From the diary of Walter Anthony Bobrowski - WWII November, 1944 through October, 1945
Dad’s diary entry in the back of his diary: Walter Bobrowski
Born –1924 Detroit, Mich.
Father – Anthony Bobrowski Born in – Russia – Vilno
Mother – Mary Lipa
Born in – Austria (Poland)
I attended grade school at St. Cunegunda’s Parochial School. Graduated in 1938. Attended Chadsey High School four years. Graduated in 1942. In June of “42” went to work at Solvay Process Chemical Co. Repair shop as an apprentice. Worked there for eight mos. Left Solvay, got a “job” at Timken Detroit Axle Co. as a lathe hand in the tool room, worked there about 15 mo. till June 1942 when I was inducted into the service of the U.S. Navy. Had boot training at Great Lakes, after 8 wks. had boot leave of 9 days. From there I was sent to a diesel school at University of Ill. Had five wks training there and was sent to Solomon, MD, 60 mi. from Wash. Was there for four wks. Got our crew there, and we were sent to New Orleans. Stayed at Algiers one week then was given an LST to take us to our destination. After a few days on board ship we left for Gulfport, Miss. where we picked up our LCT (6) 1411.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/10/18/180417.htm
We were launched April 9th, 1945, on the Western beaches of Okinawa, our first operative of the war. August 15, 1945 – Japan has surrendered unconditionally. The war is over officially Sept. 2, 1945. Left Okinawa Jan 6th on carrier Ticonderoga homeward bound for discharge. Was discharged at Great Lakes Jan. 30, ’45.
Date Diary Notes
1944
13 June Was inducted into U.S. Navy, but there was no room on train so we were sent back home. 14 Jun Was sworn into the U.S. Naval Reserve in Federal Building, Detroit, Mich.
15 Jun On way to Great Lakes Boot Camp.
16 Jun Arrived at Great Lakes about 8:30 after 13 hr. train ride. 17 Jun Was issued clothing & temporary barracks.
4
November
Left Solomon at 12:30. Left Wash., 17:30 on “Ambassador” for Detroit.
5 Nov Arrived in Detroit 8:00. Had a swell time, visited most of my friends. Was with Julia till two, and home to bed.
6 Nov Was home till 16:00. Butch [Norby’s brother, also known as Stanley] went to train with me. Train left at 5:30pm. Met girl on train, seemed like a quiet girl. Was she hot. She got off one stop before Washington. Arrived in Washington on time.
13 Nov Left Solomon at 18:00, arrived in Washington 20:00. Boarded troop train at 22:30 14 Nov We are on our way to New Orleans. Plenty of rest in sleeping cars. Also plenty of booze. 15 Nov Arrived in New Orleans at noon, after 36 hr. train ride.
25 Nov Purchased this book while in New Orleans while on liberty. F 26 Nov Loaded supplies (food) in morning, and fuel in evening. F 27 Nov Loaded ammunition all afternoon LR
28 Nov Are on Gulf of Mexico, headed for Gulfport. Arrived at Gulfport 18:45. LR
29 Nov Loaded tank deck with quonset huts. http://www.seabeesmuseum.com/Quonset_Huts.html 30 Nov We are now on Gulf of Mexico, bluest water in the world. F
1 Dec Still on the Gulf, headed for Caribbean, little rough. F
2 Dec Passed coast of Cuba 23:00. We are now in Caribbean. Still feel good. Many seasick. F 3 Dec Still in Caribbean. Ship rolls very much. Weather fair.
4 Dec Had a dog naming contest. They gave him name of “Salty”. I suggested it. Some fellows don’t like it.
5 Dec Fellows want to re-name dog. We’re still in Caribbean, should hit port tomorrow afternoon R&F.
6 Dec Sighted land at 14:45. Were in port 20:00. Had liberty till 23:00. Went to Colon, what a town. F
7 Dec Took on some fuel & supplies, some fellows went swimming. Went to canteen and movie in eve. (COCO SOLO [U.S. Naval station in Panama]) LR
8 Dec We left dock but anchored in port till morning. Had base liberty, went to a movie & canteen. LR & F
9 Dec Left port for canal locks. Entered first lock at 0910, left last lock at about 1500. (C-180) F 10 Dec Nearly all day we are sailing in West by Southwest direction. F
11 Dec We are now headed in NW direction. Water very calm. F
12 Still headed in NW direction. Coast of Mexico visible much of time. F
13 Are now headed about 320*, should hit port about 23 December. We are expecting a storm at night.
14 Very windy day, made only 53 miles in 12 hrs.
15 Sea is calm. Mountains of Mexico visible most of time. Was awarded 2 boxes of “mounds” prize in dog contest.
16 Nothing unusual, sea calm. Worked on LCT in ballest tanks. 17 A rather quiet Sunday. Just another day out here. F
18 A beautiful day. Saw a school of porpoise in evening. F
19 Was cleaning up in our engine room. Sighted coast of Mexico again. F
20 Was supposed to work in sculling but didn’t get job. About 250 miles from San Diego. F 21 Arrived at San Diego in evening. Quite a large port & city. Starboard section has liberty till
7:00AM.
22 Our section gets liberty from 14:00 till 07:00. A nice city. Quite crowded. Returned to ship about midnite.
23 Was able to get 48 [hours leave]. Went to Los Angeles. Crowded even more than San Diego, no place to sleep. Took bus back to Diego 0615.
24 Arrived in Diego 1100, ate, found a church. 1230 mass, confession. Invited to ride & dinner with some folks, took part in show at “Y”. Slept there.
25 Went to cathedral 9:00, communion. Ate at “Y”, returned to ship. Dinner aboard ship. 26 Went on liberty to San Diego. Wrote to 6 persons. Went to movie.
27 Wrote love letter to Julia the first. Wrote a letter to Mr. Panfil. Still staying in port. F 28 Had liberty. Went to movie. Saw S. Tracy in “Seventh Cross”. Wrote letters to Aunt & Steve. 29 Was painting valves & couplings in engine room. No hint of leaving soon. LR & F
30 Nothing much doing. Getting tired of this place already.
1945
1 January Went to church for 9:00A.M. Had a swell chicken dinner aboard ship. Went to base movie. Julia on my mind.
3 Jan Well, we’re saying good-bye to San Diego afternoon and are heading for San Francisco. Coast of California is visible. Little foggy, passed 3 small flattops, some destroyers. 3LST’s make our convoy.
4 Jan This afternoon at 2:00PM we crossed the Golden Gates of San Francisco. Many ships in harbor, anchored 500 yards from Oakland Bridge.
5 Jan Had liberty last night, went around main part of town, went to movie. Ate, retired at 0230 AM. Mess cook as of 3rd, liberty every nite if I want it.
6 Jan Went ashore in evening. Traveled around town a bit. Wrote one letter. Returned to ship 0230. Little warmer today.
7 Jan Up anchor at 14:00, docked in Oakland. Went ashore, nice city, could have lot of “fun” if you want to spend your $ like a sap.
8 Jan Stayed aboard ship today. Many fellows getting leaves. Expect to stay here a month. 9 Jan Had liberty in Oakland. Nothing exciting, money situation keeping me in hand. 10 Jan Nothing much to do except cleaning mess halls.
11 Jan Decided to see a stage play in Frisco, “Blithe Spirit”. Good performance.
12 Jan Stayed aboard ship. Unloading our cargo. Houligan fell down cargo hatch, not hurt, just shocked.
13 Jan Got a ride to Frisco in a Jeep. Did some sight seeing, shopping. Went to a movie “30 Seconds Over Tokyo”. Good play.
14 Jan Too tired to go anywhere. Wrote a letter, took a good shower and went to bed about 2100. 15 Jan Decided to go to town in evening. Mailed a few letters, one to Ruth. Life aboard ship dull as
hell.
18 Jan I’ll take it easy today. Get some sleep. We get paid tomorrow.
19 Jan Went into town in afternoon to a movie. “Song to Remember”. Evening went to stage door canteen, good shows.
20 Jan Went out in evening. Went to St. Mary’s in Chinatown to confession. Went to Stage door canteen, saw Contact Caravan.
21 Jan This morning I went to St. Theresa’s church at 19th & Mosurri Ave. I’ll stay aboard tonite. 22 Jan For some reason feel quite down in the dumps. City is getting to be just a monotony. Saw a
good movie, “To Have and Have Not”.
23 Jan Very tired today. Think I’ll stay aboard. Had a letter from Julie, she liked sketch I sent her. 24 Jan We left Bethlehem Ship Yards this morning. Are now anchored in bay. Went on liberty,
nothing to do.
25 Jan Stayed aboard today, washed some clothing (hats & socks). Raining slightly this morning. Got a pair of marine shoes from the Skipper.
26 Jan Took a trip to San Jose. Attended a USP dance. Had a swell time. Was back to ship at 02:30. 27 Jan Stayed aboard. Sketched a picture for Joe Nemeth of his girl. Had a letter from cousin, Annie. 28 Jan Went to St. Mary’s. In Chinatown for 7:00 mass. Went to a movie in evening. L.R.
29 Jan Radio announcing the Russian gains with almost incredible speed. Clandy 30 Jan Nothing to do but can’t refuse liberty, anything to get off this tub. R.
31 Jan Went to Treasure Island to see naval dentist to treat a cancre sore in the mouth. Having quite a bit of rain. R.
1 February This nite at the Stage Door Canteen I saw Jinx Falkenburg & Duke Ellington. Went to a couple of movies. No return boats til morn. R.
2 Feb This afternoon at 1600 we moved to a naval ammunition dept about 20 miles from Frisco. Mare Island. R.
whores in the place.
4 Feb We are loading our cargo. Ammunition, shells, mortar shells, grenades, rockets. We are to be riding on dynamite.
5 Feb Met Spencer & Nemeth in Vallejo, bought a qt. & half went to 2 movies. Got drunk. Returned at midnight.
6 Feb What a hangover. No more whiskey for me. Received a box of candy from Julie the other day. Houligan is back.
7 Feb Am staying in today. Some fellows went to gunning practice.
8 Feb Didn’t do much, except work about ship. We received field equipment, including my carbine. 9 Feb Went to a movie in Vallejo, wrote a couple of letters at U.S.O.
10 Feb Saturday and time on my hands. Went on liberty again.
11 Feb Went to church this morning on the base, St. Peter’s Chapel. Very beautiful. 12 Feb Well I believe this is the last liberty in Vallejo. We really only had base liberty.
13 Feb Well, we’re saying so long to America today. This afternoon we went under the Golden Gate Bridge on the way out.
14 Feb The weather is a little rough, mess cooking very difficult. Our only escort is the seagulls. LST 799 is accompanying.
15 Feb Oh yes, we’re heading for Pearl Harbor. Should be there in a week. Much calmer today and getting slightly warmer.
16 Feb Weather- calm. G.L. twice a day, morning & evening. Saw some movies today, educational. Wrote Julie a letter.
17 Feb Heard a Tokyo news commentator. Interesting to hear the enemy. 18 Feb Doesn’t seem like Sunday. A bit cloudy.
21 Feb Sighted a cruiser headed for Hawaii. We should be there sometime tomorrow.
22 Feb Arrived at Pearl Harbor. Sighted Oahu at 1100. Docked at 1800. Base liberty till 2400. Reg. liberty till 1800.
23 Feb Stayed aboard. Quiet, warm. Saw a movie aboard, “Higher & Higher”, was pretty good. 24 Feb Have liberty tomorrow, one nite out of 3. Having a moving tonight aboard. Movie fair. F. 25 Feb Went to church in morn. Hitch hiked to Honolulu. Shangri-la in port – BB New Mexico. Movie
on board. L.R.
26 Feb Worked all day. Wrote Julia & Norb letters. No mail as yet since we arrived. F.
27 Feb Went to Waikiki, beautiful place. Visited Hotel Royal Hawaii. Bought a pair of moccasins in Honolulu.
28 Feb Last day of mess working.
29 Feb None
1 March We got paid today. 18 bucks. Have liberty today but I’ll stay aboard. 2 Mar Daily routine. Movies in evening.
3 Mar No liberty today. We are to leave tomorrow for Aniwitok in Marshall Islands, our first stop. 5 Mar Left Pearl Harbor this morning in convoy of 38 ships 10 LSTs – 10 LSM & escorts.
6 Mar Washed clothes today, rained in afternoon. Was advanced to fireman 1st class. 14 bucks more pay.
7 Mar Looking for survivors of plane which reported for help. Convoy in flank formation. 8 Mar Did not find survivors. Search went on all day today. Lost two days in our search. 9 Mar Washed dungarees this morning. Helped Spencer synchronize clutches in afternoon. 10 Mar Worked on anchor winch. Mom’s birthday today.
11 Mar Crossed International Date Line at 1200. It is now one day advanced. Had entertainment in afternoon.
12 Mar This date started at 1200, loafed all day.
15 Mar Cleaned carbine today. Swell looking gun, supposed to be ours after war. Weather very warm. 16 Mar There wasn’t very much to do today. Hot as all hell. PBM. On patrol now for several days. We
arrive tomorrow.
17 Mar Arrived at Eniwitok early this morning. Just a number of small islets. Beer on shore. 18 Mar Went to church services & communion, nice chapel. Had movies aboard ship. Received 17
letters.
19 Mar Left Eniwitok this morning. We are now headed for Siapan about 1000 miles away. 20 Mar Raining quite a bit today. Laundry quite difficult.
21 Mar More showers today. B-17 flew over. Location 300 mi. north of Truk Japan base. 22 Mar Routine work. Hot as hell. Can’t drink enough water.
23 Mar Cleaning & putting things in readiness on LCT. Sleep there tonite. Arrive in Saipan in morn. 24 Mar Arrived in Saipan. Many ships in port. Quite a large island. Many B-29 based here.
25 Mar Several hundred B-29s returned this morning from raid on Japan. Some could be seen damaged.
26 Mar Pulled out this morn. for an invasion of Okinawa, 300 mi. from Japan mainland. Over 1000 ships in invasion.
27 Mar Raining all day. Passed Guam this morning. April 1st is Love Day. We arrive Love+1.
28 Mar Washed clothes all day. No encounter with enemy as yet. British task force also engaged in operation.
29 Mar Nansei Shoto group, reported invaded this morn. We are in 51st task force. U.S. 10th army to be in operation.
30 Mar Good Friday. Held small gathering on tank deck of LCT. Said a few prayers, sang some songs. 31 Mar Raining quite a bit. Water little rough. News from Europe very encouraging. Danzig falls, 43
subs captured.
1 April To arrive tomorrow. No air attacks as yet. Several alerts sounded. Picked up another destroyer as escort.
2 Apr Arrived at Nansei Shoto Isles at noon. Ships shelling Okinawa. Air raids all night. Several Japs downed.
3 Apr Had air attack this morning. One plane bombed LST599, on fire. Were able to extinguish fire. 4 Apr No air attack today. About 30 ships anchored here at Kerama Retto [see story at
http://www.destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/ussnewcomb/cook-keramaretto.html] . A destroyer was hit today somewhere nearby. 6 killed.
5 Apr Two ships destroyed this morning by suicide planes. A horrible sickening sight. Shot down Hellcat by mistake. Pilot safe. [see more info on Hellcat fighter planes from WWII at http://www.acepilots.com/planes/f6f_hellcat.html]
6 Apr Jap suicide planes destroyed 3 ships today. Never saw anything like this type of attack. We shot down one plane, about 6 were destroyed.
7 Apr Left Kerama Retto at 05:30 under way we were attacked by plane. Fortunately he didn’t dive into us. Okinawa battle raging.
9 Apr We were launched today. Weather rough, raining. 10 Apr Still raining.
17 Apr Loaded on general cargo and anchored for the nite. One alert this evening. 18 Apr Unloaded cargo on beach.
21 Apr At anchor. Air raid this evening.
22 Apr At anchor with cargo. Received four letters. First mail since Saipan.
23 Apr Loaded on ammunition. Hit beach this evening. Report Russians in suburb of Beshin. 27 Apr Loaded with ammunition and beached at Purple #1. Air attack on all night. 2 ships hit by
suicide planes.
28 Apr Still unloading Silver Bow Victory
1 May Reported to Silver Bow Victory for ammunition. Anchored for the night. No air attacks. Payday today – 67 bucks.
2 May Unloaded ammunition
3 May Loaded on with cargo & Seabee equipment.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnavyseabeemuseum/sets/72157626536221617/detail/ Anchored. Raid for 4 hrs by several enemy planes. Bombers. Dropped about 50 eggs. 4 May Single Jap plane came over this morning. Shot down. Dove into BB. Some damage reported,
still anchored. 125 dead.
17 May We are scheduled to leave this area tomorrow
18 May We left the western beaches for Eastern part of Isle. One Jap cargo was destroyed trying to get supplies to shore.
19 May Beach for first time on Eastern beaches. Countryside very beautiful. Front lines seem very close.
21 May We loaded ship with drums of fuel from Bartlesville Victory & are beached at Brown beach. 22 May We are still waiting to be unloaded, mailed sketch to Helen. Saw nurse at field Hospital. 1st
since March.
24 May Unloaded cargo at Brown beach. Reported to Cape Douglas for cargo. Air attacks commenced all nite. 2 planes shot down.
25 May Air attacks continued this morning. Saw one plane dive at ship but missed. Afternoon we beached at White beach.
27 May This morning 3 suicide planes attempted to dive into ship – 2 succeeded. We are unloading John Owen. [see veteran’s recollection of being on the John Owen -
http://www.marforres.usmc.mil/mfrnews/2009/2009.12/wellman.asp] 4 June Still more rain.
5 Jun Saw a number of Jap wounded prisoners & civilians. They look pitiful. 6 Jun Still unloading John Owen. Weather fair.
9 Jun Now operating at Yona Baru, supplying the front lines when resistance still continues. [see article from Pittsburgh Press, 15 May, 1945, about Yona Baru -
http://www.marforres.usmc.mil/mfrnews/2009/2009.12/wellman.asp] 10 Jun At Yona Baru saw about dozen Jap prisoners.
11 Jun Tied alongside Lignite (all concrete vessel) for day. Provisions for all LCT’s. F http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/46/46162.htm
12 Jun Finished distributing dry provisions to all LCTs. F 13 Jun Today is my first anniversary of service in the Navy. F
17 Jun We are unloading dry provisions at Yona Baru. Went in for a swim. Beach is sandy. 18 Jun Expect island to be secured within 72 hrs. We beached at Yona Baru this morning. 22 Jun Had a raid this morning, one suicide plane dove into LST. One dropped bombs. 24 Jun Went ashore to locate any church services, saw 2 dead Japs along road.
27 Jun Today I’m 21 yrs old. We broke out a case of beer, cook made a cake in my honor – ahem 28 Jun We have finished unloading PA-225 “Bingham”. Fishing in evening, many fish but no luck. 29 Jun We are now assigned to “White Swallow”. [see 8th paragraph of this Naval transcript
referencing the Bingham and the White Swallow exactly on these dates -
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b6/bingham-i.htm . “Seabee” is also referenced here.] 30 Jun We beached this morning at Brown beach, saw LST534 which was hit by Kamikaze. [ see this
excerpt from “Memories of World War II” - http://www.landingship.com/50/hagen3.htm] 1 July We are now unloading White Swallow
4 Jul No fireworks. Some rolard flares being shot up.
5 Jul An amm. dump was hit today, believed to be corsair that crashed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_F4U_Corsair
10 Jul Reassigned to Clark. Loaded and proceeded to China Wan about 20 miles north. 11 Jul Anchored off beach Yellow dog.
16 Jul We took on food supplies for BB Tennessee & Cruiser Chester. Distributed to Tennessee. 17 Jul Took supplies to Cruiser Chester this morning & are awaiting new assignment.
30 Jul Loading up at the Carrier Victory with piping.
31 Jul Proceeded into Buckner bay beach. Anchored off, awaiting beaching instructions. Weather little rough.
1 August Unloaded load of piping at Boren cove. Then anchored off, expecting typhoon. 8 Aug Russia gives Japan notice of declaration of war as of August 9th.
9 Aug Russia is now at war with Japan.
10 Aug New atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima [inside Dad’s diary is a small folded sheet of very thin paper that appears to have Japanese writing all over it]
11 Aug Japan asks for peace. Okinawa in uproar. Guns blazing away, tracers and flares fill the sky. Time 2100.
12 Aug Americans make counter-proposal to Jap..bid for peace. 14 Aug Still awaiting the outcome of peace talk.
15 Aug Several hundred C-47 planes landed on Okinawa.
28 Aug Paratroops today landed on Japan as the beginning of occupation. Amphibian landings to take place the 30th August.
2
Septembe r
Today is V-J Day. Japan signed surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo bay.
14 Sep Met Herman Fosterling, an old school mate, while unloading beer at Gray Beach. 15 Sep Have received typhoon warning. Anchored off Gray beach.
16 Sep Weather very rough. A 75 knot wind. Raining & blowing like a bastard.
17 Sep Storm died down this morning. Several ships were sunk. Many beached, some lives lost. 1 October Spencer [oldest guy on board] & Luper left us. Eligible for discharge. Am now only motor
machinist on board.
5 Oct Carried over thousand men to carriers. Yorktown & Shangri La & cruiser Topica on the way to the states.
6 Oct Tied alongside 417 LCT repair ship put on new governor & fuel pump. http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/10/18/180417.htm
7 Oct Anticipating typhoon tonite.
8 Oct Awaiting typhoon, expected tomorrow. Anchored off Gray beach. 9 Oct Hight of typhoon was at 1800, very rough. May have to abandon ship.
10 Oct Typhoon is over. Damage in millions, much small craft sunk. Ships strewn over rocks [story of Typhoon Louise - shttp://www.patriotfiles.com/index.php?
name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=964&page=1]
15 Oct Jim Tollison left us today, eligible for discharge. Also Navy points were lowered to 39 today. 16 Oct Am of today MoMM 3/c [Motor Machinist Mate 3rd class].
16
November
James Coughlin EM 3/c & Wayne Furguson MoMM 3/c left our crew today to go back to states
25 Nov Navy point system going down to 36 points as of Jan 1st.
28 Nov Mike Kovacevich & Howard Barton left today, eligible for discharge. 2
December
Anchored off Gray Beach. Went ashore for mail. Mike still waiting transportation.
3 Dec Unloaded ammunition from Ranier – 16/50 caliber & 3”/50. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USSRainierAE5.jpg
4 Dec Anchored off Gray Beach
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1100975014555.]
13 Dec Left Bucker Bay for Chimu Wan [Okinawa]. Anchored off Gusikawa beach. 15 Dec Native Okinawans were loading us with lumber.
17 Dec Natives finished loading lumber. It is assigned to military govt. in north part of island. 18 Dec Left Chimu Wan at 1000. Anchored for night at Aha Ko.
19 Dec Arrived at Katena Ko, looking for military government.
20 Dec Unloaded lumber at Katena Ko. Gooks done the work. Roamed around a bit. 21 Dec Left Katena Ko for north part of Island
22 Dec Weather rough. Not making much headway. Anchored at ..[blank] 23 Dec Arrived at Brown Beach 1220. Am supposed to leave for home Jan 6th.
25 Dec Went to midnite mass at Brown Beach chapel. Spent quiet Christmas aboard ship. Had a swell turkey dinner.
28 Dec We went out for supply of fresh water & fuel…got a nice fuel oil bath. 30 Dec Went to services this morning at 1030 at the N.O. B. chapel.
1946
6 January (written in Dad’s handbook “U.S.S. Ticonderoga CV14”) – Left Okinawa Jan 6, 1630.
Proceeding to San Francisco at approx 16 knots to arrive Jan 20. Crossed date line 1-13-46 at 1514, time zone 12.
