On 19 December, I sent a radiogram to my wife saying, “Am okay!” On 12 December we were issued service gas masks which we never had occasion to use but whose plastic containers proved very useful later on. On 13 December, 27 bombers approached Fort Hughes. This was evidently a feint because the formation split and [we] sustained no damage. Cavite was wiped out and the survivors came in Malinta tunnel on the Rock late that night. On 14 December, 17 bombers passed over Fort Frank, very high. On 15 December, 18 bombers were over Manila, visible to us but not very close.
About this time, the troops went on field rations. Capt. Owen instructed the houseboys at the quarters to keep the bath tubs filled with water in case of fire. We later bathed in these tubs of water for two weeks, until the water became very insanitary, indeed!