible.

There’s three distinct types of B-24s stationed hereabouts now:

— First; the older type which our squadrons are composed: Regular props, four free nose guns, no belly turret, and a heavy, but efficient Consolidated tail turret.

— Second; an intermediate type developed at Hickam Field having paddle props, a Consolidated nose turret, and the same, as tail turret, but still minus a belly turret.

— Third; the latest factory-built type having paddle props, new and smaller radar, a Consolidated nose turret, the usual Martin top turret present on all models, a Sperry retractable ball belly turret, and a pair of fifties in the tail mounted as stingers (no turret). This new tail arrangement, despite being quite open to the elements, looks very comfortable and almost as efficient as the former heavy turret. The addition of a nose turret and the removal of the tail turret has improved the performance of the plane considerably, both on the ground and in the air. Whereas, she was formerly extremely tail heavy, she has now become fairly well-balanced and has added 5 to 10 knots to her speed.

END OF DIARY IV