Nouméa, New Caledonia — “Button,” Espiritu Santo

Left on SCAT from Tontouta (Mosquitoville) at 1300 for Button. Arrived at Button a little past 1600. The squadron is exactly the same as when I left it. The same patrols, the same poor food, and the same grumbling. Only three of our 10 planes are flyable. We send out three patrols per day, which cuts our flights down to one day in four. That’s a pretty easy schedule, but I don’t think it will last.

Heard that Carney Field at Guadalcanal is closed because of surface difficulties, just as I predicted a month ago.

A 25-plane Jap Zero sweep got hung up on the Russells day before yesterday to the tune of 16 Zeros shot down, 3 more badly damaged against 5 F4Us shot down, from which 3 pilots were recovered.

Some of our ships thoroughly shelled and mined Munda and Vila Wednesday. We now have patrols operating on the New Georgia group.

The squadron has had no fights or sightings in my absence. The weather has been terrible and has caused a loss of several Army ships.

The “dry season” was supposed to have started when I left here three weeks ago, and yet the damned hole is still a morass of mud and steam. This Button base has the foulest and most depressing climate I’ve ever operated in. I’d much prefer to be permanently stationed at Cactus.