Pasties at the hospilal, delicious pastry.
Mabel looking so much better.
Had Welfare issue of lav. Paper.
Lovely Elizabeth in evening, after Rosary servce in the open.
Diary pages from this date
I feel a bit better but the blood count is not so good Haemoglobin is up to 58% but the count is down to 2,180,000. Drugs that might be helpful are unobtainable - or in some cases beyond my purse! But I'm feeling better so I don't worry. A ship came in from Lourenco Marques 3 days ago said to have 1000 tons of parcels for prisoners. I wonder if Edith would ever think of sending anything - or perhaps she wouldn't hear about it. We've had a bit of a typhoon blow since so unloading has no doubt been delayed. A letter would be better than anything - if it told me where you are. AMLAML. B.
We soon sailed, and finally, on the 5th October, we arrived at Woosung, near Shanghai. But not before some more POWs died on the journey and their bodies thrown over the side.
On arrival at Shanghai, we were off loaded at a Railway wharf, at Woosung. We were made to sit in the open. During the next few hours more naval patrol ships arrived with further batches of survivors. We were made to strip off any clothing given us by the islanders, and a roll call was taken. We were kept on the open wharf for over 24 hours without food or shelter - this we were informed, being a punishment for succeeding in escaping from a sinking ship! Apparently, we had disobeyed a Japanese order, which intended us to go down with the ship. It was also pointed out to us, with the aid of a stick, by the interpreter, Niimori, that we would have saved the Japanese Imperial Forces, a good deal of trouble, if we had gone down with the ship!
The roll call taken, that out of the original 1816 men, who had boarded the "Lisbon Maru" in Hong Kong, only about 900 had been saved, of these at least another 200 were to die in the next few weeks, due to the after-effects of the torpedoing, and subsequent exposure and sickness.
Issue of 5 Royal Leaf $3.
2 Jap convoys messed up off Formosa. Japs lost 2 Battleshps 4 cruisers & 11 transports & destroyers in an attack on the Aleutians. Burma bombed. 8,000 Japs mopped up in New Guinea.
C.S. & C of P. informed re my desire to rejoin R.N. if I am repatriated.
Cig. issue (5).
((Jones was a submariner in the Royal Navy before working in the Hong Kong Prisons. "C.S. & C of P" are probably the Colonial Secretary, Gimson, and the Commissioner of Prisons, Willcocks))