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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Category: February, 1942

Feb. 18, 1942 (Wednesday)

February 18, 2017 1271941

Tjilatjap, Netherlands East Indies Left Surabaya early this morning aboard the ex-Dutch PBY-5 (#44) and flew directly to the south…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 17, 1942 (Tuesday)

February 17, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies Off-duty around 1030 after a night of heavy tropical rains. Went to the Surabaya Zoo in the…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 16, 1942 (Monday)

February 16, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies These damned Dutchmen — I’m getting rather tired of them. They got toward all of us as…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 15, (Sunday) 1942

February 15, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies As we have not been bombed for the past three days, that carrier that was set afire…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 14, 1942 (Saturday)

February 14, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies In the “Long Room” at lunch I spoke with a Dutch flying officer who had just returned…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 13, 1942 (Friday)

February 13, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies No air raid today. Got back, off duty, about 1100 and spent the rest of the day…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 12, 1942 (Thursday)

February 12, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies No air raid today — heard that the P-40s drove them off. Singapore is on its last…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 11, 1942 (Wednesday)

February 11, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies Two air raids — results unknown. Stood duty from noon yesterday to noon today. Was supposed to…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 10, 1942 (Tuesday)

February 10, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies A young Dutchman here at the hotel (the Brunet) — an excellent fellow — told me that…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 9, 1942 (Monday)

February 9, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies Was taken off the sick list today — hope I don’t get another dose very soon, as…

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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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