The Japs certainly celebrated the Emperor’s birthday in fitting form today. They began at 7:30 this morning, starting with the bombing attack.
Then they turned their artillery loose also, and for four or five hours they rained shells and bombs on this island. It was hard to form an estimate of the number of projectiles which fell here, but we made a rough guess that there were at least 2,000. They let up a little at noon, but continued intermittently until dark. I don’t yet know what damage was done as most of the telephone lines were cut, and it wasn’t possible to get a complete report. It is certain that damage was extensive, although a great deal of it can be repaired. We had two Navy seaplanes come in tonight to transport some surplus personnel south. The planes brought us some needed supplies. Everything worked out according to plan and the planes were on their way back inside of 40 minutes. Gen. and Mrs. Seals left tonight and I was sorry to see them go.
Didn’t get my sunbath in today. Too many shells and bombs being dropped. Our artillery opened up this p.m. and reports that considerable damage was done to enemy ammunition dumps, truck trains, etc.