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Category: March, 1942

March 11, 1942 (Wednesday)

March 11, 2017 1271941

Southern Ocean Pulled out of Adelaide’s Outer Harbor about 0730 this morning — next stop — Wellington? Finally moved out…

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Posted in: March, 1942

March 10, 1942 (Tuesday)

March 10, 2017 1271941

Adelaide, South Australia Another damn nice Australian city – even most of the fellows were sorry to leave it, despite…

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March 9, 1942 (Monday)

March 9, 2017 1271941

Great Australian Bight Was assigned to opening and running a ship’s passenger library – it’s better than freezing your balls…

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March 8, 1942 (Sunday)

March 8, 2017 1271941

Southern Indian Ocean These Australians are good fellows – they’re only fault being that they don’t hold their liquor very…

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March 7, 1942 (Saturday)

March 7, 2017 1271941

Southern Indian Ocean Heard that Tjilatjap was completely destroyed in the past few days – that was the last of…

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March 6, 1942 (Friday)

March 6, 2017 1271941

Indian Ocean Have heard the explanation of the great loss of life in the Langley–Pecos sinkings. It seems as though…

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March 5, 1942 (Thursday)

March 5, 2017 1271941

Perth, Western Australia Walked out of a movie this afternoon (“A Woman’s Face” – excellent) and was told that Captain…

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March 4, 1942 (Wednesday)

March 4, 2017 1271941

Perth, Western Australia Moved into Perth late this afternoon to the Commercial Travelers Association – the only spare rooms in…

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March 3, 1942 (Tuesday)

March 3, 2017 1271941

Fremantle, Western Australia Pulled in to Fremantle this morning a little before noon. Four subs alongside – Sea Dragon, Sculpin…

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March 2, 1942 (Monday)

March 2, 2017 1271941

Indian Ocean It’s getting damn cold – most of the fellows have been in the tropics for years and they…

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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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