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Friday 26 March
85th Day, 280 Days to come
Left 0800 for New Caledonia. Arrived 1105. Rode truck from Tontouta to
Noumea, about 40 miles. Quartered tonight in former Jap officers club.
Noumea is French. With bad weather will probably go ashore there
tomorrow to look around.
~~~~~~~~~
NOTE:
For those who were not in the Corps, to "go ashore" means to leave the
base, or to go into town. They were not on a ship at this time.
Saturday 27 March
86th Day, 279 Days to come
Went to Noumea this A.M., again this afternoon & again tonight. My
knowledge of French is limited but I got along very well. This place
is certainly a treat after Buttons. The chow is wonderful. Even a few
white women though surprisingly I am not too interested. Allied Forces
Club was nice though crowded. Will probably go aboard tomorrow.
~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: In this instance, when he says they
will "go aboard" he is referring to a ship, not returning to the base,
which can also be referred to as "going aboard." They would have
returned to the base every evening rather than pay for food and
lodging to stay "ashore," i.e., in town.
Sunday 28 March
87th Day, 3rd Sunday in Lent, 278 Days to come
Held here until 1100. Word rec'd that we will go aboard tomorrow. Went ashore. My French is improving. A
week here & I would speak it. Weather closed down so returned at 1400 after having lunch at "Hotel
Sepastapol." Still expect to go aboard tomorrow though weather is bad. Word rec'd today that Lt.
Paul Coe got it at Cactus. Went down in flames into the sea.
Monday 29 March
88th Day, 277 Days to come
Went aboard USS COPAHEE from harbor of Noumea. Converted CV class of
NASSAU & sister ships. Catapulted F4U landed at Tontouta field.
Weather closed causing two planes to miss field. One landed at
Magurla strip (Capt. Humberd) & one at MADS Noumea strip (Lt. Brown).
All 16 safe. Other eight pilots remained aboard. Returned from
Tontouta to Noumea to sleep. Since being here wounds are healing &
dysentery is OK. Mosquitoes bad but non-malarial.
In the photo at right, an F4U-1 of VMF-213 prepares to
catapault from the USS Copahee on 29 March 1943. (National
Archives)
Tuesday 30 March
89th Day, 276 Days to come
Aboard again this A.M. Remaining planes safely catapulted, all
arriving at Tontouta by noon. After lunch all but Maj. Britt,
Weissenberger, Capt. Humberd, Tref & I returned to Noumea to await
conditioning of planes. This P.M.all 38 planes are here at Tontouta
(one went in). Tref & I will have to install all guns when they come
ashore so it will be several days before we head for Buttons. The food
here is wonderful & the camp a heaven.
~~~~~~~~~
NOTE:
Unlike the F4Fs that the squadron had flown from the USS Nassau fully
prepared and ready for action, the 39 F4Us on the Copahee were not at
all ready - no one knew how to work on them. As the Ordnance Officers,
Treff and Winnia had to supervise the installation of the guns in the
new planes. The Corsair had never been catapulted from a carrier
before this time. The ship's carpenter had to make wooden headrests
for the planes so that the pilot would be able to control the airplane
those first few seconds.
Lt. Tate was the unlucky soul to "take one in," i.e., crash into the
water. The engine either failed upon takeoff or was still at idle when
the catapult threw the plane off. Winnia says it was at idle, the
VMF213 War Diary says the engine failed. Since Maj. Weisenberger
signed the War Diary and outranks Lt. Winnia, it was engine failure.
Rank always prevails in the Marine Corps.
The official war diary of the squadron has the planes being catapulted of on March 31 and April 1, with
Lt. Tate crashing on April Fool's Day. Photos in the National Archive, however, are captioned as having
launched on March 29. Rank over evidence?
Wednesday 31 March
90th Day, 275 Days to come
Went to docks today. Lt. Tate was catapulted yesterday, last man, when
engine was idling. Under water 2 min on Solace now will be OK.
Got
fresh clothes in town, shaved & showered. All gear went out. Hope it's
all here. Maj. Britt, Capt. Humberd, Tref & I played "Hell" tonight.
It cost me 3.70. First gambling since in U.S.M.C. Just fun.
~~~~~~~~~
NOTE:
Lt. Tate was taken to the U.S.S. Solace, AH-5, a Navy hospital
ship.
Solace has the distinction of having been at Pearl Harbor during the
Japanese attack. This was the second Solace, the first having served
during the Spanish-American War, scrapped in the '20s.
Lt. Tate rejoined the squadron.
Thursday 1 April
91st Day, 274 Days to come
Dispatch rec'd today to return with first transportation. Spent day
putting in guns & listing planes. Chow tonight interrupted by arrival
of several army nurses. More arrived & a dance is to be held with a
sailor band. I never was a USO marine so 2100 finds me in the old
sack, a bare pad with an old mosquito net & a damp shirt for covering.
Leave tomorrow will fly one of the F4Us on Tref's wing.
~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: The dispatch, I assume, was to return to Buttons; Winnia and
Treff and the Majors were already at Tontouta. The rest of the pilots
had been enjoying the sights in Noumea, so this was a sad day for
them. At Noumea was the Pink House, a world famous house of
ill-repute, just the place for naval aviators. James Michener writes
about the Pink House in Tales of the South Pacific, which is
required reading for students of the Pacific War.
Army nurses would create quite an uproar, since they were generally
enlisted, not officers. Navy nurses were officers, and were strictly
off-limits to all but the highest ranking officers. Army nurses, while
outnumbered by thousands to one, would at least be possible to
approach.
Friday 2 April
92nd Day, 273 Days to come
Severe attack of fever. Chills & Sweats lasted all night. Better this AM. Tested F4U cannot fly due to fever. At noon reported to sick bay with 102.6 temperature. Confined so the gang left without me. No positive smear for malaria yet, all symptoms point to it. Feel like the devil. This evening temperature up to 103.8.
~~~~~~~~~
From the VMF-213 WAR DIARY:
Left for Buttons in DC-3s and 6 F4Us. Upon arrival we were told to
leave at 0330 next day for Cactus.
Saturday 3 April
93rd Day, 272 Days to come
Vomited once during night. Back & joints ache. Finally decided it was malaria & began to treat. Temperature lessening all through the day. Slightly nauseated, can eat but little, but better than yesterday
~~~~~~~~~
From the VMF-213 WAR DIARY:
0330 - squadron took off from Espiritu Santo in DC-3s. Arrived at
Henderson Field 0730 where trucks met them and took them, plus
baggage, to the squadron camp area. Remainder of day was passed
getting settled in camp.
The squadron time in the F4U will approximately average 8 to ten hours
per man.
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