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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Category: February, 1942

Feb. 28, 1942 (Saturday)

February 28, 2017 1271941

Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia Ran into Exmouth Gulf this morning and found the Holland, Black Hawk, Heron, Preston, two other…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 27, 1942 (Friday)

February 27, 2017 1271941

Indian Ocean That town of Broome certainly reminded me of nothing so much as a western cowtown or mining town.…

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Feb. 26, 1942 (Thursday)

February 26, 2017 1271941

Broome, West Australia Raised the continent of Australia at 0900 this morning and a few hours later found ourselves in…

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Feb. 25, 1942 (Wednesday)

February 25, 2017 1271941

Indian Ocean Have just finished reading Claire Booth’s “Europe in the Spring” — a brilliant and thought-provoking book on France…

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Feb. 24, 1942 (Tuesday)

February 24, 2017 1271941

No entry

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Feb. 23, 1942 (Monday)

February 23, 2017 1271941

Indian Ocean Have had a few heated arguments lately, the sole result being that a few people have concluded that…

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Feb. 22, 1942 (Sunday)

February 22, 2017 1271941

Indian Ocean Spotted three smudges of smoke over horizon on my 8-12 watch this morning. Turned west to avoid them…

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Feb. 21, 1942 (Saturday)

February 21, 2017 1271941

Tjilatjap, Netherlands East Indies Word came around this morning that we were leaving. The last of the RAF pilots departed,…

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Feb. 20, 1942 (Friday)

February 20, 2017 1271941

Tjilatjap, Netherlands East Indies Wish we’d get out of here — this place is certainly a trap — the entrance…

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Feb. 19, 1942 (Thursday)

February 19, 2017 1271941

Tjilatjap, Netherlands East Indies When ashore this morning and got rid of my Dutch guilders — had them change to…

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Posted in: February, 1942

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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.

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