Diary pages from this date

(W)e tasted the first meat for seventeen months, except for a morsel of Manchurian pheasant sent to us when refrigeration failed. The Sunday food queue was formed hours before its time. At last the meal was served: rice, and beef stew, rice cake as Yorkshire pudding, and small pieces of boiled sweet potato. We could hardly wait until the food was on the table....There were five ounces of buffalo meat and bone for each of us. Most of it was stewed, but some was minced.

Source:

William G. Sewell, Strange Harmony, 1948, 167

Note: see also yesterday's and tomorrow's entries

Short (What is man?) / Martin /

Meat actually came in yesterday! Really, it is almost unbelievable. Today we have had two meals with meat stew, totalling about 5 ozs of meat each (including bone). This comes to 20 gm per day instead of the preliminary 30 gm the Japs promised; but I don’t believe many people thought we should get anything at all. The full quota is 50 gm per day, so our hopes are rising. It will make a tremendous difference if they can keep it up.

Lately, I have found woodcutting becoming somewhat of a strain. Johnny Purvis, in charge of the squad, has been stopped working because he has lost so much weight and his blood pressure is so low. But I am still fairly fit. I am down to 133 lbs, though, so a little meat will be welcome. Lately, the Japs have sent in practically nothing but water spinach and the same in the evening except that the daily 1¼ oz beans per head were added. It has been a very low diet and we miss the oil; so this meat is most important. I still fear the deliveries will be spasmodic and below quota.

Hot, fine. SW wind.

Day off.

s/m to V & G. [?]

Had meat 1st time for 18 months.

Lorry in 10.20pm with Black-market stuff.