The Snapshots in Time Collection
Pilot's Flight Log Book, October 1944 — Marshall Islands Combat and Patrol Flights (Pat McAleer Log Book, Jan. 1942-Sept. 1948)
This page from a Navy or Marine aviator's personal flight log book records a month of wartime flying in October 1944, alternating between routine training and patrol flights around the U.S.-held Marshall Islands atolls of Roi-Namur, Kwajalein, and Majuro, and combat strikes — highlighted in red ink as 'BOMB JALUIT' — against the isolated Japanese garrison on Jaluit Atoll. Flying SB2C Helldiver and SBD Dauntless dive bombers alongside F4U Corsair fighters, this pilot's entries offer a firsthand, day-by-day record of the often-overlooked task of keeping bypassed enemy strongpoints suppressed for the remainder of the Pacific War. Project: 218060