Skip to content

This Damn Navy

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

Category: March, 1944

March 11, 1944 (Saturday)

March 11, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Bright sun. Talked to pilot of the R5D from San Francisco (NATS VR-11). Their daily runs…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: March, 1944

March 10, 1944 (Friday)

March 10, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Burke and the Sydney expedition got back today. Many insinuations and innuendos extant.

Continue Reading →

Posted in: March, 1944

March 9, 1944 (Thursday)

March 9, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Two PB4Y search planes have been lost the last day or so within 200 miles of…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: March, 1944

March 8, 1944 (Wednesday)

March 8, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Fighting 17 arrived this morning and then well decorated F4Us on the way to Button and…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: March, 1944

March 7, 1944 (Tuesday)

March 7, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Have been having some good arguments lately on my favorite subject — a separate Air Force,…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: March, 1944

March 6, 1944 (Monday)

March 6, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Overcast. Doing a little painting in my spare moments.

Continue Reading →

Posted in: March, 1944

March 5, 1944 (Sunday)

March 5, 2019 1271941 2 Comments

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Borrowed two engined Cessna from Army photographic squadron (17th Photo Squadron) to take the Admiral and…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: March, 1944

March 4, 1944 (Saturday)

March 4, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Rain. Wally left here a year ago tonight to his death. 

Continue Reading →

Posted in: March, 1944

March 3, 1944 (Friday)

March 3, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Nothing new except sun all day. 

Continue Reading →

Posted in: March, 1944

March 2, 1944 (Thursday)

March 2, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Took the “24” out on a gunnery hop this morning with Bailey towing the sleeve in…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: March, 1944

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