Raid early am despite low cloud & rain. Fine, cloudy.
[L.a.?] Lorry with wood 2pm.
Coffee with Steve noon.
US 3rd Army making more headway. “Von Tripitz” sunk of [sic] N. coast Norway by 29 Lancaster bombers ((Operation Catechism, on 12 Nov 1944)).
Water on all day.
Finished partition wall.
Alarm 10pm but nothing happened.
Fine, warmer. E. wind.
Bran in congee.
Bootmakers shop table.
1oz Suk yin issued Y6.
Took saw back to Steve, coffee & Y100.
Lorry with veg. No Euro or Burma news.
Fine, SW wind.
Bootmakers shop.
Took lamp-glass to Steve.
Lorry with wood.
Practically no news in paper. US 3rd Army make headway over the Moselle.
Finished toy rifle for J.S. ((Possibly Jack John Stevens, who'd have been 10. He was the son of Jones's friend 'Steve'.))
Y36 Canteen.
Many rumours re parcels, & Germany capitulating
Air-raid alarm 9.45pm.
Practice attack on H.Qs early am woke everyone up with the Japs yelling & bawling.
Fine, NE wind, woodchopping & trench digging.
Saw Steve noon with bit of firewood, coffee & cigs.
Water on, bathed & cleaned up aft.
Fine, dry, variable wind.
Bootmakers shop & trench-digging.
Workers’ oil & sugar issued. Matches (2) issued.
Rec. letter 3-1-43 from Marj.
Saw Steve noon with oil lamp, coffee & cigs.
Lorry 4pm with wood & salt fish.
US troops advanced to 7mls of Julich 15th. French troops crossed Doubs river. Russians captured Godollo 10mls E of Budapest & advanced to 5 [mls of?] Miskolo.
Cup of tea with V & E 6pm & showed them snaps.
Fine, dry.
Started on Tinsmiths’ shop, wood chopping & grass cutting.
Lamp glass & hammer to Steve.
Oil & sugar issued.
Convoy arrived.
Lorry with veg 6.30pm.
Roosevelt promises something good before New Year. Metz entered 19th & other advances made on Western Front. US troops now 7mls inside German border. Japs claim many more sinkings around Leyte & 6 s/ms in waters around Japan.
Fine, dry, NE wind.
Tinsmiths shop & wood-choppping.
Water on.
Lorry with salt fish & cigs. 4 pkts issued.
Fed up day today.
US troops one third the way into Metz 37 mls from Strasburg & De Gaullists advance to the Rhine. Four of six passages thro’ Vosges to Rhine captured.
Postcard from Shanghai reports receipt of Aust. parcels.
(Chungking & New Delhi have radioed HK conditions re electric & water?)
Fine, dry, SW wind.
Started on Sewing shop, & bricked in a drain.
Saw Mary re brooch.
Today’s paper full of absolute bunk. (1 Jap fighter breaking up a formation of B29s & shooting one down and so on) Kyushu raided 21st.
6 more cigs issued.
News re British Fleet & task force off Malaya.
Jap Harvest [?] Festival.
Fine, dry, overcast, SW wind.
Sewing shop, & wood lorry with veg & fish 2pm.
Meyer beat Olsen 12-21 in Bowls Singles. ((Today's entry in the MacNider diary lists the winner as "W. Mair"))
Hauled up before guard for cutting grass out of bounds.
Canteen gear arrived 6pm. No paper.
Air-raid practice alarm 8 to 8.30pm.
Overcast, mist, drizzly. NE wind.
Sewing shop & wood.
Water on so had nice bath, rather cold now.
Jewelry fetching enormous prices, any gold, even teeth fillings fetch good money.
Lorry with wood 5.20pm.
Paper has nothing whatever about other fronts except Japanese. Raid on Tokyo 80 planes [22nd crossed out, looks like 24] for 2 hrs.
Overcast, mist, muggy, warmer.
Sewing shop wall & wood chopping.
French occupy Belmont & Strassburg.
Firewood arrived 6pm.
Machines & troops being concentrated in India.
Overcast thin mist, a little drier, E ground wind.
Sewing shop.
Water on.
Paper has no E. news whatever but plenty of tripe about Leyte.
Rumours re receipt of Parcels on 13th Dec & repatriation of women & childrens [sic] have grown stronger.
Planes over W to E & E to W about midn’t. Heavy stuff dropped to the W.
Overcast, E wind.
Canteen No.20.
Lorry 5pm with fish.
Paper has no E news again, Japan raided 27th by 40 B29s & according to paper hit nothing but churches hospitals, shrines & residential quarters.
Mrs Brown’s teeth fillings Y260.
((Barbara Anslow: I wonder if mention of Y260 and Mrs Brown's teeth refers to the amount she received on black market for sale of gold fillings in her teeth? I heard of some people doing this. The alternative explanation would be Yen 260 is cost of dental treatment, or a set of false teeth Mrs Brown had - but I never heard of anyone paying for dental treatment in camp, and few internees would have had the money to pay for treatment.))
More bombs dropped 11.15pm to the NW.
Warmer, dry, cloudy. E wind.
Finished on Sewing shop.
Lorry arrived with wood & veg.
U.S. 9th reach Roer river, the last natural fortification before the Rhine. Allies have massed troops etc on Western front & are waiting for drier weather in Poland & it seems that a general double offensive will take place from E to W. Frazer rejoins his fleet from London probably with orders etc for Pacific offensive.
Workers oil & sugar issued.
Saw Himsworth re another job.
Full Moon.
Heavy rain early am.
Another new officer arrived. Supposed to be an ex R.C.Padre.
Roll-call 8.30am weather cleared, colder & overcast.
Paper up to 80sen.
Tokyo raided early 30th Nov. No Euro news.
Pork 88Y per catty in town. 2 oz Suk yin issued Y7.
Painted name on Mary’s suitcase aft.
Oil 4oz & sugar 1.09oz issued.
Water on.
North’s notes tell us that air-borne troops landed in Baden in the Black Forest & that at some points our troops are about 60mls inside Germany. The pipeline from India to China is now in operation.
Lorry arrived with fresh fish & canteen gear.
Awakened about midn’t by heavy detonations. A plane flying E to W dropped its load very near (Taitam Bay) despite heavy cloud & rain.
In Pengelly’s store & shifting rubble.
News in Chinese paper from Axis sources tells us that Churchill in a speech warned against over-optimism adding that next Summer might see the end of the war in Europe & that he could not tell when the war in the East would finish.
Cold N wind & overcast but cleared up somewhat pm.
Cold, overcast, NE wind.
Cleared up Pengelly’s store.
Saw Steve noon with wood.
No lorry, no paper.
Rumours persist re parcels & repatriation.
Black market cigs getting scarce.
Due to internees buying Chinese wine through the wire around Bung. E & F the authorities ordered them closed. Camp authorities have appealed so the decision of the Col. is awaited.
Plane over 11pm.
Cold, overcast, NE wind. Cleared up & sun came out forenoon.
Water on.
Cleaned bricks, woodchopping.
“Normandie” being converted to A/C carrier & will then serve in Pacific. ((There had been plans to convert the liner Normandie to an aircraft carrier but they were dropped. In 1942 the ship had caught fire and capsized. It was never restored to operation, and was scrapped soon after WW2. Source: Wikipedia))
Played crib with Mrs Brown aft. ((MW Brown?))
Lorry arrived 7.15pm with canteen gear.
US 9th & 1st Army connect in France & make advances around Linnich, Julich & Duren. Leyte news as usual, nothing but defeats, setbacks & sinkings, sez them! Planes around again pm. Reconnaissance no doubt. Tokyo & Yokohama bombed 3rd Dec.
Handed in rubber shoes for exchange.
Overcast. NE wind.
Brick cleaning.
Lorry with veg. 1.30pm.
Some gains made on Western Front, Japs claim all manner of successes in Leyte.
Played crib with Browns & Gandy.
Showery S wind.
Planes over before midn’t. Bombs dropped?