curtis e. lemay daily diary, 1944-1945

8/8/2019 Curtis E. LeMay Daily Diary, 1944-1945

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DAILY DIARY

(MAJOR CENERAL CURTIS E. LellAY)



RESUME OF EVliNTS WHILE AIDE-DE-CAMP

TO II AJOR CmERAL CURTIS E. LE IlAY

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for LaGuardia Field,our a rriv al a t La-

and that our C-54

•

Departed with the General at 1040 hours CST in a B-25New York, arriving there at 1640 EST. We were informed onGuardia Field that space for four people has been reserved

would take' off at 2130 EST today.

Spent the afternoon seeing that a l l of our bags we had brought up.on theB-25 were loaded aboard the C-54. A good portion of our baggage is st111 aboar

the B-29 that the Gen ra l was supposed to fly and will be f l o ~ ~ over to India

at such time as a ll work and modification on i t is completed.

We took off at 2130 hours EST from LaGuardia Field in a C-54 for our f i r s t

leg on the flight to the C.B.I. theater. Our party consi st ed o f General LeMay,Colonel Allen, Sgt . Co11inet, and myself. There were about 25 other passengers

aboard.

26 August 19<\4

We landed at Harmon Fie ld , S tevensvi ll e, Newfounland, at 0505 hours, Local

Time. Had breakfast, gased and took off at 0705, Local Time. Arrived LagensField, Azores, at 1750 hours, G r ~ . i. e had supper, gased and departed at 1950hours GMT.

27 August 1944

Arrived Casablanca, Africa, at 01k5 GMT. We had breakfast in a very lovelvil la a short d is tance from the field. We showered and shaved while they gased

the ship and we took off at 0630 hours GMT. All of our passengers l e f t us atthis point and from here on we had the C-54 to ourselves. ~ landed at TriDoliTripolitania, Africa, at 1220 hours, GMT. ~ gased anr took off a t 1255 hours

GMT. Arrived at Cairo, Egypt, 1880 hours GMI', and had supper at the CommandingOfficer's quarters, departing at 2135 GMT.

28 August 1944

We arrived at Abadan, Iran, (Persia) a t 0255 hours GMT. This is one of thhottest spots on earth, temperature ranging in the 1300 l s arOtmd the middle ofthe day. fie had breakfast, gased, and took off at 0425 hours GMT.

Arrived at Karachi, India, at 1100 hours GMT, and af ter going through theIndian Malarial Control Center, had lunch, gased, and departed at 1215 hours GM

•We arrived New Delhi, India, at 1600 hours GMTj had supper ~ n spent the n

there.

29 August 1944

After breakfast , the General r e ~ o r t e d in to Major General Daniel

Depot7 Commander of the C.B.I. Theater. After General LeMay paid hiswe returned to the field and took off at 0300 hours GMT.

We arrived at Kharagpur, India, our new home, at 0725 GMT.

Sultan,respects,



Arrived lCharagpur, India, at 1325 hours 1ST. We wara met at Salua Airfield(hose of the 468th Group) by Brigadier General L. G. Saunders, C.G. of the XX Bomber Command, and Brigadi r General J. E. Upston, Chief of Staff of the XX BomberC o ~ a n d . After a brief welcome and introduction to several staff officers pre

sent, we proceeded by car to the Headquarters building of the XX Bomber Command.The Headquarters building, a former political prison, is inclosed in 8 compoundabout four miles from the airfield.

We went over to our quarters and unpacked and spent the afternoon gettingsett led. Our quarters are quite comfortable, the home of the former prison war

den. The weather is quite hot and humid, ~ ~ the monsoons are just about over.The hottest part of the season h ~ just past, although September usually proves

to be 8 very humid month with extremely hot weather during the middle hours ofthe day.

130

am

August 1944

General Le!tay assumed command of the XX Bomber Command as of thiscontinuing on in the duty of Aide to the C.G., this Headquarters.

date. I

Spent t h e ~ a y acquainting ourselves uith the new offices, meeting membersof the staff , and learning locations of the different sections of the C o ~ ~ d .Since most of our fi les will not arrive unt il la te r, i t did not take long to setup our office.

31 August 1944

Left Headquarters at 0820 hours with the General, driving to Salua, Headquarters of the 468th Group, where the General conducted a short tour of inspect ion of the operations area, tech si tes , etc. We TIatched eight B-29'5 take offand fly formation. Returned to the Headquarters at noon. Lt. General \ ~ o o d , ret ired, former Quartermaster General of the Army, arrived Headquarters at 1130

hours and remained for lunch.

Left Headquarters at 1500 hOUTS l'iith the General, driving to the town of!haragpur, about 1-1/2 miles from our Headquarters, attending to some personalbusiness. Returned to Headqu r ters at 1630 hours.

1 September 1944

The General le f t Headquarters at 0815, driving to Balu8, where he took offin a B-25 with General Saunders, flying to Calcutta, Nhere he visited the Headquartere of AAF/IBS/CBI. They returned to the Headquarters a t noon.

Lett Headquarters at 1330 hours with the General and General Saunders, driving to Dudhkundi, Headquarters of the l4l.th Group, where the General conducted ashort tour of inspection of the operations section, engineering and tech sites,aDd one liVing si te . We proceeded from there to Kalaikunds, headquarters of thel . t Air Transport Squadron, to see whet progress is b e i n ~ made in converting theB-2'-. into tanters, thereby, releasing B-29's now being used for this project fo\ra1n1nc ~ p o 8 e s . r Returned Headquarters at 1700 hours.

"- Geaeral held a meeting of the Group and Bomber C o ~ a n d radar operators



in the war room at 1710 hours. This mpeting arlljourned at 1730 hours.

2 September 1944

The General le f t Headquarters with G e n e r ~ l Saunders at 0700 hours, drivingto Salus, where they took off in a B-25, flying to Chakulia, Headquarters of the40th Group, for a tour of inspection similiar to t t carried out at Dudhkundiyesterday morning. The General returned Headquarters at 1200 hours.

Spent the afternoon in the office.

• J September 1944

General LeMay le f t Headquarters with General Saunders at 0830 hours, drivingto Salus, where they took off in a B-25, flying to Piarcoba, Headquarters of the462nd Group, for a short tour of inspection. Returned Headquarters at 1230 hours.

Colo'le1 Rosey Grubbs, personal friend of the General's, arrived Headquartersat 1200 hours. Spent the afternoon with the General and depsrted at 1600 hours.

4 Seot-ember 1944

The General le f t Headquarters with General Saunders at 0830 hours,to the 22nd Air Depot, based at Salua, for a short tour of inspection.turned at 1130 hours.

drivingThey re-

At 1400 hours the General attendedDeputy Commanders in the war room. This

5 Seotember 1944

Spent the morning in the office.

meeting of his Group Commandersmeeting adjourned at 1530 hours.

and

Colonel Taylor reported in to General LeMay at 1000 hours. He has justbeen appointed c.o. of the 1st Air Transport Squadron at Kalaikunda.

Brigadier Barlow, C.O. of the J51st Sub Area, E.L.C. (British) dropped into pay his respects to the General.

Colonel Madsen of the loth District Engineers, arrived Headquarters at 1430hours to visi t the General. He departed at 1500 hours.

6 Septe.ber 1944

•Spent the day in the ofrice.

Brigadier General G o ~ f r e y , Corps of the Engineers, arrived Headquarters at1100 hours to vis i t the General. He remained a l l afternoon and had supper with. .. , leaTing about 2000 hour••

7 Sept_ber 1944

General LeMay le f t Headquarters at Ok30 hours with General Saunders, driving



to Salua, where tpey took off in a B-24 at 0500 hours, flying to the forward~ r e a b ~ 8 e s of the XX Bomber Command, located in the Chengtu Area of China.

The General plpns on going to China before each one of our operations i orderto direct them personally from thet area. The General plans p e . r t i c i p a t ~ n g inthis next combat operation.

I spent the day in the office.

8 September 1944

I lef t Headquarters r t 1000 hours, driving to Salue, whpre I took off ina B-25 with Lt. Hobbs, aide to General Upston, and Lt. Thom son, aide to General

Saunders, flying to Calcutta, where we spent the night.

9 September 1944

Returned to Salua via 8-25 at 1700 hours and arrived Headquarters 1730 hours

General LeMay and General Saunders returned Salua at 1930 hours.

Yesterday's mission to Jrnshan, Manchuria, proved a successful one, with

General LeMay flying in the lead ship of the lead formation. The General ex-ppr enced an air raid las t night while in the forward area. No serious damagewas inflicted on the base and there were no casualties of personnel.

10 September 1944

Spent the day in the office.

The General kept quite busy a l l day trying to catch up 1'1ith the paper \:orkthat accumulated during his absence.

11 September 1944

Spent the morning in the office at routine "ark.

At lLOO hours General LeMay held a meeting in his office with Colonel Mon-te i th , C.O., Forward Echelon Detachment, plus several of Colonel Monteith's s taffmembers. This meeting adjourned a t 1530 hours.

12 September 1944

Left Headquarters at 0700 hours with the General,and Colonel E n g l ~ r , teputyChief of Staff, Operations, driving to Dudhkundi j where the General addressed acollection of lead crews of a l l four Groups on his policy concerning lead crew

training and the importance to be stressed on lead crews in an effort to obtainbetter bombing results from formations. Returned Headquarters at 0900 hours.

The General held a s taff meeting of key personnel o f this Headquarters a t1500 hours. This ..eeting adjourned at 1700 bours.

Thil evening a reception was given at the officers 1 club welcoming General

Lella7 md. bidding farewell to General saunders. Among the guests, other than the.taf't or the :xx BolIber Com:nand, were the four Group Commanders, Colonel Crain an

atber periODS rro. the 50S office 10 Calcutta, Brigadier Barlow (Brit ish). Lt.



,

Colonel and Mrs. Springfield (British), and Squadron Leader Young-James (BritiaThis reception lasted unti l 2400 hours.

13 September 1944

Spent the day in th e o ffic e.

l i September 1944

A cri t ique was held in the war room this morning at 0800 hours. The GroupC o ~ d e r s J General Saunders, and Colonel Monteith, pIes staff members of the X

Bomber C o ~ a n d were present. The critique ended at 1100 hours.

At 1330 hours the General held a meeting of the Group Commanders in his off ice. This meeting adjourned at 1700 hours.

15 September 1944

Brigadier General Tunner, C.G., reo/ATC, arrived Headquarters atand met with General LeMay. He departed Headauarters at 1700 hours.

General Tunner's staff members accompanied him on this vis i t .

1500 hour

Several o

,

Lt. Colonel Frank L. Scott, former Asst. A-2 for General LeMay in the 3rdBomb Division, arrived this Headquarters. He is to take over the job of Asst.A-2, XX Bomber CO::llD8.Ild.

16 September 1944

Left Headquarters at 0430 hours with the General, driving to Sa1ua, wherewe took off at 0500 hours in a B-2.l., flying the "Hump" to China. We landed a tKunming, China, a t 1100 hours, where the General conferred with Major General

Chennault, C.G. of the 14th Air Force. We had lunch and lef t Kunming at 1330

hours, flying back to India, ~ h e r e we landed at Salua at 1900 hours.

17 September 1944

Spent th e morning in the office.

Left Headquarters at 1500 hours with the General, driVing to a Britishr i f le range near our Headquarters, where the General spent about an hour shooting. Returned Headquarters at 1700 hours.

18 Seotember 1944

Got up at 0430 hours this morning expecting to fly to Agra with GeneralLeMa7 and General Saunders. At 0500 hours I arrived a t the General's quartersand the General informed me that General Saunders, who had taken off from Plar40ba at 0015 hours this morning in a B-25, has been unreported since. We immediate17 drove to Salua and a6 soon as i t became l ight , took off in another B-25

three other pilots taking off in three other planes and we conducted a searchot the area r ~ o m Salua to Piardoba. The General found General Saunder's planea'bou.t three ~ e north of the runway at Pisrdoba, where i t had apparently

ora8hed shortly after take off. We circlod the crash twice , noticing no signor l i t . . On landing at Piardoba, we immediately proceeded with ~ m h l l 1 R n e e s and

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crash trucks to th e scene of the accident. I t took us nearly an hour to getthrough the dense underbrush but finally reached the wreck at 0800 hours. Alloccupants of the ship appeared to be alive. In addition to General Saunders,

Lt. Horrstetter, U. S. Army Nurse, and two Sergeants, one a radio operator andone the engineer were aboard. All were given emergency f i rs t aid treatment at

the Bcene of the wreck, but the Nurse was pronounced dead before being removedfrom the ship. General Saunders was taken to the hospi ta l at Piarooba and iven

immediate treatment for his injuries which consisted of a compound fracture ofthe left ankle , f ractured l e f t foot, fractured elbow of one arm, a serious scalplaceration with possible concussion, and l ight bruises. His condition is descr ibed as cr i t ical but the Doctors have every hope for his eventual recovery.

The engineer "ho sustained very severe hend injuries is not exptected to l ive.The radio operator received a broken leg with no other injuries ~ ~ is expectedto recover in a short period of time. Cause of accident has not yet been determined.

Returned to Headquarters at 1700 hours.

Spent remainder of the day in the office.

19 September 1944

A report was received from Pierdoba this morning indicating that General

Saunders spent a satisfactory night but is s t i l l in a very weakened condition.The engineer died early this morning.

The General drove to the Photo Lab at 0830 hours, having a series of port ra i t hotos taken.

The General left at 1130 hours driving to Kalaikunda, Headquarters of the1st Air Transport Squadron, where he conferred r .i th Colonel Sailo r, th e Command-

ing Officer of this base. Returned to Headquarters at 1600 hours.

20 September 1944

Reports are that Generel Saunders is progressing sat isfactori ly ,and shouldrecover, providing no complications set in . He is not to be removed from hispresent position in the hospital at Piardoba for a period of at least six. weeks.

Left Headquarters with the General at 0915 hours, driving to Salua wherethe General took off in a B-29 on a local flight to observe a new formation flownby the 444th Group. He returned Headquarters at 1200 hours.


21 Sept.-ber 1944

The General lef t Headquarters at 0800 hours, driVing to salua tak ing off at0815 hours in a B-25, flying to Calcutta, where he spent the afternoon at Generalstrateae;rerls headqUB.rters. He returned Headque.rters at 1645 hours.

General Upston lef t Headquarters at 0915 hours, driving to Salua, where he

tooII: orr in a B-24, flying to Chakilia to meet an incoming party of distinguished

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Tlsitors. This party arrived at 1030 hours. Among those in the group were,

His Excellency, Sir Thomes Rutherford, Governor of Bihar Province; Lady Rutherford, Captain th e Viscount Pollington; and J. R. Gillespie, Deputy Commissioner,Singhbum. This party lI8.de a tour of the station and remained or lunch. Theydepe.rted at 1400 hoUTs. General Upston returned Headquarters at 1700 hours.

22 September 1944

Spent the morning in the office at routine work.

The General held a meeting in his office at 1300 hours on the reorganization of the XX Bomber Command. This meeting adjourned at 1500 hours.

Captain Lloyd LeMay, the General's brother, who ':'78S stationed at Kalai~ ~ d a with an OrQ18nce Medium YBintenance C o m ~ a n y , dropped in to say good-byeat 1"3)0 hours. He expects to be leaving on a new assignment in China. He lef t

Head uarters at 15:0 hours.

I lef t Headouarters at 1l..30 h urs, driving to Salua to attend to some business for the General at the 22nd Air Depot and at the Flight Section of theXX Bomber Command. From there I proceeded to Kharagpur, returning to Headquarters at 1645 hours.

The General held a meeting at 1700 hours on the reorganization program.This meeting was over at 1730 hours.

General LeUay's brother came in for supper at 1900 hours and departed a t2030 hours.

23 September 1944

The General left Headquarters at 0800 hours andof the Headquarters Squadron, XX Bomber Command area,a.t 0900 hours.

de a tour of inspectionr e t u r n i n ~ to Headq r ters

Brigadier General Godfrey, Chief Engineer of C.B.I. theater, arrived thisHeadqusrters at 1100 hours. He paid his respects to General LeMay £nd wentabout his business with the engineering sec tion of this Headquarters.

I le f t Headquarters at 1400 hours,tending some business for the GeneraL

driVing to the town of Kharagpur, a t-

Peturned Headquarters at 1530 hours.

The Group Comme.nders, Group Lead Pilots, Navigators, Bombardiers, andRad£r Operators gathered at this Headquarters for a meeting called by the General at 1600 hours. This meeting adjourned at 1700 hours.

Lett Headquarters with the General at 1930 hours, driving to Kalaikundato attend the opening of thei r new officers clUb at the Air Depot. ReturnedHeadauarters at 2200 hours.

24 Sept..ber 1944

The Gene""Bl lef t Headquarters this morning at 0530 hours , driving to Ealus.,1Ihere be took-;a 8-24 a t 0600 hours, f ly ing to the forwnrd area b a ~ e 8 in China



to conduct the next XX B. C. operations.

I spent the day in t he o ff ic e.

25 September 1944

I drove to Kalaikunda this morning at 1000 hours to pick up the General 'scar which was repaired by Captain LeMayls M e d i ~ Maintenance Company. Drove to

the Air Transport Group Headquarters with Captain LeMay and made arrangementswith Colonel Sailor to fly Captain Le\1ay to Kunming tomorrow. Peturned Headquarters at noon and spent the remainder of the day in the office.

B-29 P208, the plane which the General was to fly over, finally arrivedtoday bringing with i t the res t of our office equipment and our clothing.

26 September 1944

Spent the morning in the office.rived safely in Kunming shortly after

Receivedlunch.

a reoort that Captain LeMay ar-

mem-

At 1330 hours I took off in a C-47 flying to Barrackpore, Calcutta, whereI W ~ met by Captain Johnson, Aide to ~ ~ j o r General Hanley. I delivered a .32automatic pistol to him which I had brought over from the stetes for General

Hanley. Returned Headquarters at 1800 hours.

Colonel Sol Rosenblatt, A-4 20th Air Force, rrived this Headquarters at1700 hours. He is here to lend assistance to cur supply and maintenance people

in an effort to iron out any existing kinks and help them solve any problemsthey have. He expects to remain with us about 60 days.

27 September 1944


General L ~ d a y returned from the Forward Area at 1415 hours.

28 September 1944

Spent morning in the office. The General was extremely busy c.,tchinr upan paper work whlch had accumulated during his ebsence.

Departed Headouarters with the General at llOO hours, driving to Salua tomeet a group of distinguished visitors. The party arrived at 11.45 hours andincluded Lt. General Sir W. G. Linse11, PAO/GHQ. India , (Br itish) and Major Gen.F. A. Skinner, MGA, Eastern Command (also Brit ish). Brigadie>r Barlow 'a s onbend to greet the party with the General. ftfter a shor t discuss ion, the partytoured the field inspecting a B-29 Bnd the 468th Group area. They departed viaG-S4 at 1630 hours. Returned Headquerters at 1645 hours.

29 Septamber 19#

Lett Headquarters at 0810 hoUTs with General Upston, driVing to Salua,wbere w. m ~ Yajor General Cheves, Brigadier General Beyette and some of the



bers of General Cheves' staff , who arrived on a B-24 at 0830 hours. Drove toHeadouarters There they met and conversed with General LeMay for a short time.General Cheves then drove to Ka1aikunda, inspect ing the Engineering Unit, andI escorted General Beyette to Salus, inspecting a B-29 there and the bsse areaof the .68th Group.

General feyette returned Headquarters at 1130 hours and General Cheves a t1U5 hours.

Left Headquarters at 1800 hours with the General, driving over to the Quar-

ters of the Red Cross workers, where we enjoye? a drink before supper.

30 September 1944

Spent the day in the office at routine work.

Left Headouarters with the General at 17L5 hours, driving to the HeadQuarters of the 468th Group at Salus, whQre we had supper with Colonel Faulkner,

C.O. of the Group, and members of his staff . Returned Headquarters at 2200 hours.

1 October 1944


2 October 1944

Left Headquarters at 0900 hours with the General accompanied by Major Kalb,C.O., Headquarters Squadron, making a tour of inspection of the Headquarters

Squadron area. Returned Headquarters at 1100 hours.


Left Headquarters at 1800 hours with the General, driving over to the quar-ters of the American Red Cross workers where we had a cocktail before supper.

3 October 19ij4

I l e f t Headquarters at 0730 hours, driving to Salua where I took off in theshuttle p l ~ n e . flying to Calcutta, landing at Barrackpore at 0915 hours. I ac-companied Colonel Rosenblatt on this t r ip , who expects to spend several days a t

General stratemeyer's Headquarters. I proceeded into tOl'"D attending to some shop-

ping abd returned via the 1645 shuttle plane from Barrackpore, arriving at Saluas t 1715 hours and Heedquarters 1800 hours.

There were no unusual occurrences in the office during the day.

4 Octobsr 1944

Spent the dey in the office.

Tbe General had planned on flying to Piardoba to vis i t General Saunders butdue to a severe storm and high winds he was prevented from doing so. He plans onIDtDI \a.orrow. providing business doesn't interfere.



Left Headquarters with the General, General Upston, Colonel Horn, and Capt.

Hobbs at 1800 hours, driving to Lt. Colonel and ~ ~ s . Springfield's home at tidnaare for supper. We spent a very enjoyable evening and returned Headauarters at

2400 hours.

5 OCtober 1944


Left Headquarters at 1330 hours with the General,took off at 1345 hours in a B-24, flying to Piardoba.Saunders, ~ h o s e condition is slightly improved. Afterturned to Salua and Headquarters at 1600 hours.

6 October 1944

driving to Suua where we

The General visi ted Generalour visi t there, we re-

Left Headquarters ~ i t h the General and Colonel Emrick at 0900 hours, wherewe took off in a B-24 fly ing to Barrackpore, Calcutta. The General met with General stratemeyer at Hastings Mill, had lunch, conferred with General Hanley af ter

lunch, and proceeded on into Calcutta where he attended to some shopping. Flewback to Salua arriving at 1715 and Headq r ters at 1730 hours.

Left Headquarters at 1800 hours with the General, driving to Dudhktindi,where we attended the opening of the 4.44th Group's new officers ' club. Spent an

enjoyable evening, returning to Headquarters at 2400 hours.

7 OCtober 1944

Lt. Colonel Benjamin F. Fulkrod, former engineering officer of the 3rd Division, r epor ted fo r duty, this Headquarters, this date. He is to take charge ofthe engineering section of the Supply and Maintenance Section for the XX Bomber

Commend.

Col. and Mrs. Springfield came over for supper and remained for the movie.

8 October 1944


9 october 1944

Lef't Headquarters at 0600 hours with the General, driving to Salua, wherethe General took off in a B-24, flying to the forward area to d irect the next IX

_ b e r C ~ operation.

10 - 18 october 1944

Spent this time in and out of the office while the General was in the forward area directing operations.

Colonel Joseph J . Preston, former A-3 of the 3d Division, reported for duty

,bt. Headquarters on the 13th. He is to take over as acting Deputy Chief of StaffOperatiOlUl of tbe XX Bomber Command.



The General returned to Salus from the forward area in a B-24 at 1730 hoursand Headquarters at 1800 hours. The three operations conducted while he was inChina were the most successful of the XX Bomber Command to date.

19 October 1944


The General was kept very busy a ll day catching up on peper work ~ h i c h heda c c ~ ~ a t e d during his absence.

20 October 1944


Brigadier General Kelser , Veteranar ian Service U. S. Army, from the SurgeonGeneral 's Office, Washington, D. C., dropped in at 1000 hours to pay his respectsto the GeneraL

At 1200 hours Brigadier General Craige, formerly with the 12th Air Force , nowon his way back to the states, dropped in to see General LeMay and stayed for lunch.

He departed after lunch, taking the ATC shuttle to Calcutta.

Left Headquarters with the General at 1300 hours, driving to Salua where wetook off at 1315 hours in a C-45, flying to Piardoba to visi t General Saunders.

General Saunders' condition has greatly improved. The Doctors estimate that theywill be able to have him in good enough condition to return to the states by November 15th. Left Piardoba !it 1445 hours and returned to 5alua at 1515 hours endHeadquarters at 1530 hours.

At 1700 hours a practice air alert was held for the entire Headquarters.

21 October 1944


General Upston le f t Headquarters th is morning, flying to Agra where he ex-pects to spend several days.

I lef t Headouarters at 1230 hours driving to the line taking off at 1300 hoursin a B-25, flying to Alipore, Calcutta, attending some business for th e General. Inew back at 1630 hours and returned to Headquarters at 1715 hours.

Drove over to the pistol range at 1730 hours with the General where we didSa.8 target shooting for a short time.

22 October 1944

A critioue was held in the war room this morning at 0800 hours covering thelast three missions. Group Commanders, plus staff members of this Headquarters

who worked au the planning of these missions, plus necessary lead pilots bo bd1era, navigators, and rader opera tors were present. The critique ended'at ~ o ; ~ -a t which t t .e the General held a meeting of the Group Commanders' his of f i ce .

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This meeting adjourned a t 1200 hours.


General Craige arrived this Headquarters at 1830 hours. He intends flyingto the forward area with the General tomorrow.

23 October 1944

The General lef t Headquarterswhere he took off at 0600 hours in

next XX Bomber Command operation.

this morning at 0530 hours driving to the l inea B-24 fly ing to the forward area to direct the

General Craige accompanied him on t hi s f lig ht .

J

I spent the rest of the day at Headquarters.

24 October 1944

I lef t Headquarters with Colonel Rosenblatt and Colonel Moore at 0830 hoursdriving to the l ine where we took off at 0900 hours in a C-L5, flying to Barrack-

pore, Calcutta. We drove from there to Hastings Mill where we spent most of theday. We drove into Calcutta late in the afternoon where 'Ie spent the night, a l lthe next day and the next night.

26 October 1944

Left Calcutta at 0930 hours, d r i v i n ~ to Barrackpore where we took off in aC-47, an ATC shuttle ship, and returned to Headquarters a t llL..5 hours.

The General returned from the fOrT.ard area at 1315 hours. The operationsin the fOrlle.rd area proved very successful.

General Craige returned at 1400 hours in a B-2L and le f t Headquarters at1530 hours, returning to Calcutta.

27 October 1944


Air Commodore Mellerich arrived this Headquarters shortly before noon, pay_ing his respects to the General and remained for lunch. He departed Headauartersshort ly af ter lunch.

28 October 19lt4


. The General departed Headquarters at 1000 hours, driving to the l ine wherebe took orf in a C-45 at 1015 hours, flyinp to Piardoba to vis i t General SaundersColonel Moore and Colonel Rosenblatt accompanied him on th is t r ip . They returnedto Headquarters at 1230 hours.


General Crsige srrived Haadqusrters a t 1630 hours w ith his Aide, Lt. Cobb.



22 October 1944

Lert Headquarters a t 0600 hours driving to the l ine with the General, General

Cralge J Colonel Rosenblatt , and Lt. Cobb, where we t oak off a t 0630 hours in a8-24, flying to Bangelore, landing there at 1130 bourse After a short tour of theair depot located there, we proceeded into town on a short s i g h t - s e e i n ~ tour. I t

was quite e pretty place, considering i t ' s India. We had lunch with Colonel Robin

son, C.O. of this base, and took off at 1330 hours.

We flew to Columbo, Ceylon, arriving there at 1630 hours. Two staff cars werawaiting the General's arrival and we le f t the ATC base at Columbo at 1645 hours,driving to Kandy, Ceylon, where we spent the night at the Queens Hotel. This raelovely drive through dense tropical jungles and mountains on this old i sl and paradise. On our arrival at the Queens Hotelf we were met by General Schulgen, whoinvited us up to his room for a cocktail and then took us down to dinner.

30 October 1944

We got up early and spent unti l 1030 hours roaming around the town sight-seeinin this historic, picturesque city of Ceylon. At 1030 hours we proceeded to Head-quarters, SFAC, going d i r e c t ~ to General Schulgen's office. General Schulgen toothe General and the rest of his party over to Lt. General Wheeler's office where h

and General LeUay conferred for about 15 minutes. We proceeded beck to the hotelat noon and at 1315 General LeMay, General Craige, General Schulgen, and Colonel

Rosenblatt had lunch with Lord Louis Mountbatten at Lord Louis' mess.

Left Kandy at 1600 hours, returning to Columbo via automobile. i.'e he.d lunch

at the ATC mess end spent the night at th is Headquarters.

31 October 1944

Took off.from Columbo at 0630 hours , f ly ing back to Kharagpur, landing at1245 hour••

General Craige end Colonel Rosenblatt did not return with us as they intendto return East from Columbo to the United States.


1 Novelllber 1944

A Bomber Cozmand critique was held this morning at 0800 hours in the warrOOll, covering the las t mission. Group Commanders, staff officers of the :XX Bom-ber Command instrumental in the planning of this mission, plus the necessary lead

pilots , bombardiers, navigators, radar opera tors and radio operators were present.

!he crit ique ended at 1045 hours at which time the General held a meeting of theGroup Commanders and executive officers in h is o ffice . This meeting adjourned at12)0 hour••

The General attended a briefing in the war room from 1330 hours to 1400 hours

Brigadier Smith of the British Army dropped in at 1500 hour. for a few minuteto IJ&7 h i. re.pect . to the General.



2 November 1944

Spent the dey in the offic e a t routine 'Nork.

General LeMay lef t Headquarters at 1900 hours with General Upston, drivingto Brigadier Barlow's home for supper. He spent the evening at Brigadier Barlow's,

returning to Headquarters at 2400 hours.

3 November 1944

Left Headquarters with the General at 0600 hours, driving to Salua to watchthe shius of the 468th Group take off on todey's mission. Returned to Headcuar

ters at 0715 hours.

Left Headquarters with the General at 1300 hours, driving back to Salus towatch the ships return from the mission. This mission conducted against theMalagan Marshalling Yards at Rangoon was the most successful mission, from thestandpoint of bombing accuracy, carried out by this Command to date. Bombing patterns were excellent and the aiming point was demolished. Returned Headquarters

a t 1500 hours.

4 Novemte r 1944


The General went over to the Photo Lab at 1400 hours to pose for some port ra i t pictures.

General LeMay lef t Headquarters at 1500 hours, flying to Piardoba to visi t

General Saunders. Returned Headquarters at 16L5 hours. General Saunders' condition has continued to improve and i t is expected he will be sufficiently strongto be f l o ~ n back to the states around the middle of the month.

Left Headquarters at 2130 hours with the General drivi,ng to Dudhkundi towatch the ships of the 4 ~ t h Group take off on a mission at 0015 hours. ReturnedHeadquarters at 0130 hours.

5 November 1944


A ll but one ship returned from the mission run today, this onepiloted by Colonel Ted Faulkner, C. o. of the 468th Group. Reports

but not too much hope is being held out for his safe return.

ship being

re fragmentary

6 November 1944

Lef't Headquarters at 0700 hours with t he General, driving to Salus. where wetook off in e C-45. flying to Chakulia, arriving there a t 071.5 hours. The General

pre8ented some 300 officers and enlisted men of the 40th Group with Distinguished8erY1ce Crossee, Air Medals, and Clusters to the Air Medal. After the presentatiob8 . -de a short ta lk to the officers and men of this Group and departed the base a0930 hoar.. r.e returned to Headquarters a t 1000 hours.



Left Headquarters at 1815 hours with the General, driving over to ColonelSkaer's quarters where we were guests at an OP&T Section party. Returned to our

quarters at 2015 hours.

7 November 191..4

Spent the Doming in the office.

Left the Headquarters with the General and Major Price at 1500 hours, driv-

ing to the ruins of an old Indian city neerby , looking over points of interestand taking a number of pictures. Returned Headquarters at 1700 hours.

8 November 1944

A crit iaue was held in the war room at 0800 hours covering the last operation.Group Cocmanders plus staff officers of the XX Bomber Conmand instrumental in theplanning of this mission, plus necessary lead pilots, bomtardiers, navigators,radar operators, radio operators, and gunners were present. This cri t ique endeda t 1030 hours.

Spent the rest of the day in the office at routine work.

Left Headquarters at 1830 hours with the General, General Upston, Colonel Horn,end Captain Hobbs, driving to Midnapore where we had supper and spent an enjoyable

evening at the home of Lt. Colonel and Mrs. Springfield. Returned to Headquartersat 2L..00 hours.

9 November 1941,

Left Headquarters at 0600 hours with the General, driving to Salua 'flhere theGeneral took off at 0615 hours in a B-2L.. flying to the forward area. I d ove toKalaikunda at 0630 hours delivering several parcels to the pilot of a C-46, who is

going to fly them to Kunming for the General. I returned Headquarters at 0715 hours

Spent the rest of the day in end around the Headquarters.

10 November 1941,

Air Marshal Sir Richard

arrived Headquarters a t 1400

inspection of the Hijl i Base

I I Novsmber 1941,

Pearcehours,

Area.

and party ( including Brigadier General ~ i l l i a m s )remaining for lunch and making a short tour ofThey departed Headquarters a t 1630 hours.


Lt. Colonel and Mrs. Springfield dropped in to vis i t General Upston this eveninTbe7 remained for supper and the movie and departed at 2330 hours.

12 Novubsr 1944

General LeMay returned from the forward area at 1330 hours. He spent a busyday catching up on the pile of paper work that had 8 ccumulated during his absence.



13 November 1944

Spent the day in th e o ffi ce at routine l1ork.

14 November 1944


The General l e f t Headquarters a t 1315 hours with General Upston, driving to

Salua where they took off a t 13A5 hours flying to Piardoba to say good-bye to Gen

eral Saunders. General Saunders is expected to leave for the states either today

or tomorrow in a C-54 that has been prepared as a hospi ta l ship. His condition is

great ly improved and his complete recovery should take place in four to six months

according to the most recent reports of the Doctors.

The General returned Headquarters at 1650 hours.

15 November 1941

Toda. is General LeMay's thir ty-eighth birthday.


Lart Headquarters with the General at 1215 hours, drivin? to Dudhkundi, ~ r riving there at 1300 hours. At 1330 hours the General presided at a p r e ~ e n t a t i o nof awards ceremony of the 44.L.th Group. At the completion of tl1e cf'remony, thetroous ppssed in review before the General and newly decoratpd officers and men.

At 1500 hours the Gener 1 presided over the dedication ceremony of the n e ~ m e r i c a n ed Cross ClUb opened on this se end at 1530 tossed the f i rs t beLl ina reel ~ ~ e r i c a n h se bell game. re le f t Dudhkundi at 1600 hours, fl . ·ng beck to

Salua. We rf'turned Headquarters at 1615 hours.

This evenine a cocktail party was held at the General's quarters in celebration of his birthday. Among guests present were Lt. ~ o l o n e l Sprinpfield (Briti sh) , American Red Cross Workers , Misses Riley, Meaney, Stoke (our new representat ive ~ h has taken Miss Smith 's p lace , t h la t te r having Deen transferred), and

officers of the Headquarters, XX Bomber Command. After a few drinks, the party~ r o c e e d e d to t'L'" mess h!!..ll for a pood supper ond returned to the General' 5 QUBrters at 2100 hours to see a movie. The party broke up at 2300 hours.

16 NovemOer 19L1

A Bomber CommAno cri t ique was held th is morning in the war room at 0800 hours,carerin, the last operation. The Group Commanrters plus a few lead pilots, bombardiers, naviestors, radar operators, radio operators, eunners and staff membersof the Xl tiomber C o ~ d i n 9 t ~ e n t B 1 in the planning of this mission were ~ r ~ s e n t .!be crit ique ended at 1030 hours at which timp the General held a meet inc of theOroap Ca.manders end Deputy Commpnders in h is o ffic e. This m e e t i n ~ aclj ned at

1lllClIl.



Left Heedquerters at 1530 hours with the General, driving to Salua wherethe General presided at a presentation of awards ceremony of the 468th Group.The General presented about l50awerds to the officers and men of this Group in

th s ceremony. Ie returned to Head uarters a t 1700 hours.

The General lef t Headquarters at 1800 hours with General Upston, drivinv tothe l ine , flying to Dudhkundi, where they hed supper and sppnt the evenine. They

returned to H e a d ~ u a r t e r s a t 2300 hours.

17 Uovemh"'r 1944


At 1430 hours Colonel C. M. Kelloge, Air Chemicel Officer from Genere1stratempyer's Headquarters, visi ted th s Headquarters, payine his respects tothe G e n e r ~ l .

At 1500 hours Mrs. Alice Hager, correspondent for nskyw ys" ma.gazine interviel"ed the General.

18 November 194L

The General made an inspection of the Hijl i base area at O ~ O O hours, returning to his officp at 0900 hours.

Spent the mornine in the office a t routine work.

Left Headquarters at 1330 hOUTS with the General, driving to the 1 i n ~ wherethe Genersl performed an inspection of the engine over-all set up at the 22ndAir Depot. Returned Headquarters t 1415 hours, and 9 ent the rest of the after-

noon in the o ~ r i c e .

19 thru 21 November 1 9 Left Headquarters at 0600 hours, driving to S lua, where we took off in a

B-2L at 0630 hours, flying to the forward area oases in the Chenl!tu Area. SpE"ntthe next three days here while the General conducted operations arainst Omura.The field a t A-I w h ~ r e we were staying was subject to a bombing attack by theJape on the night of the 21st. No serious dsmape £5 inflicted.

Left the forward area on the morning of the 22nd in a B-2.l: at 0630, return

ing to 8 e : l ~ a t 1345 and Headquarters at 1400. 'e spent the rest of the day inthe off ice .

&3 I l""nber 19A4

8peDt the day in the office at routine work,

JlJ!cI! ,.ur 19M

J nn to calcutta to attend to some business i'or the General. Wh le there

I we. s-io an old school classmate of mine, Captain Bill Fish, now in the 1n-



t el ligence sec t on, strategic Air Force Headquarters. I spent the night n

tO lm.

25 November 19£4

I flew back to Headquarters at 1030 hours and spent the rest 0 the day at

routine ,"'ark.

26 November 19l4

A critique was held at 0830 hours in the war ~ o o r n this morning, coveringthe last operation. Group t:om:nanders plus a few pilots, bomoardiers, navifators,radar opera to rs , radio operatrs, gunners end staff members instrumental in thelanning of ~ h i s mission were present. The critiaue adjourned a t 1100 hours at

which time the General held a meeting in his office of the Group Commanders andDeputy Group Commanders. This meeting adjourned at 1200 hours. Spent the af ternoon in the office.

Left He dquarters ~ i t h the Gene-ral et 1830 hours, driving to the quartersof the .ed Cross workers, where we had some drinks, supper, and spent a very en

joyarle- evening. e returned to our quarters at 2300 hours.

27 November 1941

Left Headquarters at 0300 hours, driving to salua to watch the ships of the468th Group take off on a mission. \ e returned HeRdquarters at 0500 hours.

General Upston lef t Headquarters at 0630 hours, flying to Myitkyina, Burma..

He is expected back some time tomorrow.

28 November 1944

General Upston returned from Myitkyin at noon. Spent the dey in th e o fficeat l"OUtine ,,"ark.

29 November 1944


Left Headquarters at 1500 hours with the General, nying to Piardooa wherethe General presented two UFC's and 200 Air Medals to officers and men of the46200 Group. The ceremony started at 1600 hours and was over t 1700 hours.

hours the General preslded'at the opening of the new Red ~ r o s s Club

Brigadier General Godfrey, representing General Stratemeyer, wasWe took off from Plardoba at 2130 hours and returned to Headquarter

At 1900

at Piardoba.also present.at 2200 hour••

,a ..."..lIber 1944

I. critique was held at 0830 hours in the liar room this morning, covering the

1a8t operat ion, the Bangkok mission. The Group Commanders plus a few lead pilots



bomoardiers, navigators, radar opera tors , r ad io opera tors , gunners and sta fmembers of the XX Bomber Command instrumental in the planning of this missionwere present. The critique was over a t 1000 hours at which time the General

bad 8 meeting of the Group Commanders and Deputy Group Commanders in his off ice. This meeting ended at 1100 hours.

We enjoyed a very fine Thanksgiving Dinner at the Enlisted Men's Mess

H.ll.

Spent the afternoon in th e o ff ic e.

Mrs. Springfield was over for supper and stayed for 8 movie.

1 December 1944


2 thru 8 December 1944

The General left Headquarters at 0600 hours on the morning of the 2nd,driving to the l ine where he took off in a B-24 for the Forward Area.

On the morning of the 6th I drove to Diegn on the southern coast of Indiwith Col. Bollerud, Command Surgeon, visit ing Lt. Col. and Mrs. Springfield,who were vacationing there for a week or ten days. Diega is directly on thecoast, occupying one of the loveliest beaches to Oe found in the world. Thiscomplete white sand beach covers an area about 10 miles long and a half-miledeep in places. While there, we ~ e n t swimming and shooting, knocking downabout 24 ducks in as many minutes. I returned Headquarters on the evening of

the 7th and the General returned from the Forward Area a t 1300 hours on the8th.

9 December 1944


10 December 1944

The General lef t Headquarters at 0600 hours with Colonels Preston andMoore, driving to the line where he took off at 0630 hours, flying to Kunming.They plan on conferring with General Chennault while at Kunming and on comp letion o f this conference, flying to Chungking to confer ~ t General edemeyer.

II DeceDlber 1944

I 8pent the day in the office a t routine work.

12 December 1944

There we!'e no unusual occurrences during the day. The General returnedHeadquarter. et 2300 hour••



Today orders arrived notifying the General that he had been awarded theDistinguished Service Medal.

13 Docember 19k4

At 0830 hours a critique was held in the war room covering the last oper-ation. Group Commanders, Deputy Group Commanders and necessary l e ~ d pilots,bombardiers, nav igators, radar ope ra to rs , rad io operators, gunners Bnd staff

members of the XX Bomber vommand instrumental in the planning of th 5 missionwere present. The critique adjourned at 1030 hours at which time the General

held a meeting of the Group Commanders and Deputy Group Commanders in his of-fice. This meetinr adjourned at noon.

Left Headquarters TTith the General at 1645 hours,· driving to the t09ln of

Kharagpur where the General par ticipa ted in the opening. of the new B.N.R. Ser-vice Mens I Canteen. Returned Head uarters at lfl;30 hours.

lL December 1944

L e l ~ Headquarters with the General a t 0430 hours, driving to the l ine wherewe watched the ships of the L68th Group take off on today's mission to Bangkok.Returned to Head uarters at 0600 hours.

Spent the rest of the morning in the office.

Lert Headquarters at 1445 hours with the General, driving to the l inewhere we watched the ships of the 468th Group return from toda.y I s mission andattended an interrogation of the crews afterwards. Returned Headquarters a t

1700 hours.

15 December 1944

I lef t Headquarters at 1000 hours driving to Midnapore to attend to some

business for the General. Returned Headquarters at noon.

Spent the afternoon in th e o ffi ce making arrangements for the presentationc e r e m ~ of the GeneralIs Distinguished Service Medal which is scheduled totake place Sunday morning.

16 December 1944

The General le f t Headquarters at 06000 hours, driVing to the l ine where etook off in a B-24 at 0630 hours, flying to the Forwerd Area. This t r ip wasscheduled suddenly so the presentation ceremony h ~ been temporarily postponed.

I sppnt the dsy in the of "ice.

11 Deceober 1944

Ran a practice on the presentation ceremony endthe p a r a ~ . ground within the compound at 0830 hours.. -a ot the Headquarters Squedron, n Bomber Commend,

!he practice ceremony ended at 0900 hours.

review this morning onAbout 200 officers odtook part in th e review.



II

Spent rest of the day in the of ice.

Brigadier General Gross arrived this Headquarters t 1800 hours. He plans

on spending th e n ight.

The ARC workers came over to the house and joined us in a few drinks and

supper.

18 December 1944

General Gross l e f t Headquarters a t 0900 hours, driving to the l ine where he

was flown to Barrackpore in Calcutta .

Spent the day in the office a t r Qut ine work.

19 December 1944

Colonel Eric Nelson, who has been with us for about two months assisting our

maintenance division of the A-4 Section, lef t this morning proceeding to anothertheater of ope ra tions.

Spent the day in the office a t routine work.

20 December 1944

Air P ~ s h a l , Sir Guy Garrod, and Group Captain Campbell-Volliard visitedHeadquarters a t 1145 hours, staying for lunch. After a v i s i t of the Headquarters

and the 22d Air Depot, t hey depar ted a t 1600 hours.

I l e f t Headquarters a t 1600 hours with Colonel Coi re and Lt. Col. Bollerod

to shoot duck and geese. Returned Headquarters at 2000 hours with no game 1

21 December 1944

Spent the dey in and around th e o ffice .

Brigadier General Russell visi ted the Headquarters at 1600 hours and steyed

about an hour.

We went shooting again th is afternoon a t 1700 hours, w l ~ h no bet ter luckthan yesterday, although, we did see a number of duck and geese.

22 Decel lber 1944

Spent ths dey in the office at routine work.

The General returned from the fonrard area a t 1700 hours in a 13-24. The

Co and ran three .tasiona in the four days they were forward this last t r ip.The ai• •1on oyer Hankow was extremely successful.

Left , Headquarters r t t .h 'the General a t 0830 bou rs , d ri vi ng to the l ine , where



we took off in a C-45, flying to Piardoba.. The General oonferretl with Colonel

Kalberer for about 1/2 hour. From Piardoba, we flew to Dudh.kUndl, where theGeneral conferred with Colonel Harvey for a short t ime. We returned Headquartersa t 1030 hours.

I l e f t Headquarters with the General, driving to the liBe, where the General

met !/ajar Oeneral H. H. Fuller , DC/S, SEAC. fiith him in h is party ..ere: Col.H.E.C. OeChassion (Brit ish), Lt Col F. ~ Ne omer and Major W. H. Skie1ving•.After a short tour of inspection of the 468th Group area, including the inspectioof a B-29 on the l ine , the party proceeded to Headquarters where they were in t ro-

duced to some of General LeMay's s taff . They proceeded to the war room, wherethey exaJlined str ike and PRU pictures of recent missions. They l e f t Headquarters

a t 1600 hours and took off from Se1ua a t 1615 hours.

I l e f t Headquarters this evening with the General and General Upston to

a tte nd th e en lis te d mens' Christmas Dance a t the ARC Club. We l e f t thia party

a t 2030 hours, driving aver to the 2d ceo to see some movies of recent missionsand the la tes t Weekly News Digest movies. Returned to our quarters at 2215 hours

24 December 1944

Spent the morning in the off ice . At 1600 hours the General attended an in -formal Christmas Party given by the A-2 Section. At 1615 hours, I l e f t Headquar

t e rs ~ l t h the General, Lt Col Springfield and Lt Col Bollerud, driving out about

10 miles into the country to do some snipe shooting. Returned Headquarters at1830 hours with a bag of 7 snipe.

At 1900 hours I attended a cocktai l party and dinner with the Genera l, g iv e

by the G &: B Club. After supper we paid a vis i t to the Seargeants Club and theRed Cross Club. Returned home about 2300 hours.

25 Decemher 1944

Merry Christmas II

Spent a quiet day a t the off ice .the enlisted men in the enlisted mens'

Enjoyed a very delightful dinner withmess bal l .

Late th i s afternoon the General was seized w ith an at tack of serinsheadaches and chi l l s . The Doctor put him to bed and suggested res t and lo ts

at i t .

26 ])ecember 19M

At 0830 hours th is morning, General stratemeyer arr ived from Calcutta to

preside a t the presentation of awards ceremony a t which General LeMay was awardedthe Dist inguished Service Medal. General LeMay a t tended the ceremony contrary to

the 1D8tructlon8 or h is Doctor. The ceremony and review proceeded smoothly .

Atter the ceremony, the General attended a cr i t ique covering the l a s t four111.••10118. !be Group CotrEme.I1ders, Deputy Commanders, and necessary Group and

BoIIber CoJ-,nd s tar r personnel were present. The cr i t ique ended a t 1130 bours



at which time the General held aGroup Commanders in his office a

meeting of the Group Commanders and DeputyThis meeting adjourned at noona

The General spent the afternoon in his quarters resting a His headachehas improved sl ight ly but he is s t i l l not feeling up to par .

27 December 1944

The General spent the day in his quarters try ing to get some resta Hewent over to the mess hall for supper.

28 December 1944

Lt Col Bollerud took the General over to the General Hospital at Kalaikunda for a general check up, taking x-rays of his head, sinus and bloodsamples a He returned Headquarters at 1030 hoursa

At 1100 hours British Officers, Brigadier Swift, Chief Engineer, EasternCommand, Colonel Marshal, his executive officer and Major Eager paid-theirrespects to General LeMay. They departed at 1145 hours.

Spent the afternoon in t he o ffice at routine work.

I made a t r ip out to Salus to attend to some business for the General.

29 December 1944

Reports from the Hospital indicate that General LeMay's general condit.ion is ok. The General appears to be feeling much better todaya

Left Headquarters at 1000 hours with the General, Col Horn, Col Preston

and Col Moore, dr iVing to the l ine meeting a special mission of six Afghanastan officers v is it ing th is field to examine a B-29, on a isplay for this purpose. The C.G.S. of the Afghan Army, one Brigadier General; one Colonel;and three Majors, 1'lere included in the party in addition to a British Colonel

and _ j o r Ray of the U.S. Army, Military Attache to the Afghan Government.

This party l e f t at noon.

Left Headquarters at 1300 hours , driVing to the l ine where we took offin a B-25 at 1315 hours, flying to Barrackpore and from there to Generalstratemeyerts Headquarters at Hastings Mill, where I attended to some business for General LeMay a I drove from there to Caluutta to make some neces8817 purchases for the housea Returned Headquarters at 1930 hours a

A B-29 to be stripped down and used as a s taf f ship arrived today.

10 December 1944

Lett Headquarters at 1045 hours, driVing to the l ine where we met BrigGIll R. Clark, who arrived vie a C-45 at 1115 hours. I drove him to Headquar

ter. where he stayed for lunch and conferred with the General in the after_. I drove bim back to the l ine a t 1530 hours.



I , .

I l e f t Headquarters a t 1645 hours, driving to the l ine to meet Dr. Bowlesand Dr. Reldenhauer, radar experts, who plan on spending the night and confer

ring with our radar and communications people tomorrow.

31 December 1944

Spent the)IlOrning -in the off ice .

The General' conferred with Dr. Bowles and Dr. Reidenhauer for some time.

Left Headquarters with the General a t 1500 hours driving to Kalaikunda,

where we attended a barbecue party given by the .372nd Stat ion Hospi ta l. Re

turned Headquarters a t 1730 hours af ter a very enjoyab le t ime.

Went over

before supper.

to the G & B Club with the General a t 1900 hours

New Years' supper at the mess was excellent.

for a drink

Returned home a t 2200 hours to get a good night's sleep in preparation

for our open house party fo r tomorrow.

1 January 1945: Happy New Year!

Spent the morning running between the office end the house checking onlas t minute details for the open house party to be held this afternoon.

The hours of the party were from 1400 to 1730. I t got off to a fine star tand ended up a most successful arfiar . Among the guest present besides the

Bomber Command staff and Group Commanders were Mr. Southern, pre sident o f theB.N.R. Railway and his wife; Brig Barlow; Lt Col and Mrs. Springfield; Maj &

Mrs. and the two Misses Jackson. Most of the officers of the XX Bomber Commandput in an appearance. Egg Nags and other drinks and a l ight buffet were served.I estimate that over 300 officers were present during the course of the afternoon. Decorations were befitting the occasion and the bearers were in rare form

2 January 1945

Spent the day in the office at routine work. There was muchto do over at the house getting i t back in order after the party.a good portion of the day.

3 January 12!t5

cleaning upThis took up

Drove out to the l ine this morning with the General to check on the workbeing done on this B-29 s taff ship. All turrets have been removed to date. It

looks l ike i t will be ready in a day or so.

Left Headquarters a t .1800 hours driving ou t to the l ine where I met ColonelIob1DSOD, CO of the Bengal Air Depot, who was escorting Mrs. likncy Love, former

CO or the WASP. They arrived a t 1830 hours in a C-47. Drovethem to the compou..... th q met the General. They stayed for supper and I returned them to thepllDe at 2000 hours.



4 JanU!U7 1945

General Upston leTt Headquarters very early th is morning flying to the

forward area.

Spent the morning in th e o ffic e a t routine work.

Left Headquarters at lL.OO hours with the General driving to the f l ight

section on the l ine. The General took off in his B-29 on a t es t hop. I tchecked out ok. Returned Headquarters a t 1730 hours.

5 JanU!U7 1945


6 JanU!U7 19L5

Left Headquarters at 0800 hours with the General, driving to the l ine wherelie took off a t 0815 bours flying to tha forward area in a B-29. About 15 min-

utes af te r we had taken off, #l engine started smoking quite badly. We returned

to the f ield and after an hour and 1/2 delay for repair of th is engine, we tookoff again a t 1015 hours, arriving in the Chengtu Area, China a t 1445 hours. We

planned to take off th i s evening on a f l ight to Guam but inclement weather prevented th is and we spent the night a t A-l.

7 JanU8.!7 19L5

Spent the day in and around Hsinching.

Again poor ","eather kept us on the ground end we were unable to take off th i s

evening on our proposed f l ight to Guam.. Weather permitting, we wUl attempt to

make the f l ight again tOlllOrrow. Spent 1I1e night a t A-l.

8 JanU!U7 1945

The weather was much bet ter today and a t 1700 hours we took off on our f l ight

to Guam. Spent the night f lying.

9 January 1945

Arrived a t Guam at dawn, completing our 3100 mile non-s top f l ight . We were

IIet a t the Guaa Air Depot Field by Brig Gen Hansell , Com Gan, 21 Bomber Cormnand,and Brig Gan Ramey, Chief of Staff , 21 Bomber Command. General Norstad, cis, 20thAir force, W&8 a t General Hansell 'a headquarters, "here he, Gen Hansell , and Gen

LeIBya r e ~

hold conferences. YajGen

Fechet was also present visi t ing theXXI

aa. Coa Headquar ters with General Norstad. The General spent the day in conferenc

}.O January 1945

The General l e f t Guam a t 0830 hours, f lying to Saipan, where he met Brig Gen

"IIo8J" O'lloDnel1. Com Gen of the 73d Bomb Wing. Tbe General spent the day and nig\here. I spent the day touring the is land of Guam taking in scenes of former bat-

t l ea , ....tl.ng vil lsges taking pictures, etc. The is land i s most in terest ing. The



climate is grand and i t seems to be a lovely place to l ive.

Gen Norstad and Cen Fechet lef t Guam this morning in a C-54 returning totho United Stat . s .

11 January 1945

The General returned from Saipan at noon. Spent the afternoon planning

our return flight to China.

Took off at 1600 hours, flying to Saipan on the f i rs t leg of our returnt r ip . We plnn on loading gas at Saipan preparatory to our night take-off.General Ramey accompanied us on our return t r ip .

Experienced trouble again with #1 engine on our fl ight from Guan to Saipanand on landing at Saipan were informed we would be unable to take off that night.

#! engine was immediately torn do\m in an effort to d iscover the t rouble and tohave i t repaired in time for take-off tomorrow night. Spent the night at General

O I D o ~ ~ e l l r s Headquarters.

12 January 1945

Spent the day on Seipan.

The ship was tes t flown and checked out ok. VIe plan taking off tonight for

China.

Took off a t 2130 hours and the night past uneventful in f l ight .

13 January 1942

A-I was weathered in when we arrived in China 50 we made a safe landing atKunming, refueled and took off on the las t leg of our return t r ip to Kbaragpur.

Arrived Kharagpur a t

a short time and we spentat the house.

1500 hours.the rest of

The General went over to his office forthe afternoon unpacking and getting resettle

Miss Lily Pons and her husband, Andre Kostelanetz, arrived here several daysago and are staying in the guest house while enter taining the officers and men of

the XX Bonber Command bases. The General met Andre and Mrs. Kostelanetz a t 1700

bours.

14 January 1945

Spent a very busy day in the office answering correspondence and processingpaper that accu:nulated during our absence. Miss Pons and her husband joined us

in lunch.

An airplane at Chakulia exploded on the ground this morning ful l of bombs,k11ling seTeral men and woudding seVeral others. Full details are not yet ava il a



15 January 1945

Learned this morning that 11 men were killed in the Chakulia accidentyesterday and 24 more were injured, some seriously.

Spent the morning in the office. General Le,my was in conference withGeneral Ramey most of the morning explaining XX Bomber Command operations to

him.

Left Headquarters with the General, General Ramey, Miss Pons and A ~ Kostelanetz at 1600 hours, flying to Piardoba, where we attended a performance

by tIT. and Mrs. Kostelanetz and Company. I t was a very excellent show and weenjoyed i t immensely. Returned Headquarters a t 1800 hours.

16 Januyy 1945

Left Headquarters at 0715 hours driving to th e line with the General and

General Ramey, taking off in a C-45 a t 0745 hours, flying to Chakulis. arrivingthere at 0810 hours. The General presented a ~ a r d s to officers and men of the

40th Bomb Group stationed there. One officer was presented the DSC; one theSilver Ster; several DFC's, and many more with Clusters to their Air Medals.

From the presentation ceremony the General proceeded to the station hospi t a l on the field, visit ing the men who were injured in the accident of the 14th.

Returned Headquarters at 1030 hours, spending the rest of the day in the office.

Invited the Red Cross workers over to the house at 1800 hours for a fewdrinks before supper.

17 Januyy 1945

The General lef t Headquarters with General Ramey at 0800 hours, flying toBarrackpore in Calcutta, where they visi ted General stratemeyerls headquarters.

They returned to Headquarters a t noon.

Spent the afternoon packing up . Looks l ike weIll soon be on the mOle again

18 Januyy 1945

Spent morning making f inal arrangements for our proposed move.

Lett Headquarters with the General at 1300 hours driving to the l ine ;;here

we took off in B-29 No. 841 at 1355 hours, destination in the Guam, Marianas Isl61

Acca.penyiDg the General on this f l ight were Colonels Preston, Emrick; Lt Colone

Pulkrod an4 P. Smith; Major Schleikjer, Captain Bruerer, Lt Nordhausen and mysel

Colonel Oarcia and five enlisted men ( includ ing Sg ts . Collinet and Skille rn ) areto jo1D us a t Guam on Monday, t ra v el li ng v ia ATC.

!he t r ip was pleasant end Wleventful and was the longest non-stop f l ight todate bJ a B-29 - - .4100 statute miles. We accomplished this mission in the record

'1M of 14 hours. li e landed on Guam ot 0820K hours. General LeMay is to assume

'1 3''' ot the XXI Bomber Command as of tomorrow. Brig Gen Hansell, former CG o.. J I I IIcIIIler COIIIIl8Dd, 10 returning to the US;.. Brig Geo Ramey. who remained in

..- ..- ' - " - -



India, is to take over the XX Bomber Command. Brig Gen Kissner has been approved as Chief of Stsff to General LeMay here at the XXI Bomber Command andis to join us in the near future.

We are living in tents but the climate is delightful, and after India,this place seems like paradise. We are fairly comfortable and will be even morecomfortable as soan as the General's house, now under construction, is completed.

The engineers have set 10 February as a temporary completion date.

Spent the day moving into our new tent and the office. Much work remains

to be donee

Kajar General Douglas, Commanding General of the 7th Air Force, arrivedhere at 1100 hours. A Brigadier General, his Chief of Staff, accompanied hime

Brig Gen Fe A. Armstrong, Commanding General of the 3 l5 th Bomb Wing, soonto join this command at Northwest Field, Guam as i ts base, and some of his staffofficers were here on our arrival. He is here looking over his future loca tion .

20 January 191.5

with the XXI Bomber Command organizationpent the day familiarizing myself

physical set -up of the area.

We are operating our Headquarters

although much construction work in the

2 l January 19"1

in a quonset, which is. quitearea remains to be donee

satisfactory ,

The General lef t Headquarters at 0730 hours, driving to Depot Field, wherehe took off at 0800 hours with Col Montgomery, acting cis, and other s taff officers, flying to Tinian to attend a critique of the 3l3th Wing located there.

He returned Headquarters at noon.

spent a very busy afternoon in the office e

22 January 1945

Spent a very busy day in and around the office trying to get things running

smoothly once again. The work is far from becomming routine 88 yet.

23 Januaq 1945

Drove to the l ine at 1100 hours to meet Major General Echols, Colonel Brent

a ll and party of nine American manufacturers, who are touring the Pacific Areato see how their equipment is being used end serviced.

J.f'ter lunch, we spent the afternoon touring the Air Depot and other mil

i tary installations on the isle.nd with this group of gentlemen. Returned hesd

."art.... a t 1730 hours.

~ J I I ! \ l ! f Z 1945

!be General le f t Headquarters at 0800 hours driVing to the l ine where he

......._ . . . . . . . .__ ..... . _ • . .--L _



took off in a B-24 to attend a mission critique of the 73d Wing at Saipan. Hereturned Headquarters at 1545 hours.

Brigadier General Wilson, A-4 of the 20th Air Force, arrived this Headquarters with Colonel Sweetser' at 1100 hours. They plan on spending the night andleaving in.the morning to join General Echol's party.

I lef t Headquarters at 1300 hours with General Wilson taking him on e tourof the island similar to the one General Echols and party made yesterday. Returned Headquarters at 1800 hours.

Colonels power and Wheelis, CO and cis of the 314th Wing, respectively, andseveral 314th Wing staff officers arrived at 2300 hours. The 314th Wing is soonto take i ts place in the command at North Field, Guem. When i t and the 315th Winget in place, the XXI Bomber Command will have an operating s tr ength o f 4 Wings.Five are ultimately expected to make up the command.

25 January 1945

I lef t Headquarters at 0545 hours this morning with General Echols, GeneralWilson and par ty driving to Depot Field, where they took off at 0600 hours in aC-54 for Leyte in t he Ph il ipp ines.

The General lef t Headqua.rters at 0730 hours driving tDthe l ine where he tookoff in a B-24 flying to Saipan, where he spent most of the day. He returned Headquarters at 1600 hours.

Colonel Garcia, Sgt Collinet and Sgt Skillern and th ree o ther EM arrivedhere today at 1630 hours via ATe from India.

26 January 1945

Brigadier General Barnes, CG of a fighter Wing, dropped in this morning tosee the General and pay his respects.

Colonels Power and Davies, CG of the 313 and 314th Wings respectively werenotified they are on the latest l i s t of Colonels to be promoted to the rank of B.G

Spent a busy day in and around Headquarters.

The General lef t Headquarters at 1700 hours driving to the Fleet Post Officenear Agana where he was met by Admiral HooveI,ls Flag Lieutenant. He took theGeneral out to a naval vessel where the General had supper with Admiral Hoover.

The General returned Headquarters at 2200 hours.

27 JpuaU 1%5

8poat a busy day in the office.

!be General lef t Headquarters at 0730 hours driving to the Agana Air Base

........ I I . took off in a Navy plane at 0830 hours flying to Ulithi Island to at.tend

. - .. .. - . -- - . - - - ~ - _ ....- - -- ----



a conference of Pacific Ocean Area Commanders. He returned Headquarters at2000 hours.

29 January 1945

The General lef t Headquarters at 0800 hours flying to Saipan where he at-

tended e 7Jd Wing critique. He returned Headquarters at 1430 hours. Colonels

Ball, Sherman and Robertson from AAFPOA, who arrived on th e island today, paid

a vis i t to the General at 1530 hours. AAFPOA Headquarters will set up theirF o ~ r o r d Area Headquarters here at Guam. Lieut. General Harmon, CG AAFPOA, isexpected here in several days.

30 January 1945

Adoirals Roover and Lockwood dropped by the office to pay their respects

to the General.

Spent the day in the office. It"rained continuously a ll day.

31 January 1945


,The General lef t Headquarters at 1530 hoursf

driving to Depot Field wherehe r:Jet Lieut. General • F. Harmon, who arrived in a C-54. General Haroon's

headquarters is very neer ou rs.

1 February 1945


The General le f t Headquarters at 1400 hours with General Harmon, visi t ing

Admiral Nimitz's Headquarters. They returned- at 1600 hours.

The General made a talk tonight to the officers and men of the XXI Born Comat the post theatre at 1930 hours. This was one of a series of talks given eve

Thursday evening as part of the Information and Educational Program. The Generspoke for 30 minutes comparing aerial operations in the ErO with our operations

ou t here.

2 February 1945

spent the morning in the office.

Ilef t

Headquarters at 1415 hours with the General driving to North Field,R_dquarters of the 314th Wing. We were met by Col Power and Col Fowler, whoescorted U8 on a tour of the area, showing us the progress being made by this un

fhe,y expect the arrival of their f i rs t airplanes in a few deys. ~ m c h work rema

to b. dane to complete th is f ie ld , but they appear to be making good progress.t'bII General plans landing a B-29 on th eir f ie ld tomorrow morning as 8. part of thott loial dedication ceremony. We returned Headquarters at 1630 hours.



3 February 1945

The General lef t Headquarters at 0915 hours driving to Depot Field wherehe took off in a B-24, flying to North Field, Guam, this being the f i r s t plane

to land at that field. General Harmon was also present at the f ie ld 's dedi

cation ceremony. The General returned Headquarters at noon.


4 February 1942


Left Headquarters with thean hour's rest and recreation.

2 February 1945

General at 1600 hours, driving to the beach

Returned Headquarters at 1715 hours.

for

Spent a busy day in the office. Mr. Frances V. Drake, a correspondent of

"Reader 's Digest", dropped in to pay his respects at 1515 hours. Later, he dropped by the General 's qua rt er s fo r a drink and supper. He le f t Headquarters a t

2200 hours.

6 February 1945

The General le f t Headquarters a t 0800 hours driving to Depot Field, where

he took orf at 0815 hours flying to Saipan to attend a crit ique of the 73d Wing.

He returned Headquarters at noon.

7 February 1945

Spent the day in the office.AAFPOA, dropped in at 1600 hours.

8 February 1945

Major General Willis H. Hale, Deputy Command

He le f t the office at 1700 hours.

General driving to Depot FieldThe General addressed the leadCO of the 313th Wing. We flew1300 hours. Spent the afternoon

Left Headquarters at 0930 hours Wl.th thewhere we took off in a B-24 flying to Tini80.crews and spent some time with Colonel Davies,

back af te r lunch, returning to Headquarters a t

in the office.

General upston and his aide, Captain Hobbs, arrived a t Depot Field at 1800hours v ia ATe on the i r way back to the s tates . They are touring the Pacific Ar

enroute home. They plan on remaining over night and taking off via ATe tomorrow

enroute to Hawaii.

" J a r Generel Smith of the ATC and Colonel Kilgore, CO of the local ATC Widropped in a t the General t s quarters th is evening fo r an informal v is i t . They

l e f t at 2330 hours.

&p.nt the morning escorting General Upston around the island on a sight. . .tae 'oar. General LeMay attended Admiral Nimitz 's briefing a t 0900 hours •

.. -- - - - - ---



I returned Headquarters at 1000 hours Tith General UpatoD end then drove him andCaptain Hobbs to the Agana Naval Air Base, where they will take-off for Hawaiivia NATS since ATC has no planes leaving today .


10 February 1945


Left Headquarters with the General at 1600 hours driving to the beach foran hour's rest and recreation.

Mr. Penfield, former military attache to China, now working with AdmiralNimitz's Headquarters here on Guam, dropped in to see the General at 1100 hours.He remained for llU1ch and lef t Headquarters at 1300 hours.

11 February 1945

Spent the day in the office. Admiral Nimitz's PRO dropped in to see the

General at 1500 hours.

At 1800 hours General Harmon, General Hale and General Scanlen, president of

the Bombing Analysis Board, and several other AAFPOA officers had supper with theGeneral and stayed for 8 movie late in the evening.

12 February 1945

Spent the morning in the office. The General lef t Headquarters at 1300bours driving to Depot Field where he took off a t 1315 hours in his B-24, flyingto Tinion to attend a XXI Bom Com critique be ing he ld at the 313tb Wing. WingCommanders, plus members of the XXI Bom Com staff instrumental in the planning of

this mission were present. The General returned Headquarters at 1730 hours.

13 February 1945

Spent the day in the office. Some of the furniture for the General's newbouse, manufactured in the Hickam Field carpenter shop, arrived today.

14 February 1945


Brigadier General Grant of the Marine Corps dropped in to pay his respects

to the General at 1120 hours. He remained for about 15 minutes.

15 February 1945

Sl*J.t the morning in the office at routine Tl'ork.

I le t t Headquarters at 1400 hours with Major Crum, General Hale's aide,driT1ac to Headquarters, Com Fwd and from there to NOB where we picked up somea.p,pl1es for General LeMay and General Hale. Returned Headquarters at 1815 hours



Colonel Power was over for supper with Colone l Vfueelis and while bere, Col.Power received official notification of his promotion to the rank of B.G. General LeMay pinned on his stars. Col. Davies was promoted on the same order.

16 February 1945


I plan on making a t r ip to Oahu leaving here tomorrow to pick up furniture,plumbing equipment, l igh ting f ix tures , electrical appliances, etc. for the newhouse.

17 February 1945

Spent the morning packing for my t r ip to Oahu.

Left Headquarters at 1545 hours driving to the l ine where I took off in aB-29 with Colonel Irvine and several other members of the XXI Bomber Cornl'o.and staf

on the f i rs t leg of our tr ip to Oahu. While stopping at Kwajelin to/refuel earlythis morning, I met my brother, August, whom I have not seen for three years. Hemanaged to ge t a pass from his organization and proceeded to Oahu with us. Ispent seven days there purchasing necessary supplies and equipment. I lived atthe Moana Hotel on Waikaki Beach and went into Hickam Field every day to conductmy business.

18 February 1945

Back atWashington.

Headquarters onHe is to become

Guam, Brig Gen Kissner arrived atGeneral LeMayls Chief of Staff.

0230 hours from

Lt. General Harmon and Maj Gao Hale dropped by to pay their respects to Gen.LeMay at 1030 hours.

Mr. Monty·Wade, AP correspondent, was in to pay his respects to the General

at 1430 hours. Shortly after he left Brig Gen Smith of AAFPOA dropped in to confwith the General.

19 February 1945

Brig Gen Moore, a:z of the 7th Fighter Command, with

was 1D to pay his respects to the General at 0930 hours.l sn . Headquarters a t 1400 houj's.

20 February 1945

Headquarters on Iwo Jima

He stayed for lunch and

General LeMay spent the morning in the office at routine work. He departed

Headquarters a t 1530 hours driving to the Hsadquerters of the 314th Wing at Northf te ld . He returned Headquarters at 1530 hours.

!lie General held a cocktail party at his querters bsginning a t 1800 hours.

aa.. Of tbe guests were; Admiral of the Fleet Nimitz, Vice Admirals McMorris and

. . . .-001, Lieut. General Harmon, Maj Generals Hale and Larson. Brig General Ander



and Commander McGruder.arterwards • . The guests

21 Fehruarx 1945

The party remained fo r dinner and a movie was shown

left eround 2230 hours.

The General spent the morning in the office.

A cr i t ique was held in the Plans Room a t 1.430 hours. Wing Commandersand s ta f f members of the n I Bom Com instrumental in the planning of th is mission

were present. The cri t ique ended a t 1615 hours. Afte r t he cri t ique, the Gen-eral held a Wing Commanders. meeting in the Plans Room, which ended a t 1715 hours.

22 February 1945

Colonel Mundy, a personal friend of the Generalis, paid a v is i t to the Gen-

eral a t 0845 hours.

Captain Coleman, American Air Lines , ano ther friend of the Generalis, drop-ped by a t 1500 hours to vis i t the GeneraL

sgtpistol.

Collinet shot himself today through theThe Doctors believe he wil l be alr ight .

finger while cleaning a .1..5

2J February 1945

The Legion of Merit wss awarded to M/sgt Moninghoff at 0800 hours in the cisoffice.

llaj Gen Hale and Brig Gen Smith of AAFPOA dropped in a t 1000 hours to conferwith the General for a short time.

The General l e f t Headquarters a t 1830 hours driving to NOB, where he addressea group of Masons. He returned Headquarters a t 2000 hours.

24 FebruarY 1945

The General departed HeadqU6rters a t 0840 hours driving to North Field Head-

quarters of the 3l.Gth Wing. He· returnee Headquarters at 1100 hours. Col. Gregory

7th Air Force Headquarters, end who i s a personal friend of the GeneralIs, drop-ped u.r at 1115 hours for a short visit with the General.

25 February 19!.5

!be GeDeral spent the dey in the office.

I Z'4It1ll"Ded Headquarters a t 0700 hours th is morning. I had a most successfult r ip and purchased a l l the equipment necessary to accomplish the completion ofthe GeDeral'a house.

Captain Parkette , ATC, a person6.l. friend of the GeneralIs, dropped in a t 09.45a . . . ' I ~ . tor • briet visit with the General.



Maj Gen Hale and Brig Gen Eisenbright visited the General et 1430 hours,

staying for about an hour and one-half.

I went up to the 204th General Hospital

vis i t . He seems to be coming along alright.be ok.

a t 1500 hours, pay10g Coll1oet aThe Doctors expect his fiDger will

The General l e f t Headquarters a t 1530 hours driv10g up to the 314th "Il1og.

He returned Headquarters a t 1700 hours.

I spent most of the day running betl'!een the airplane, the house end the

office.

27 February 1 9 Spent a busy day b e t ~ e e n the house and the office.

A Bomber Command critique ~ a held a t 1L30 hours in the War Room. WingCommanders end key staff members of the XXI Bomber Command instrumental in theplanning of this miS8ion were present. The cri t ique was over at 1600 hours. ThGeneral held a meeting of the Wing Commanders immediately after th e c ritiquewhich meeting adjourned at 1700 hours.

The General end Genersl Kissner drove downevening for supper.

to Admiral Nimitz's home this.

A report was received today that Lieut. General Harmon is overdue on hisway from here to Hickam Field at Oahu. He is presumably lost somewhere at sea.Be stopped at Kwajelein and was les t heard from about 3 to 4 hours out of there.General Anderson and Colonel Ball of AAFPOA were accompanying him on this t r ip .

28 February 1945

I l e f t the house at 0600 hours this morning with General Kissner driving toDepot Field where we met a plane carrying General Evans and party. We took theparty to breakfast and returned them to the field shortly thereafter . GeneralEvans is returning to the sta tes to attend a conferenee.

Also passing through here today was Generel 'ledemeyer and party, Admiral

Sherman and others. Admiral Nimitz and his s taf f were here on hand to greet thepart ies e=Id conferred with them during the short duration of the i r stotrover her

Speat the da,. 10 and around th e o ff ic e. I 'm s t i l l quite busy plow1og thrOU

the reams bt paper which accumulated during my absence.

Lert Headquarters at 1800 hours w ith the General and General Kissner walkinto General Hale's house where we had supper and spent a very enjoyab le evening.Returned Headquarters a t 2200 hours.

j .os t intensive search of the area over which General Harmon wes las t hear

tr. . ie t a l d ~ place. All available faci l i t ies of the Arrrry Air Forces and theIIn7 an being utilized in an e ffo rt to discover Borne trace of plane or crew.

1IOntYer. to date, nothing 1s known regarding the fa te of these men.



1 March 1945

Spent the day around the office. I have been making a n Q ~ b e r of t r ipsto the new house which is now near completion.

Drove up to the 37Jd General Hospital this afternoon extending invitations

to several nurses to attend dinner with us next Monday Evening. Dropped in atthe 204th General Hospital on my return and visited Colllnet. He seeos to be

getting along quite well.

Three lead crews from the XX Bomber Command arrived this date at 1330 hours

One of these crews is to be assigned to each of our Wings now in operation fortraining purposes.

2 March 191,5

Made a tour of the island this morning with the General leaving Headquarter

at 0900 hours and returning at 1030 hours.

~ ~ d e a tr ip to AGF this evening for a short time.

We have s t i l l received no word on General Harmon. All searches have re-

ported negative findings.

3 !.larch 19L2

The General le f t Headquarters at 0830 hours driving to the Headquarte:"s ofthe )14th Wing "here he conferred with General Power. He returned Hea.dquarters

at 1100 hours.

Yr. Sid Nelson, passing through on a t r ip , stayed for lunch and supper.Spent the afternoon in the office.

The house is progressing satisfactorily but i t ~ i l l be about another weekbefore we are able to move in .

4 March 1 9 4 ~Spent the day in the office e t routine work.

5 March 191,5

Spent the day in and around the office. St i l l busy get ti ng the house com-

plated.

Generlll Harmon was officially announced "missing" today by the War Depurtr.le

6 !larch 1945

Wing commanders were in for lunch today and remained for a Bomber Command

ori\1que which atarted a t 1300 hcurs. The cri t ique eoda<! at 1530 hours. Thaa.aeral held a meeting of the wing commanders after the crit ique which meetingUJoamed a t 103U ncurs.



7 Ilarch 1945

Spent the dey in the office.

Colonel Collar, CO of AGF on Guam, dropped in the office at 1400 hours.He made inquiries concerning the General's mess and expressed the hope that

the Army would soon be able to estqblish a General Officers ' Commissary onthe island.

The General awarded the Croix-de-Guerre to Colonel Delmar Wilson in the

Plans Room a t 1600 hQurs which meeting adjourned at 1700 hours.

8 Merch 1945


General NOTsted and a party of General Office rs a re expected to pay us

a vis i t tomorrow.

A group of nurses from the 373d Generel Hospital were over a t the house

this evening for a few drinks and supper.

9 Merch 1945

Left the quarters at 0630 hours with the General and General Kissner

driving to Depot Field meeting General NOTated and party, who arrived on aC-54 at 0700 hours. Included in the party were Brigadier Generals Powers,Timberlake and Glenn; Colonel Lamb and Dr. sterns.

A program had been arranged in advance for this party and i t went on

according to schedule, keeping this party occuppied the entire day..

Theywere g i ~ e n a very comprehensive briefing on operations, administration andsupply &maintenance.

Left Headquarters a t 1700 hours with General LeMay, General Kissner,

General Harstad and party driving to North Field where we watched th e 3l4thWing take off at 1730 hours on a mission to Tokyo. Returned Headquarters

a t 1900 hours.

10 larch 1945

The mission of last night was the largest and most successful to date.OYer 300 planes of the three wings of this command attacked the heart of

~ h TokJo industr ial center from altitudes of 5, 6, and 7,000 feet , startingthousands of f ires and causing a general conflagration in over 1,000 blocksor 17 Illuare miles of th is ci ty .

Gceral Horstad s.nd pErty lef t Headquarters a t 0830 hours driVing toBorth Field where they watched the planes of the 314th Wing return from las t

D1IlR'. II1ssion. They returned Headquarters at 1100 hours. After lunch th i s~ took o ff from Depot Field in a C-54 flying to Tinian and Seipen visi t ing

\be 7.3d and 313th Wings, respectively. General Norstad, who was accompaniedar C_ . . .1 I t i a . o r , rct.urned I 1 e a d , - ! u a r t . ~ r ~ a t 18)0 hours. The rest of the party.. a !u d o.ernight at Salpan.

- - - - - - - - - ~ - , ~ ~ - - - .. .. - .._-_.--_..



The regular Movie on the porch tonight was preceded by a film showing the

Iwo Jima invasion.

11 March 1 9 ~ 5Photographs of the 10 March Tokyo Mission proved the devasta tion in Tokyo

was as complete as had been predicted by General Power who led this mission.The heart of this city is completely gutted by f i re . I t is the most deva-

s ta ti ng raid in the history of aerial warfare.

Generals Powers, Timberlake, Glenn and Dr. Stern Returned from Tinianthis afternoon.

General LeMay and General Norsted held a press conference in the General'soffice at 1600 hours. This conference adjourned at 1700 hours. About 30~ a Correspondents were present for this meeting.

Left Headquarters at 2130 hours with the General and Major Steele (PRO)driving to the island command headquarters where the General made broadcast

to the states which will be rebroadcast on the Army Hour tomorrow night (Sun-

day) in the states. On this broadcast he descr ibed the results of the Tokyoraid. We returned Headquarters at 2230 hours.

A mission similar to the Tokyo mission of the lOth of March took off a t1800 hours this afternoon; tar@et, Nagoya. Over 300 aircraft in the commandtook off and i t is hoped the results will be equally as good as those of theTokyo mission.

12 ! lar ch 1 9 ~ 5

General Norstad and party le f t Headquarters a t 0900 hours driving to

Deoot Field where they took off in a C-54 for their return flight to the sta tes .They were greatly impressed by the program presented for them and by the act ivi-t ies of this command according to comments passed on to us.

Drove to". 314tb Wing with the General at 0930 hours interviewing several.returning crews from the Nagoya mission. From preliminary reports indicat ionsare that this mission was as successful as the Tokyo mission. We won't knowthe results unt i l post strike photographs are obtained ann studied. Radio messages 'received from the photo recon ships state that smoke is s t i l l rising toheights of 10,000 feet over the target and can be seen 150 miles to sea.

Admiral Lockwood and e British Admiral, Cresy, visited the General at

1400 hours. They held a conference in the Plans Room, which adjourned a t1630 bours.

The General le f t Headquarters at 1730 hours driving to the Fleet Post Officwhere he boarded a yacht and had supper with Admiral Lockwood. He returned Heaquarters at 2130 hours.

Post strike photographs of the Nagoya raid sho" that extensive da!Il&ge re-..l:ted but i t "as not 8S complete as the damage on the Tokyo mission.



1) llarch 19J,5

Spent the morning in the office.1600 hours. This conference adjourned

The General held

at 1630 hours.

a press conference at

Left the quarters with the General at 1945 bours driving to the Photo Lab

where the General posed for a sound movie which is to be sent back to the stateto be used in the news reels. Immediately after this we saw a weekly digest mand returned to our quarters at 2100 hours.

300 planes of this command took off again to night; target , Osaka.

14 March 1945

We will be unable to know the results of the Osaka raid for several days

due to incllment weather over the target, but p'reliminary reports from returnincrews indicate that this mission was as successful as the other two raids. Coflagrations and large concentrated fires were observed in the target area whil

the mission was in progress.

15 March 1945


We expect to move into the new house tomorrow or the next day.

Lt. Chandler, General LeMay's brother-in-law, dropped in this evening

about 1730 hours for a drink and supper. We showed a movie late in the eveningon the porch.



At 2230 hours several people from the cast of the usa show, nGirl Crazy"dropped in to cooplete the house warming. The General's staff was present.The party broke up at 00)0 hours.

22 Msrch 19A5


General O'Donnell and General Power arrived at 1100 hours and stayed forlunch.

At 1330 hours a critique was held in the ar Room covering the las t fivemissions. Wing commanders and XXI Born Com staff members instrumental in the plning and execution of these missions were present. Prior to the critique theGeneral presented the DSM to Col Sam Harris and the Silver Star to Generals Powand Davies and Colonel Sweeney for their work on these missions. The critiquewas an excellent presentation of events of these incendiary missions. I t wasover a t 1630 hours at which time the General held 8 meeting of the Wing Comman

This meeting adjourned at 1630 hours. General O'Donnell spent th e night at General LeMay's house.

2) March 19A5


Colonel t ~ n t e i t h , Lt Col Greer and two other XX Bomber Command staff of-ficers arrived this headquarters a t 1600 hours from India as the advanced echel

of the 58th Bomb Wing. The 58th Wing is to be located at Tinie.n end wil l be-come the Lth wing in the Cor::una.nd.

Colonel Monteith spent the night~

General LeMay's house.

24 March 19A5


25 March 1945

Spent th e day in the office at routine work.

26 March 1945

Brigadier General O'Neil, who is then CG

of AGF, dropped in the officeat 1100 hours to pay his respects to the General.

I r . Caldwell, who is temporarily staying at our headquarters while workingon a 20th Air Foree history, was in at 1430 hours interviewing the General for)0 .tnutes.

27 Ilarch 1945

spent the day in the office at routine "ork •

.at.J!orch 1245



Went down to the bench with the General at 1130 hours this morning for afew hours of rest and rela.xation. Returned Headquarters at 1430 hours and spentthe rest of the day in the office.

29 /larch 1945

Maj General Hale dropped in the office at 1030 hours and le f t at noon.

This afternoon a t 1330 hours a Bomber Command crit ique was held in the WarRoom. The critique was over at 1500 hours.

At 1530 hours a March of Time movie photographerLeMay and the wing commanders on the generalIs porcL.

to the house at 1900 hours and took some. more shots.

30 March 1945


31 March 1945

took some pictures of Gene

The photographer returned

Happy birthday, Beck! - 26 daVin and twice as many to go, I hope !

Maj General Breene, CG, AAFPOA ADMIN with headquarters at Honolulu,in the office with Gen Hale at 1430 hours. They spent several hours inwith the General.

droppedconferen



1 April 1942

Happy Easter I

Spent a usual day in the office a t routine work.

Brigadier General Thomas of AAFPOA Headquarters visited the General at1030 hours remaining for about an hour and one-half.

2 April 1945


J April 1945

The General lef t Headquarters at 0900 hours flying to Saipan where heconferred with General O'Donnell for a short time. In the afternoon he flewover to Tinian where he conferred with General Davies of the 313tb Wing. Hereturned Headquarters at 1900 hours.

4 April 1945


,

Major General Oldfield, Chief of the Anti-Aircraft Section attached tothe AAF, arrived this Headquarters at 1100 hours and conferred with the GenerHe remained for lunch and after a conference with our flak people, l e f t Headquarters at 1330 hours.

The General l e f t Headquarters at 1430 hours driving to North Field wherevisited with General Power for a short time. He returned headquarters at 1530hours.

5 April 1945


Major Ell iot t of Mr. Frank Lloyd's special movie organization (here to ma motion picture of the XXI Bomber Command on the order of the naval picture"Fighting Lady" dropped over to the GeneralIs house this evening and showed thpicture "Target Tokyo" and several o ther combat movies including Some very goofighter shots from the 8th Air Force.

6 April 1945

Left the house with the General this morning a t 0630 hours driving to thel ine where we took off in a B-29 flying to Tinien. On our arrival we droveto General Davies quarters where we joined him in breakfast and then drove tothe Naval docks where we boarded a p i c k e ~ boat and spent the day f ishing. I t

was aWWDderf'ul day and we got a f ine rest , however, we caught no f ish. "ereturned to the 3l3th Wing Headquarters at 1700 hours and spent the night ther



7 Aoril 1245

The General conferred with General Kimble, Island Commander of Tinian, at0830 hours. We took off from T101ao at 0930 hours and returned to Guam at 1015hours and Headquarters at 1030 hours.

The General went to the 20Lth General Hospital at 1400 bours for a heat

treatment of his houlder.

I drove to the NSD a t 1.400 hours and msde arrangements to buy specialfoods for the General's Mess through the NSD, Dry and Fresh provisions section

General Power and Colonel Wheelis of the 314th Wing dropped in a t theGeneral's bouse at 1800 hours, remaining for supper and the evening. They l e f t

a t 2200 hours.

8 April 1945


9 Aoril 1945

Left headquarters with the General at 0730 hours driving to the l i n ~ wherethe General, with General Hale, met Lt. General Ira C. Eaker, former CG of the8th Air Force and la ter CG of the Mediterranean Air Force who a rr ived v ia C-54at 0745 hours. He is stopping here for a ·few days on a "round the world" t r ip

prior to his taking over as Deputy Commander, Army Air Forces. He will stay a,AAFPOA while vi.siting Guam.

At 0900 hours a group of 9 labor leaders from the states arrived th is hea

quarters to meet the General. After a short tour of our headquar te rs , they we

to the 3 l4 th Wing where they will spend the remainder of the day.

General Eaker came over to this headquarters a t 1400 hours where he spentthe rest of the afternoon in the war room for a briefing of XXI Bomber CommandOperations, Administration, and Supply & Maintenance. He le f t at 1730 hours.

10 April 1945

The General lef t Headquarters th is morning at 0630 hours with General Eakdriving to the line where they took off at 0700 hours in a B-29 flying to IwoJ1m&. They remained at I'lI'o J1mB. for lunch and then flew to Saipan and la ter

to T1nian where they r i l l spend the night. General Eaker I s C-54 flew to Tinian

from here where i t will meet him and take him on to Manilse General LeMay wilreturn here with his B-29 tomorrow morning.

A group of newspaper correspondents arrived th is headquarters at 1330hOd1"l and spent the afternoon visiting the war rooa and familiariZing themselvwith the activit ies and operations of the !XI Bomber Command e

U April 1245




General Power arrivea headquarters at 1130 hours and remained for lunch.

General LeMay returned from Tinian a t 1145 hours.

A Bomber Commend critique was held at 1330 hours covering the las t fewmissions. This meeting wasover at 1600 hours. General LeMay held a meeting

of the winE commanders after the critique for half an hour.

Commander Jack Dempsey arr ived headquarters at 1645 hours. After a shorttour of this headquarters be proceeded to the General's quarters for a drinkand supper. He appeared at th e Base Theater at 1915 hours speaking to the men

of the XXI Bomber Command for a short time.

12 Aoril 1945

The General and General Kissner lef t Headquarters at 0900 hours drivingto CINCPAC where they attended Admiral Nimit iz 's dai ly briefing on the Pacificsituation. They returned Headquarters at 1030 hours.


I le f t Headquarters at 1730 hours driving to th e line meeting BrigadierGeneral Alexander, a personal friend of General LeMay's and Gen Kissner. Gen.Alexander remained over night, staying at ATC.

I} April 1945

Received news this morning of the death of President Frantlin D. Roosevelt.The president died yesterday, states time, at Warm Springs, Ga.

The General le f t Headquarters at 1330 hours driving to the l ine where he

took off at l445 hours ny ing to Saipan where he watched the ships of the 73dWing take off on a mission late this afternoon. General Kissner drove to theline at 1600 hours to meet Lt. General Sutherland, General MacArthur's Chiefof Staff. Gen Sutherland was accompanied by General Kenney, C.G. of the FarEastern Air Force.

At 1500

the General.

hours I drove to AGF Headquarters to attendI returned Headquarters at 1615 hours.

to some business for

I l e f t Headquarters at 1630 hours driving to NSD where I had supper andspent the evening \'lith Lt ( j . i . ) Brew, a personsl . friend and fre. terni ty brotherand tv-o of his friends.

The General spent the night at Saipan.

:u. April 1945

The General returnedmorning in the office.

Headquarters at 1015 hours and spent the rest of the

At 1300 hours the General drove to the line where a newspaper photographertoook _,"era! sbots of him with the E-29'5 S5 s background.

- - - - - - - - ~ ~ - - - - ~ . - -- - - _ . _ - - - - ~ - - - - - _



A group of 16 newspaper correspondents dropped in the office at 1500hours to meet the General and speak with him informally. They le f t r t 1530hours.

Dr. Brothers, the new chief of our Opera tional Analys is Section who is

replacing Dr. Lockridge, dropped in to pay his respects to the General at 1530hours.

The General had supper at AAFPOA on the occasion of the opening of the new

AAFPOA Senior Officers' Mess.

15 Aoril 1945


The General lef t Headquarters at 1330 hours d r i v L ~ g to CINPAC where he

spent the afternoon in conference with Admirals McMorris and Sherman. He re

turned headquarters at 1TIS hours.

The General le f t headquarters at 1730 hours and went over to Brig GenLotha Smith's where they had cocktails. He returned to the house at 1830 hours

16 April 1945

The General le1"t headquarters a t 0900 hours, driving to North Field in te r -

viewing s01le of the crews returning from todayl s mission. After speaking with

several crews and conferring with General Power for a short time, he returned

headquarters e t 1000 hours.

At 1000 hours memorial services for the late President were heldin

frontof the Headquarters Administration Building.

Spent the res t of the day in the office.

17 April 191.5

Tbe General l e f t Headquarters a t 0915 hours driving to CINPAC Headquarters

where he attended Admiral Nimito ' s daily briefing. He returned headquarters a t

1030 hours. Several Ilen from the special recording branch of our PRO office se

up their equipi!lElnt in the office end made a recording of a congratu latory an

DOunoemant by General LeI.la;r to be rehroadcll8t in the s tatss on VE Da;r.

Colonel AS. Sullivan, former communications officer on the General's s taf

in the 3d Bomb Division in England and l a t e r communications off icer of the 8thA ir Force, arr ived our headquarters a t 2400 hours, hev ing f lown from n Bom Com

heedquartere in 1001&. Be plans remaining with us for some time.

U 'nr1l l94S

Tbe General l e f t Headquarters a t 0900 hours with Col Sullivan driving to

Jortllwa.t Fiald, which will soon be ready for oceupeney by the 315th Wing. HeNturDed ae.-lquar1;erll a1; 1130 houro.




19 April 1945

The General l e f t Headquarters a t 0830 hours driving to CINPAC where he

attended Admiral Nimitz'e daily briefing and la te r attended a meeting a t tha tHQ. Fl'OIII there he drove to the 103rd Fleet Hospital where he attended a pre-sentation ceremony presided over by General Hale at which Sgt Erwin of the314th Wing WaS presented the Congressional Medal of Honor. Sg t Erwin is thef irst enlisted man to receive this coveted award in the command. We returned

Headquarters a t 1030 hours.

At 1330 hours a Bomber Command critique was held in the war room. Thecri t ique ended a t 1630 hours.

The General l e f t his quarters a t 1815 hours driving to Admiral Nimitz's

quarters for supper. He spent the evening there and returned to his quarten

at 2100 hours. Lt General. Richardson was also present at this supper.

20 April 1945


21 A pril 1945

No unusual. occurancesi spent the day in the office at routiBe work.

22 April 1945

TheGeneral l e f t Headquarters

at0830 hours driVing

toCINPAC where he a t-

tended Admiral Nimitz's daily briefing. He returned Headquarters at 1000 hours.

Spent the afternoon in the office at routine work.

23 April 1945


24 APril 194,5

General Ramey, Col Rosenblatt and several s taff officers of the 58th Wingarrived our headquarters th is morning from India. General Ramey l e f t our head-

quarters af ter haVing breakfast with the General a nd flew up to Tinian to check

in with his Wing, located there. Colonel Rosenblatt intends to spend some time

at our headquarters.

'the General spent most of the morniN in conference with Col Rosenblatt.

This afternoon at 1400 hours a presentation was held in the War Room

OOYeriDi III Bam Com operations, administration, supply &maintenance for theba...r1t or Col Rosenblatt •

..... _ ~ - . . _ ~ - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - _ - - - I



25 April 1945

Spent the morning in the offioe.

At 1000 hours a briefing on Air/Sea Resoue equipment was held in the

war room.

General Ramey arrived from Tinian at 1115 hours .•

The General spent the aftertlOon in the office.

26 April 1945


attended Admiral Nimitz 1s dai ly b ri ef ing. He returned Headquarters a t 1030

hours.

The General spent the afternoon in the office.

27 April 1945


attended Admiral Nimitz's daily briefing. He returned headquarters a t 1000

hours.

At 1000 hours a meeting was held in the General's office. BeSidesGenoa! Kissner, Col I rvine and Col Emrick, Brig Gen Goss and Captain Hills (US

were present. This meeting adjourned at 1200 hours.

The General spent the afternoon in the off ice .

28 APril 1945

1Ir. Frank l loyd, hollywood producer, dropped in the office a t llCO hoursconferring with the General. Dr 30 minutes with reference to a movie he is

directing for the AAF similar to the Navy movie "Fighting Lady".

The General spent _he afternoon in the office.

29 APril 1945

The General spent the morning in the office.

The General departed Headquartersa t

1400 hours driving to the 103rd FleHospital where he attended a presentation ceremony. He and several other

Gnera l officere and Flag officers presented Purple Heart s to the Men of the

!J'IQ' " "avy who are patients a t this and the l l l th Fleet Hospital. He re-

turned headquarters a t 1530 hours.

Spent the res t of the day in the office.

1Q Apri l 1945

. 0 lDJUJ'J\I&l occw·J·euces. Spent. t.he d1..,. in t.he of'l."ice.



1 May 1945

The General l e f t headquarters a t 0930 hours dr1ving to North Field wh

he conferred wi th General Power end memhers of the 314th Wing s taf f , rs turning headquartsrs a t 1200 hours.

1 apent the afternoon in the o fn ce.

2 !laY 1945

The Gensral l e f t headquarters a t 0845 hours driving to CINCPAC where h

attended Admiral Nimitz's daily briefing. He returned headquarters a t 101

General Remey arrived heedquarters a t 1030 hours end remained for lunc

1IIr. !Prank Lloyd was in to see the General a t 1345 hours. He l e f t theoffice a t 1430 hours after con fe rr ing with th e General.

3 May 1945

The General l e f t headquarters a t 0930 hours driving to North Field. Hreturned headquarters a t 1030 hours.

Spent the aftsrnoon in ths off ice .

4 May 1945

Left headquarters with the General s t 0830 hours driving to the Photo

lab where the General bad several photos taken.

Drove to CINCPAC a t 0845 hours with the General attending Admiral Nim

dai ly briefing. After the briefing the General conferred with Admiral Sher

At 1030 hours the General. made a broadcast which is to he recorded end

rebroadcast on V-E dey in the states as soon as the war in Europe is over.I t was in the form of congratulations to the officers end men of th e A llie dFighting Fordes. Returned headquarters a t 1100 hours.

At 1115 hours I drove to the Navy Dock Area end hoarded the recentl,.hoahed naval hospital ship ·SS Comfort". I met a former classmate, Lt. Leo

- . . . t in , end had lunch with him on this ship. Returned headquarters a t 1500

bourse

Spent the afternoon in the office a t routine work.

Colonal Rosenblatt l e f t this morning on h is re tu rn to the ~ t e s .The General l e f t headquarters a t 0930 hours driving to CINCPAC, where

he conferred wi th Admiral She1'Ol8Jl. He re turned headquarters a t 1115 hours

Left headquarters with ths General, Colonels Irvine and Wilson a t 140drirlng to the harbor w!1ere we took a trip in t.he Generalis new boat.



I t i s a t ina craf t , 65 f t long, 111 th extra po"erful marine engines. Re-

turned to the dock a t 1600 hours and headquarters a t 1630 hours.

tIr. Sid Nelson arrived today on another one of his trips from the sta

6 lAy 1945

'!'he General l e f t headquarters a t 0830 hours driving to ClNCPAC "herehe attended Admiral Nimitz's da ily b r ie f ing . Returned headquarters a t 1000

hours.

Spent the rest of the day in the office.

7 May 1945

Spent the morning in th e office.

At 1330 hours a Bomber Command cri t ique "as held in the "ar room covethe l a s t 20 missions. The cri t ique ended a t 1600 hours a t "hich time the

General held a meeting of th e Wing Commanders and s tef f personnel o f the 21Bom ColI. This meeting adjourned a t 1730 hours.

1lAy 1945

Left headquarters 111 th the General and General Kissner a t 1015 houra

driving to Depot Field attending a dedication cere:nony fo r the naming of th

f ie ld . It i s to be known hencefo rth as Harmon Field in tbe honor of the l a

Lt General Harmon, CG of AAFPOA and Deputy CG, 20th AF, "ho "as reported-. issing in action" sometime ago. Admiral Nimitz, Gen Larson, Gen Hale, aD

General LeMq (aleo other General and Flag officers) were present. I t wasmost impressive ceremony &JX1 ended at nco hours.

News reached us today of the unconditional surrender of the Nazis For

to the Americans, British and Russians in Europe. We r i l l a"ai t the off ic

announcement to be made by President Truman tonight off icial ly declaringth is V-! Day.

Left headquarters r i th the General and Gensral Kissner a t 1500 hours

driving to Depot Field "here "e "ere on hand for the arr ival of Lt General

Barney Giles a t 1515 hours. General Giles is to assume OO1lIIlIand of AAFPOA

and DEp Cool, 20th AF. Returned headquarters a t 1545 hours.

The General l e f t beadquarters a t 1630 hours driving to General Hale's

off ice "here he conferred "i th Generals Giles and Hale unt i l 1830 hours.

9 lay 19,45

Ganeral Giles arrived our headquarters this morning a t 1100 hours a t-

tanding an operational and organizational briefing of the In Bomber Com.'ll&Be l e f t af ter lunch.

Spent the afternoon in the off ice.



-

Hale'e house a t 1700 hour. attending a cocktail part)' in honor of General

Gile . . Returned headquarters a t 1730 hours.

10 MAT 1945

The General l e f t headquarter. s t 0730 hours driving to lIsNon Field

where he took off s t 0800 hours on a n i gh t to Msnila with General Gile .for conferences with General MacArthur. He expects to be gone for s everaldS)'S.

r . Collin Bed1ow, as si st sn t ed it o r of the London Dail)' Nen, dropped

by to pay h is r e s p e c t s . We were acquainted with 1Ir. Bed10w while s tationed

in Eng and.

11-12 May 1945

Spent the da)' in and around the office a t routine work.

1 ) May 1945

The General returnlid GU8lII this morning aboard a C-54 a t ,0830 hours. H

had a very nice trip - - a successful one.

14 May 1945


The General l e f t headquarter. a t 1400 hours with General Giles and Gen

Bale and a representative of our A-4 section driving t o Northwest Field to

observe construction a t that base. From there he drove to North Fjeld and

watched the shipe of ths 3l4th !ling return from toda)"s mission. Th8)' re -turned headquarters a t 1730 hours.

15 May 1945

Spent ths day in the office .a t routine work.

Thi. evening we had a showing of the Navy movie 'Fighting Lady" which

was s t -D a t th e house by' memoera ot 1Ir. Frank Lloyd's mov!. team.

C }.6 lay 1945

Spent the morning in the office a t routine work.

The General l e f t headquarters a t 1445 hours driving to lIsNon Field""ere he took off in a B-29 nying to Tinian, whera he conferred with Gene1a1r1... He returned headquarters a t 1715 hours. .

.Jor General Grant, Air Surgeon, arrived Harmon Field a t 1900 hours

He ... met b7 General Kissner who took him to General Gile . quarter . where

spent the night.



17 May 1945

Spent the ..orning in the office e t routine work.

1Ir. Collin Bed10w dropped in the office thie ..orning to call on the

General.

Brigodier General Sconlon of the AA:F Evaluation Board, arrived head-

• quartero at 1355 hours to confer with the General.

General Giles arrived this heedquarters a t 1530 hours att .nding theta rg. t and plans bri . f ing in the war roo... This bri .f ing .nd.d at 1715 hou

Loft h.adquarters with t he Gen .r al and G.n. Kissn.r a t 2200 hoursdriVing to Gensral Gil• • ' quart .rs wh.ro we attend.d a buff . t supper g iven1Ir. Hart and his Co..pany, currently touring the Marianas pres.nting the sho"The Man Who Came to Dinnert1 • Generals Grant, Alexander, Ryan, O'Neil ands taff member! of AAFPOA were present. We returned to our quarters a t 2400hours, having spent a very enjoyable evening.

1& !4Y 191.5

Spent the day in and around the off i co.

l Ir. B. Wood of the London Daily Telegram arrived this headquartoro a t

1330 hours. He conf.rred with the Goneral for about 30 minutes.

We attended the showing of a weekly film digest and s taff f i l .. reVi. . .

i l l the war room at 1500 hours.

19 May 1945

Spent the .. o ~ n g in the office.

At 1330 houro a Bo..hor Command crit ique was h.1d in the war roo.. .General Giles was present and made a 20 minute talk to the officers of theIn !loll Coa on the prohoble reorganization of tho Pacifio Allied Land andSo4 Forces. Th. critique ended a t 1700 hours, a t whioh time the Generalh.1d a . . . .ting of the Wing Commanders in the Plans Roo... This m.eting

odjournod a t 1730 hours.

Loft headquarters with ths General a t 1745 hours driving to th . l ine

wh.re w. met Lt General "Jimmy" Doolitt le a t 1800 hours and Maj Gon Partr idwho are on their way hock to the states from England. W. proce.ded from thl ine to General Giles house where we had supper and la te r saw a movie. Returned to our quarters a t 2400 hours.

20 ley 1945

Spent the morning in the off i co.

Tho General l e f t headquartero a t 1500 hour. driwing to Harmon Field wh. ~ orr lD • B-29 r l p n g 1;0 Sa1PaIh H. met General Dool i t t le u:ad Gen.

Parlridgo and Spent tho night.

. . . . . . . . ___a._ ___'"'_



21 *x 1945

Th. General returned headquarter . a t 1130 hours.


22 May 1945General. Doolittle, Partridge and part) ' l e f t GU8lIl this morning a t

0830 hour. on their return t r ip to the United State••


23 May 1945

The General l e f t headquartera a t 08:30 hours driving to CINCPAC wherehe attended Admiral 111lllitz'. dai ly b ri ef ing. He returned headquarters a t

1000 hours.

Spsnt the afternoon in the office.

At 1630 hour. I drove to NSD to attend to some buainess and remained

tor dinner with some friends of mine. Returned headquarters at 2300 hours.

24 h y 1945

The General le f t headquarters a t 0830 hours d riv ing to the l ine wherehe took off at oeoo hours flying to Tinian. Hs conferred with General

Rame;y, CG of the 58th Wing, and returned headquarters s t 1330 hours.

General StU"e 1 and party arrived a t Harmon Field a t 1400 hours on th

way thrn to San Francisco. The General . . . . on hand to grset General StU"e

Major General L.5. Luter, Brig Gen Parker and Brig Gen McNaughton arri

Harmon r i . ld at 1245 hour. tofay. Gen. Kuter is to become cis to General

GU. . . Gen. Mcllaughton ia to take over as Dc/s Admin for AAl'POI..

General StU"en and part;y dropped br the headquarters a t 1600 hours o

a b rie f tour o f in.pect ion. The;y departed headquarters e t 1630 hours.

Left headquartera wi th the General and General Kissner driving toGeneral GUel ' house a t 1845 hourl(at 1845) for a buffet supper given forGeneral Inter . We returned to our quarters at 2200 hours.

25 ley 1245


111". Patterson, publ isher of the "Balt1lll0re Sun", dropped in the off ic .

a t I l lS boano "i th Col !lex &11th, AAFPOA PKl, conferring with the General.



General Kuter arrived headquarters at 1130 hours and: remained for

lunch. He departed headquarters a t 1330 hours.


This evening the General entertained Generals Giles, Hale and Kuter

with a cocktai l p ar ty and supper. A movie was shown after supper. Thisparty le f t our quarters at 2300 hours.

26 lay 1945

At 1000 hours a spec ia l br ie fing was held in the war room on theoperationa and organization of the XXI Bomber Command fo r the benefit ot

Generals luter , Partridge end McNaughton. This briefing las ted unt i l 1300hours. The party remained for lunch end departed ehortly thereafter .

Spent the afternoon in the offi os.

General Jarmon arrived headquarters a t 0900 hours end conferred withGeneral LeMay fo r about 30 minutes.

Dr. Griffs end Dr. Merrill from the ofn ce of the Sec re ta ry of liar er-rived Guam on their way to the Phi lipp ines at 1830 hours. They had supperwi th the General and conferred wi th him in his quarters unt i l 2230 hours.

27 May 1945

Left headquarters with ths General at 0900 hours driving to Agans AirBan whsre the General participated in skest shoOting for about an hour.letuuwd headquarters a t 1030 hours.

At 1330 hours a c r l tique was held in the war room. It ended at 1630

hours. The General then held a meeting of the lIing Commanders which meetingsnded at 1730 hours.

28 May 1945

The General l e f t headquartsrs a t 0830 hours driving to CI CPAC wherehe attended Admiral Nimit.' s dai ly briefing. He returned headquarters a t

1000 hours.

Brigadier Genaal hank Armstrong, CG of the 315 th lIing, arrived by

plane at 1I0rth ' i e ld a t 1230 hours. He remailled for lunch end l e f t head-

quarters at 1430 hours.

Spent the res t of ths day in the office.

29 ItT 1945

'!'he GeDeral l e f t headquarters at 0830 hours driving to J.AJl'POA trom

wIlence he proceeded with GeDeral Giles to CINCPAC to attend Admiral Nimit. 'brief ing. Returned headquarters at 1030 hours.



wfAt 1100 hours Msjor General Wortfsmith and Gen. Kuter dropped br

conferring with General LaM..,. for about 30 minutes.

I l e t t headquarters at 1215 hours spending the afternoon on the boat,

reeting and relaxing. Returned headquartersat

1800 hours.

39 May 1945

General Kuter visited General LeMay at 1000 hours. He l e f t head-

quarters a t 1030 hour••

The General l e t t headquarter. a t 1600 hours driving to Admiral Hoover'quarters where he visited Adm Hoover and other nag officers (including GenKenney) who 1s presently touring Guam, for supper. The General returned

headquarters a t 2230 hours.

31 May 1945


General Ramey arrived headquarters at 1100 hours and remained for lunc



1 ;rune 1945

Left H e a d ~ u a r t e r s at 0700 hours with the General, drivine toHarmon Field where we were on hand to bid farewell to Genera l Hal

who is returning to the United States.

General Kissner flew up to Iwo ;rima, leaving H e a d ~ u a r t e r s at0815 hours.

Left H e a d ~ u a r t e r s a t 1445 hours, driving to Northwest Fieldattend the ded icat ion ceremonies of this recently constructed basAdmiral Nimitz, General Giles, and General Larson were among thedistinguished ~ u e s t s , each of these gentlemen delivering an addreGeneral Armstrong, Commanding General of the 313th Wing, landed thf i r s t B-29 on this field a t 1515 hours to s ta r t the dedication cemony. I t was a very impress ive ceremony and ended at 1600 hours.We

returned toH e a d ~ u a r t e r s

a t 1645 hours.

The General l e f t H e a d ~ u a r t e r s a t 1800 hours, driving to Genera l Giles ~ u a r t e r s where he stayed for supper and spent the eveninHe returned his ~ u a r t e r s a t 2300 hours.

2 ;rune 1945

The General l e f t H e a d ~ u a r t e r s a t 0900 hours, driving to NorthField where he conferred with General Powers for several hours.He returned H e a d ~ u a r t e r s a t 1100 hours.

General Kissner returned from Iwo ;rima at 1430 hours.The General drove over to General Giles off ice this afternoon

at 1530 hours where we spent an hour in conference with General G

Left the H e a d ~ u a r t e r s with the General a t 1930 hours, arr ivinat CINCPAC where the General participated in a broadcast to theUnited States . We returned to our ~ u a r t e r s at ~ 2 4 5 hours.

3 ;rune 1945

Lett H e a d ~ u s r t e r s with the General a t 0930 hours driving to t

Agana Naval Air Base where the General shot skeet for an hour withAdmiral Gunther, General Giles, and Commander Ragsdale. Returnedto H e a d ~ u a r t e r s a t 1130 hours.

4 ;rune 1945

Spent the day in the office a t ,routine work.

Mr. Henry Taylor of Scrips Howard was in a t 1400 hours andinterviewed the General for th ir ty minutes.



7 JQOe 194,5

Spent the a fternoon in the office at routine work.

8 JQOe 194,5

office athe General attended a meeting at General Giles'hOQrs retQrning to HeadqQarters at 1730 hOQrs.600

6 JQne 1945

Major General Junius Jones J ,Air Inspector, Army Air Forces,called on the General at 1000 hOQrs. He remained for lQnch andl e f t the HeadqQarters a t 1300 hOQrs.

General Jones arrived at the office a t 1000 hOQrs this morniHe was taken over to the War Room where he attended a briefing ofXXI Bomber Command operations, adminis tration , and supply mattersThis bri ef ing l as ted Qntil 1,530 hOQrs.

,5 June 194,5

The Generel held a meeting and briefing covering the overal loperations and eccomplishments of the XXI Bomber Command to datefor his Wing Commanders and two visi tors from the 20th Air Force

(Col. Fisher and Lt. Col. BaQer) in the War Rooma t

1000 hOQrs.This meeting lasted QOtil 1600 hOQrs.

The General lef t HeadqQarters a t 1000 hOQrs, driving to HarmField where he flew to Tinian. He spent the day in conference wiGeneral Davies and General Ramey inspecting the HeadqQarters of t314th and ,58th Wings, respectively. He retQrned HeadqQarters at

1700 hOQrs.

9 JQne 194,5

The General made a recording in his off ice a t 0930 hOQrs thimorning with General Ramey. This recording was made on the f i r s t

anniversary of B-29 operations.


10 JQne 194,5

Left HeadqQarters with the General a t 0930 hOQrs, driving tothe Agana Naval Air Base where we participated in some skeet shooing for aboQt an hOQr and a half . RetQrned to HeadqQarters a t

1130 hOQrs.

The General attended a meeting in the War Room a t 1330 hOQrlaeting unt i l 1,530 hours. General Giles and Mr. Clare Luce, pUbsher of Time, Life, and Fortune magazines were present.

. .. .........,;".- --- ... -----



8 JQly 1945

Left H e a d ~ w a r t e r s with the General and General Kissner a t 08hOQrs, driving to CINCPAC where they had thei r pictQres taken.These photos will ba inclQded in the National Archives Official C

l e c t i o n o f famous statesmen and mil i tar ists the world over.

From CINCPAC we drovewe spe nt an hour s h o o t i n g .

to the skaet range a t Agana Field wheWe retQrned to H e a d ~ Q a r t e r s a t 1030 h

Brigadier General Joe Smith, Commanding General of the XX BCommand, and some o f h i s s t a f f o f f i c e r s arrived a t 1100 hours and

dropped into the office to pay thei r respects to the G eneral.

L t. General Bissel l , G-2, War Department, pa id the General

v i s i t a t 1145 hOQrs.

The General spent the afte rnoon in the War Room in an organz a t i o n a l and operat ional b r i e f i n g f o r General Bissel l .

9 JQly 1945

Spent the day in the office a t rOQtine work.

I l e f t H e a d ~ w a r t e r s at 1600 hOQrs, driving to NSD where I hsupper and spent the evening wit h some n a v a l f r i e n d s o f mine.

General Ramey arrived OQr H e a d ~ Q a r t e r s at 1630 hOQrs and spthe night a t the General 's hOQse.

10 JQly 1945

The General held a meeting of Wing Commanders in his office1000 hOQrs. This meeting adjoQrned a t noon.

At 1330 hOQrs a Bomber Command c r i t i ~ Q e waS hald in tha WarRoom. This c r i t i ~ Q e ended at 1500 hOQrs.

At 1930 hOQrs I l e f t OQr ~ u a r t e r s with the General, drivingthe Agana Naval Air Base where we tr ied OQr lQck shooting on theskeet range with a new l ight ing system they have jQst ins ta l led.

RetQrned OQr ~ Q a r t e r s at 2230 hOQrs.

11 JQly 1945

General Power dropped in the office about 1100 hOQrs, con-ferr inr with the General for aboQt th i r ty minQtes.

Major General Cheeves arrived OQr HeadQQarters a t 1500 hOQstOPpinf long anOQfh to pay his raspects to the General before pceedinp to Okinawa.



We a l l reported at the Pentagon Building on the morning of17th at 1030 hours and from that morning through the 23rd we werin one mad rush. The General held conferences hourly every daywe were there when he was not busy giving a presentation to the

S teff, Joint Ghiefs of Staff , General Marshall, or some other important mili tary group. He held several Press Conferences and win general a very bUSy man the whole time we were there.

We completed our work by the 23rd, but the party was so comple te ly fatigued by that time that General Norstad prevailed onGeneral LeMay to give us a l l 8 leave before return ing to Guam.The party l e f t Washington on the 24th, going their various waysand came back to Washington on the mornine of 29 June.

We took off from Washington in our B-29 on the 30th of Junemaking short stops a t Pittsburgh and Wichita, Kansas, and final l

arrived a t Muroc Lake, California where we spent the night. What Muroo General LeMay conferred with Colonel Preston aud memberof the s taff of the XXI Bomber Com.and Lead Crew School which i sstationed there.

We took off from Muroc Lake on the morning of the f i r s t ofJuly at 0600 and flew to Oahu where we spent the night. We tookoff the fo llowing morning and flew to Kwajalein where we spent thnext night. Arrived back here on the morning of the 4th of JulyWe landed a t 1130 hours a t Depot Field and spent the res t of theday unloading the airplane and getting our things gathered toge-ther Bnd returned to our quarters.

5 and 6 July 1945

These were two very busy days trying to wade through the reaof paper work that had accumulated during our absence. The Geneheld a number of meetings and worked overtime getting the back wcleaned up.

7 July 1945

The General l e f t Headquarters a t 0800 hours, driving to Norwest Field where he watched the ships of the 3l3th Wing return

from the day's mission. He returned to Headquarters at 0930 hou

I l e f t Headquarters at 0900 hours, driving to CINCPAC to makan appointment with a special War Department photographer who i s

here taking pictures of important military and naval personageson Guam. I returned Headquarters at 1100 hours.

Rear Admiral Prida paid the Ganeral a vis i t a t 1530 hours.The General took him over to the War Room for a special operationbriting. From there the General took the Admiral to Major Kingsott ice where a special security hriAfine was ivan for hio benefThey were joined there by General Kuter. The General returned

Headquarters at 1800 hours.



Left Heedquarters at 1400 hours with the General, driving tthe 314th Wing. General Arnold arrived a t the Wing Headquarterswith his party at 1415 hours. After a short tour of inspectionthe 314th Wing area and North Field, the party proceeded to Nortwest Field where General Arnold and party conducted a similar toof in spect ion o f the 315th Wing area.

At 1630 Admiral Nimitz and several Admirals of the Navy arrived a t th is f ie ld . General Arnold presided a t a ceremony a twhich a B-29 from the 315th Wing was named the "Fleet AdmiralNimi tz". I t was a very impress ive ceremony and Admiral Nimitzacknowledged this honor with a very nice talk to the off icers anmen of the 315th Wing. The party returned to our Headquartersarea a t 1800 hours.

15 June 1945

Left Headquarters at 1000 hours with the General, flying toTinian. General Arnold and party arrived about 1030, made a shotour of inspection of the 58th Wing and la ter the 313th Wing whehe remained for lunch. After lunch General Arnold in conferencewith General LeMay, General Power, General Davies, General KuterGeneral Ramey and several other high ranking s taff officers decided that General LeMay was to make a qUick t r ip to Washingtonto present the complete picture of our operations to the jointChiefs of Staff and the President of the United States.

We made a hurried return f l ight to Guam where we arrived at

1430 hours and spent the rest of the afternoon packing for a proposed take off this evening. We l e f t Headquarters at 2130 hoursdriving to North Field where we took off in an operational B-29a t 2205 hours enroute to Washington, D. C.

Sgt Skillern drove my brother down to ATC to make preparatioto return to his base a t Kwajalein. August departed the nextmorning.

16 June through 4 July 1945

Our t r ip back to the Statest was the fas tes t ever recorded f

Guam to Washington, D. C., and the longest nonstop f l ight for aB-29. We made by one s top enroute , Oahu where we were on theground two and a half hours gassing the airplane and getting somthing to eat . We flew nonstop from there to ':Iashington, D. C••landing a t National Airport, Gravelly Point a t 2300 hours on the16th. ~ had encompassed a distance of 4650 statute miles inth i r ty eight and a half hours, th ir ty six hours to ta l flying timeSeveral of General LeMay's s taff off icers of the XXI Bomber C o ~ a a c c o ~ p a n i e d us on the t r ip to ass is t in his presentations to theWar Depart'llent.



12 July 1945

Spent the morning in the off ice at routine work.

The General l e f t Headouarters a t 1345 hours driving to the315th Wing where he attended a briefing for a mission taking oth is evening. He returned H e a d ~ u a r t e r s a t 1545 hours.

The General par tic ip ated in a moving picture which was takin the War Room this evening a t 2000 hours.

13 July 1945


Commander Ragsdale and two of his friends came over to the

house th is evening for supper. About 1930 we l e f t the house androve over to the Agans Naval Air Base and participated an hourand a half in skeet shooting.

14 July 1945

Spent the day in the office at . rout ine work.

The General drove over to General Giles' house for supperspent the evening there. He returned ·0 his ~ u a r t e r s about 23015 July 194,5

The General took the morning off . He spent i t a t the houtrying to get a l i t t l e res t .

Mr. Sid Nelson dropped in a t noon and spent the re s t of thday and the night with us.

16 July 194,5

The General l e f t H e a d ~ u a r t e r s a t 0930 hours, driving to DField wheFe he did some local fly ing for about two and a half h

General Power was in for lunch.

General Davies arrived short ly af te r lunch and conferredwith the General unt i l 1330.

17 July 194,5

Effective 1000 hours th is morning H e a d ~ u a r t e r s XXI BomberGommand was redesignated H e a d ~ u a r t e r s 20th Air Force l and Head-quarters AAFPOA has now become H e a d ~ u a r t e r s USASTAF UnitedSta t e s Army Strateg ic Air Forces ) . The XX B O l l 1 u e ~ · Cummand 1n

Okinaws has become the 8th Air Force under the command of Lt

Gen Jimmy Doolittle •. . . . . - . .0 . . . . _

. . . . . . ..__.__



18 July 1945


19 July 1945

At 0900 hours the General went up to the 204th General Hopita l for several tests in connection with a general physicalexamination he is undergoing at the present time. He returnedHeadquarters at Doon.

20 July 1945

Brigadier General R. O'Neill , Commanding General of AGF,dropped in and conferred with the General for about a half houa t 1430 hours.

At 1515 General Giles arrived a t the War Room with Mr. Pav. McNutt and a committe6 of senators touring the Pacif ic areaThey were very highly impressed with the briefing conducted byColonel Garcia on targets and damage assessment on our recentoperations.

At 1700 hours we took this group of distineuished vis i tors

to the 315th Wing Headquarters a t Northwest Field where theywatched this Wing take off on a mission a t 1730 hours. We re-turned Headquarters a t 1845 hours.

Brigadier General E. F. Bullene, Chemical Warfare Officer

on his way through to Manila stopped over for supper and con-ferred with General LeMay after supper unt i l he l e f t a t 2130 h

21 July 1945


Lt General Dooli t t le arrived a t Harmon Field a t 1630 hourHe is here to confer with personnel of the 20th Air Force andUSASTAF.

22 July 1945

Spent the day in the off ice a t routine work.bothered with a boil on my arm so I spent most· ofmy quarters on advice of the doctor.

I have beenthe day a t

23 July 1945

I was confined to 204th General Hospi tal this morning fortreatment of the infect ion in my arm. I hope to be releasedin three or four days.



Brigadier General Stace, Headquarters USASTAF (Admin.),dropped in the office at 0930 hours to pay his respects to theGeneral.

Lt General Twining arrived a t Harmon.Field at 1220 hourshe was met by General Giles, General Doolit t le , General LeMay,and General Kissner, After a brief period of introductions hep r o c ~ e d e d to General Giles' quarters where he wil l remain untipernanent housing for him has been established. We have learnethat General Twining is scheduled to take over the command ofthe 20th Air Force, vice General LeMay.

General LeMay spent the a fternoon in conference at USASTAHeadquarters.

24 "uly 1945The General spent the day in the War Room attending a pre

sentation of opera tions, admin is tration , maintenance and suppland plans of the 20th Air Force for the benefit of General Twiand General Dooli t t le .

25 "uly 1945

Returned from the hospital a t 0930 hours th is morning, aprently cured, I hope.

Radio announcement at noon today released the news thatGeneral Twinine is to a s s ~ ~ e c o ~ a n d of the 20th Air F o r c ~ andthat General L e , ~ y is to take over as Chief of Staff of USASTA

~ don' t expect the physical move to take place unti l GeneralSpaatz arrives around the f ir s t of August.

26 "uly 1945

General KiEsner spent the day with Gener?l Twininc at Tiniand Saipan visi t in( the 58th, 73rd and 313th "lines. The Generheld a presentation of awards ceremony in his off ice this afternoon for about 15 off icers and men.

Colonel F. G. Allen, the off icer who accompanied us to Indarrived Headquarters a t 2230 hours. He i s on his way to Manilawhere he will serve as USASTAF Liaison Officer on General ~ c Arthur 's Staff .

27 "uly 1945

General Tvdnine spent the day in General LeNey's of f i ce ,famil iar izing himself with 20th Air Force direct ives and pUbli-cations.

Left H e a d ~ u a r t e r s with the Ceneral a t 1400 hours drivingto C l r ~ F A C where the Ceneral made a recordine to be rebroadcas



,I,

\\

in the States next Sunday on the ~ r m y Hour. Returned Headquarat 1500 hours.

Lt General Yount, C o m ~ a n d i n e General of the Training C o ~ nand Brie Ceneral ~ a l s h , his Chief of Staff , arrived Headquartera t 1630 hours to confer with the Genera l.

28 July 1945

Spent the morninr in the off ice.

Another brief io£ was held this afternoon in the War Room a1430 hours for General Yount. This br ief inf ended a t 1700 hou

29 July 1945

Left the office wi th the General a t 0900 hours, driving toAgana Naval Air Base where we spent an hour and a half shootingskeet. Returned Headquarters a t 1030 hours.

Genera l Spaatz and party arrived at Depot Field a t 1430 hoGeneral Giles, who had flown to Oahu tD meet Generel Spaatz, arrived on the same plane. There \v8s a bie: delecation of Generaand Admirals to meet General Spaatz and party. General Spaatzproceeded directly to his new quarters which had been preparedfor him and spent the rest of the a fternoon in conference withGeneral Giles, General Yount, General LeMay and General Power.

The General had dinner w ith General Spaatz and spent the evenina t his house.

30 July 1945

Major General Wolfe, formerly Commanding General of the XX

Bomber Command, visi ted our Headquarters a t 1000 hours. He spethe rest of the morning in conference with the General end re-mained for lunch.

Brisadier General Farrel l paid his resp ects this afternoonabout 1330 hours.

The General spent most of the day a t a b rie fin g fo r GeneraSpaatz.

31 July 1945

Spent the morning in the office a t routine work.

The General spent most of the afternoon at General Spaatzquarters , c o n d u c t i ~ a briefing. A Top Secret movie for Gener8puutz, General Twining, ! jW] Gt:.:ut:H'al LtlMay was shown 1n the WarRoom at 1630 hours.

- , _ .. . _...:....



1 August 1945

Maj General V Bertrendies dropped in the office this morning

a t 0930 hours. He conferred with the General for about th ir tyminutes.

Ie spent a very bUSy day preparing for our move to our newoffice a t USASTAF tomorrow. eneral LeMay received his orders thafternoon, transferring him to USASTAF. Sgt Collinet, Sgt Skilleand I received our orders a l i t t l e la ter .

The General l e f t Headquarters a t 1400 hours driving to thewhere he took off in a B-29, flying to Saipan end Tinian to bid"line cO:11"J.anders f ar ewell p rio r to acceptine h is new assignment.returned Headnuarters at 1730 hours.

l ihH

Brig General Cha.:nberlain arrived our ~ u a r t e r s at midnieht and'pent the nicht a t the house.

2 Au'ust 1945

Spent the ~ o r n i n e movine into our Dew off ice .

Ceneral LeMay drove to the 315th ~ i n e at 0930, returning Heaquarters 1045 hours.

Last night the 20th Air Force sent the largest force to dateover Japan. 855 B-29's were airborne and 6500 tons of bombs and

mines were dropped on five major Japanese targets. Reports receivtoday indicete excellent results were obtained. All but one of t 'airplanes are accounted for at the present time.

The General held a number of conferences throuohout the daywi th the off icers on his new staff at USl1STAF. "le spent quite abusy day.

3 AU'lust 194,5

Spent a busy day in the off ice. The Generel is s t i l l bUSy orgenizing his Staff . The s taf f of U STAF as i t stands at the pre

sent ti:ne i s cO!llposed of the followinp- off icers , occupying the potions indicated:

C o ~ n d i n g GeneralDeputy Commanding GeneralChief of StaffA-IA-2

A-3A-4A-5

General S aa tzGeneral GilesGeneral Le;JayGeneral UcNaughtonGeneral HarboldGeneral I- owerGeneral BoothGeneral L ludsay



in the office. The General 's eye botheredThe Dispensary placed a patch over i t toGeneral spent the afternoon at the house•

I

In a volleyball game this evening the General received aninjury to his righ t eya. They Don't know how serious it is justyet , but he received treatment a t the th Air Force Dispensary.

4 August 1945

Spent the morninehim quite a b it today •reduce i r r i ta t ion . Thetrying to rest his eye.

5 August 1945

Spent t ,e day in the off ice. The General 's eye s t i l l bothershim quite a b it but he has indicated that i t feels somewhat bet terthan it did yesterday.

6 August 1945

Spent another bUSy day in the off ice at routine work.

7 August 1945

Today the f i r s t atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.The detailed resul ts were not obtainable yet. Early reports indi-cate that the destruction wrought this ci ty is incalculable. Earlyestimates are that 5010 of i t s population were ~ i l l e d by this s inglebomb.

General Griswold was in the office today on his way to Okinawa

where he will join the 8th Air Force.

8 August 1945

The General spent some time e t the 20th Air Force today brief-ing General Griswold on our operations.

9 August 1945

Today Russia declared war on Japan and started by a launching8 concentrated drive in Northern Manchuria.

I l e f t Headquarters a t 1500 hours driving a Bri t i sh navalofficar to North Field, taking him around the 314th Wing area. Ireturned Headquarters a t 1700 hours.

10 August 1945

Spent tha morning in the off ice .

/



•

General Wetzel arrived our Headquarters at 0900 hours. Hehas been assigned to this Headquarters to work on a special project for General Arnold in connection w ith the Postwar Air Forceand. has been assigned to the office of Assistant Chief of Staff , A

Left Headquarters with the General a t 1415 hours driving tothe l ine where we met General Doolit t le who arrived a t 1430 hoursvia a B-29. He i s here to confer with the Staffs of USASTAF andthe 20th Air Force.

News came over the radio tonight of Japan's wil l ingness toaccept the uncond itional surrender ultimatum as se t forth in thePotsdam conference prov ided they a re permitted to retain the Em-peror as the supreme ruler of Japan. No Allied sources have con-firmed or commented on this announcement. I t was reportedly broadcast over the Japanese radio and transmitted to the Swiss and

Swedish governments for transmittal to the Uni ted States , England,China and Russia.

11 August 1945

Most busy day today - conferences," meetings, and more of thesame. The Allies have acknowledged the fact that Japan is askingfor surrender provided Hirohito is spared.

We waited patiently tonight for the Allies ' reply to Japan'sconditional effort to surrender but no word came through the evenin

12 August· 1945

Word came s t 0130 hours this morning that the United States ,speaking for the four Allied Nations, has accepted the Japanesesurrender provided the Supreme Allied Military Commander would besllowed to issue a l l orders to the Japsnese people through theEmperor.

Spent another busy day in the office.

13 August 1945

No word received yet whether or not Japan has accepted our term

14 August 1945

Messsge was intercepted at 1630 by FCC to the effect thatlapan i s sending an acceptance of our terms to Bern, Switzerland&ortly.



August 1945

General Giles off ice this morningDooli t t le , Twining, LeMay and the

This meeting adjourned a t 1100 h

•

Formal word was received this rnorning at 0900 hours local time(1900 Eastern Standard Time, 14 August 1945) that the Japanese haveaccepted the unconditional surrender ultimatum issued them at Pots-dam. General MacArthur nas been selected as Supreme Allied Commaner in C ~ i e f over the Japanese. Formal surrender wil l be signed assoon as a l l detailed arrangements for i t can be ~ a d e .

We spen t ano the r bUsy day in the office.

16 August 1945

Brig Gen Weir and Brig Gen Agee arrived this Headquarters thismorning. Gao Weir is to be assigned as Air Inspector, USASTAF, andGen Agee i s to work in A-3 as Cen Power's assistant .

Received word today that Gen Spaatz has been invited to attendformal signing of the surrender by the Japanese. He i s to be aguest of Admiral Nimitz.

17 Aueust 1945


Lt Gen Sutherland, General MacArthur's Chief of Staff , passingthrough Guam on his way to the United States, had supper with theGeneral a t 2030 hours.

18 August 1945


General Doolit t le arrived our Headquarters a t 1600 hours. Heplans to spend the night here.

19 August 1945

A s taf f meeting was held ina t 0900 hours. Generals Spaatz,

A Staff of USASTAF were present.

20 August 1945


Brig Gen Hopkins was in to pay h is respects a t 1300 hours.

General l o f t Hcadauartcre a t 0900 houro, dr iv ing to the l ino

re he did some locai flying for two hours.



•

Brig Gen Rutledge errived this Headquarters a t 0930 hours.

22 August 1945

Brig Gen Grow arrived this Headquarters today. He is to beassigned as USASTAF Surgeon •


23 August 1945

A great tragedy occurred today. Col Jim Garcia was kil ledin a B-29 accident at Depot Field. Lt Col Brandon and Capt Tash,also of the 20th Air Force Headquarters, were flying with him a t

the time and were also kil led.

Brig Gen Gardner was in today. He is to work with the 509thGroup and go to Japan to study and inspect the damage that wa sinf l ic ted as a resul t of our B-29 str ikes.

24 August 1945

Spent the morning in the office .

I l e f t Headquarters at 1345 hours with the General and GenKis sner , d riv ing to one of the cemeteries on the island to attendburial services for Col Garcia. It was a very impress ive ceremonattended by Generals Spaatz , Twining, LeMay, and Kissner, and

several hundred officers and men of th is and the 20th Air ForceHeadqucrters.

25 August 1945

Spent a busy day in the off ice .

The humidity the l a s t two weeks has been ter r i f ic . Almosteveryone i s suffering fro.:n a severe case of heat rash.

General Kute r arrived th is Headquarters at 1715 hours andspent the nicht at the 0eneral's quarters.

26 Aueust 1945

Brie Cen Timberlake, Chief of Staff of 8th Air Force, arrivedthis nornine. He is to spend several days at this Headquarters.

Left Headquarters a t 1400 hours, drivine to the ,gana NavalAir ~ a s e skeet ranee where we spent an hour and ahalf shooting sk



•

27 !,U"U8t 1945

Eric r.en Todd and rigGen ~ u r n s

,rrivcd this Headquarters atnoon.

Gent:r ' l l:i"'sner was awarded the Legion of '':erit by GeneralSpaatz a t an informal cerenony a t General Spaatz' quarters at 1900bourse

28 __ upust 1945

General Speatz and General Giles l ef t Headquarters a t 1000hours for Okinawa.

29 AUfust 194,5

Lmjor Gen Parker arrived this Headquarters a t 1700 hours. Heis to spend several days with USASTAF.

';r Knight) an Air Force art i s t , and ]j'r. Beale, aCorrespondent, Gropped in at the house this Evenio£.did a sketch of the Cerreral while he wus here.

Lt Foley ("..'.';C) reported for duty this: 8 f t e r n ~ > o n .-assist Il E in the office of the Chief of St<,ff.

Col l ier ' s ":t:.r' ~ r . l:night

She is to

General Spsatz and General r.iles returned Headquorters this

evenine.

30 AUfust 194,5

General Burns departed this Headquarters this :nornine forOkinawa via B-29.

31 Aucust 1945

General Spaatz and Ceneral Giles l ef t for Tokyo this A. " .

The ~ e n e r a l received a ~ i r e tonight fron eneral Spaatz who

arrived Tokyo early in the avenine, te l l ine General Le:lay to f lto Tokyo tha f i rs t thing in the ~ o r n i n e to witness the siening ofthe surrender.

1 S e p t e ~ b e r 1942

The Gener"l l ef t Eeadquarters a t 0645 hours and took off f r o ~B a r ~ o n Field a t 0700 hours in General Giles C-54, flyinc to rltsue i~ r o ~ e . Tokyo. He arrived Tokyo at 1700 hours local Japanese

(1800 hours our time).



A cousin of my wife dropped in on me unexpectedly this eveniLt. Thomason a Naval off icer . He spent the night at our house.

General Kissner and Sgt Skil lern lef t H e a d ~ u a r t e r s a t 0600hours on the m o r n i n ~ of the f i f th flyinp to Manila where theyexpect to remain ten days, surveying the Manila area for possible

VLR bases.

--- . . . . .

night at General Spaatz' house - a l

Tne game broke up at 0600 hours the

of awards ceremony took place on General SpaaGeneral Spaatz presented 25 off icers and men

General LeMay spent thestand a l l night poker game.mornine of the fou rth .

7 September 1945

Left H e a d ~ u a r t e r s at 0900 hours with the Generel and GeneraPower, driving to the 314th WinE to take some movies. Shortlyatter our arrival we witnessed a horrible B-29 crash. The Generwaa on hand with his camera and took about 250 fee t of K o d a c h r o ~ movies on the ent ir e a ction. Had lunch at Col ~ t o r r i e ' s house

and returned H e a d ~ u a r t e r a a t 1300 hours.

4 September 1945General Spaatz and a party of about six took off from Depot

Field a t 0615 hours ~ their way to the United States.

Spent the day in tpe office.

5 and 6 Septe'llber 1945

Things have slowed down considerably. Spent these two days

.n the off ice .

A presentationlawn a t 1630 hours.with decorations.

3 Seotember 1945


The General returned from Tokyo a t 1600 hours. He said it wa most interest ing tr ip. He took about a three hour f l ight up anddown the coast of Japan viewine the results of the incendiary s tr i

he had d ir ec ted aga in st Japanese targets.

2 Septe'llber 1945

The surrender was signed at 1130 this mlt'ning, Gua'll time. I

heard i t broadcast over the radio - i t was a most int6r8st ine program. I drove down to the Navy this afternoon for supper and

spent the even ing.



was met byand GeneralBshington,

•

We returned to the 314th a t 1500 hours where we witnessed abasebsll pame played by teams composed of former biS league bal lplayers. Returned Headquarters a t 1730 hours.

8 September 1945

Spent the day in the off ice.

General Doolit t le arrived Guam a t 1700 hours andGeneral LeMay. He is here to confer with the GeneralTwining on plans for a proposed f l ight from Tokyo toD. C. - a nonstop f l ight of th re e B-29's .

General Doolit t le had supper with General LeMay.Twining was also at the house for supper this evening.

Doolit t le spent the night a t General Giles ' house.

9 September 1945

General(}eneral

Generals Doolitt le , Twining and LeMay conferred in GeneralLeMay's off ice unti l 1000 hours at which time General Dool i t t le

took off for a return trip to his Headquarters at Okinawa.

I l e f t Headquarters with the General , General Power and GenerMcNaughton at 1015 hours driving to the Naval docks where we l e f tat 1030 hours on a Chris Craft cruiser for a day of f ishing.

Enjoyed a wonderful rest and relaxation. General McNaughtoncaught a ten pound Barracuda and later General Power caught a BlueMarlin after a struggle of an hour and f if teen minutes. ~ e i g h e dupon our return, i t tipped the scales at 125 pounds wans was oversix reet in length. - a fine day. Returned home t ired but happya t 1830 hours. -

10 September 1945


I drove down to CINCPAC for supper this evening.

11 September 1945

The General received word today that he >,'lill accompany GeneraDoolittle on the Tokyo to Washington f l ight . General L e ~ a y wil ltake one ship, Dooli t t le another, and Twining the third. I wil lremain here unti l the General returns to the Sta tes and sends meword as to whether I wil l move his things back to the States or. -a i t his return here, depending upon the o rders issued him onB return. He plans l e a v i n ~ around the 19th and I should hear

WBY or the other by the 25th.

I spent most of the day a t the house, edit ing our ~ o v i e s tsken

teo



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.

12 September 1945

Spent the day in the off ice.

General Doolitt le returned toGuam

today.He wi l l

remain heunt i l he makes his long f l ight •

Sid Nelson dropped in this afternoon. He is on his way backto the States af te r having flown for th i r ty days back and forthfrom Okinawa to Japan • .

13 September 1945

Spent the day in the office . It rained continuously withouta le t up a l l day lone.

14 Seotember 1945

I t rained again most of the day.

1!ade a trip to C I N C P ~ C after lunch, returning Headquartersabout 1430 hours.

At 1600 hours the General presented the Lepion of Merit toMajor Kingston a t the War Room of the 20th Air Force.

Sid Nelson l e f t a t 2000 hours on his return to the States.

General Hodges, Commanding General of the 8th Army, and a

party of six arrived Guam a t 2030 hours on the i r return to theStates . He had supper with the General and they took off againa t 2300.



at 1400 hours. He spent•15 September 1945


General Brands was in the officethe night a t this Headquarters •

General Kissner returned at 1730Northwest Field. He indicated he hadthrough the Manila area.

hours.eve ry

I picked him up atsuccessful trip

Received a wire that may change General LeMay's plans on histr ip. Have to await resul ts .

16 September 1945

The General l e f t Headquarters a t 1400 hours, driving to thel ine where he took off in a B-29, flying to Iwo Jima. From therehe plans on flying to Hokkaido and from there non-stop to Washington, D. C. General Giles and General O'Donnell each flew a B-29

in addition to the one General LeMay flew. General Dooli t t le and

General ~ v i n i n g did not accompany these off icers on th is trip .General Dooli t t le l e f t at 1300 hours on his return to the States.He travelled via B-29. I am to remain here unti l I hear from theGeneral short ly af ter his return to Washington.

17 and 18 September 1945

Spent the days in end around the office. No news from theGeneral as yet.

19 September 1945

Three B-29's took off a t 0600 hours from Hokkaido, Japan inan attempted non-s top f l ight to Washington, D. C. Reports duringthe day indicate they are progressing sa t i s fac tor i ly .

20 September 1945

A radio report received at 0900 hours indicates that theseairplanes wil l probably land a t Chicago. The f l ight encounteredvery high headwinds which caused them to use more gasoline thanthey had planned. After refueling a t Chicago a l l th ree p lane s reaced Waahington safely.

General Kissner had a very nice buffet supper this evening.The WAC, some f l ight nurses, and Red Cross gir ls , and about twentyorrlcera from USASTAF and 20th Air Force were the guests. Spentaost enjoyable evening.



afternoon indicating that I am to ra t urGenerals LeMay and O'Donnell are both

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21 September 1245

St i l l no word from th e General on his or my status.

Lt Gen Wedemeyer and a party of ten arrived Guam a t 1710 hoursGeneral Twinin and General Kissner met them. General Twining hadthem for supper and they spent the night on the i s land.

22 September 1245

General Wedemeyer end party r epor t to Agana Airfield a t 0800 h

I received a wire thisto ~ a s h i n g t o n immediately.remaining in the sta tes .

23 and 24 September 1245

Spent these busy days gett ing a l l the General 's things together and packing up personal and office equipment preparatoryto my return f l ight to the States. I am retu rn in g in an F-13and expect to leave Tuesday, September 25.

curtis e. lemay daily diary, 1944-1945

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