by loss ef time when they traveled by boat. For instance, the time for
the trip from Engebi to Eniwetok was two hours and a half by boat, but
only twenty minutes by liaison aircraft.
General Ogden had recommended,
when queried by Headquarters, Joint Task Force SEVEN, that liaison aircraft
would be highly desirable for inter-island transportation, and as a result
a total of thirteen (13) L-4 and L-5 type aircraft were placed on Eniwetok
for that purpose.
This unit proved ita value in a short time after its
arrival, and by 17 March 1948 had established a complete "air taxi" service
within the atoll.
The daily passenger load averaged about fifty, with peak
loads of ninety or more per day, and in addition to normal air traffio there
were several instances of emergency movements of personnel fer medical
purposese
9e
Morales
The establishment of the Air Force Base at Kwajalein involved the
normal difficulties encountered in an air operation of that kind, but the
island ef Kwajalein becane “home” for about fifteen hundred (1500) Air Force
troops for a period of approximately four months.
It was there that they
ate, slept, trained, and staged the air activities of Operation SANDSTONE.
. There was as much activity after midnight as there was during the day,
because requirements for airoraft were such that very early morning take~
offs were required.
This was normal for many of the troops, because they
had been in England during the war and had learned that there are no hours
of the day when everyone sleeps.
Morale was high on the island, but this was not an accident.
Every-
thing that could be done for the welfare of the troops was planned for and
acocomplishede
They lived in tents with coment floors.
Section VIII~ -
61
Their latrines were