Skip to content

This Damn Navy

The Diary of a Naval Aviator
  • Home
  • About James Claire Nolan

Author: 1271941

November 20, 1942 (Friday)

November 20, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Had Thompson down to the Halekulani for lunch and an afternoon swim. Would have been more pleasant…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: November, 1942

November 19, 1942 (Thursday)

November 19, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Early morning bombing hop over Molokai. Got a batch of mail and letters today. First in weeks.…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: November, 1942

November 18, 1942 (Wednesday)

November 18, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Early bombing hop over Molokai on Target Area “Love 3.” Bombardier Babcock did very well. Gibson, Glanz,…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: November, 1942

November 17, 1942 (Tuesday)

November 17, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Early morning hop (7-10) over Molokai at 10,000 feet bombing. My bombardier was checked out by “Snuffy”…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: November, 1942

November 16, 1942 (Monday)

November 16, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Nothing came of yesterday’s alert. Am beginning to let this diary lag a bit, which is bad,…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: November, 1942

November 15, 1942 (Sunday)

November 15, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Back to the station this morning. A Jap convoy has been spotted headed for the Solomons. It’s…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: November, 1942

November 14, 1942 (Saturday)

November 14, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS It rained most of the day. Played chess and got mildly potted. Barbara Thompson came down later…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: November, 1942

November 13, 1942 (Friday)

November 13, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Instrument hop this morning. Into town this afternoon on liberty. A very rough ride on one of…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: November, 1942

November 12, 1942 (Thursday)

November 12, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Afternoon hop cancelled. The planes are gradually falling apart and we can’t get any replacements or spare…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: November, 1942

November 11, 1942 (Wednesday)

November 11, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Have lived on this earth a quarter-century today; 25 years and I’m still a lost soul. Wonder…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: November, 1942

Posts navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

A secret for 75 years

Kailua resident James Claire Nolan kept a secret most of his life. A Navy pilot during World War II, he kept a detailed diary and drew pictures throughout the conflict, a practice frowned upon by security-minded authorities. When he died in the early 1990s, he entrusted the pages to his friend and military historian Burl Burlingame of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Burlingame is now Historian at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.

Trained as a navy bomber pilot, Nolan was rushed to the Dutch East Indies as war broke out and returned to Pearl Harbor, where he was pressed into service flying PBY “Catalina” flying boats on patrol.

Later, Nolan served with distinction at the battle of Midway, on Guadalcanal and became the personal pilot for Vice Adm. Aubrey Fitch. Nolan said his proudest moment came when in the summer of ’43 he discovered the slowly sinking bow of USS Helena, sheared off by a Japanese torpedo several days before and covered with desperate survivors. He stuck with the ship until help arrived.

After the war, Nolan joined the US Air Force and continued to fly. In civilian life, he was a historian at Hickam Air Force Base.

We are publishing these diary entries exactly 75 years to the day after these pages were written. Except for very minor spelling and grammatical updates, they are as written — including observations that may seem not “politically correct” these days. It is a look into the mindset of a young man fighting a war across a vast ocean.

This site will remain active for five years. It is sponsored by historical-interpretation company Pacific Monograph.

Categories

  • April, 1942
  • April, 1943
  • August, 1942
  • August, 1943
  • December, 1941
  • December, 1942
  • December, 1943
  • February, 1942
  • February, 1943
  • February, 1944
  • January, 1942
  • January, 1943
  • January, 1944
  • July, 1942
  • July, 1943
  • June, 1942
  • June, 1943
  • March, 1942
  • March, 1943
  • March, 1944
  • May, 1942
  • May, 1943
  • November, 1941
  • November, 1942
  • November, 1943
  • October, 1942
  • October, 1943
  • September, 1942
  • September, 1943
Copyright © 2025 This Damn Navy — Primer theme by GoDaddy