R. E. Jones Wartime diary: View pages

Cloudy. E wind.

The more ased [?] & more varied diet is bucking people up very much already. 6oz tinned mutton. 10 oz Brown sugar issued.  

Ground rice for G am. Exchanged addresses.

On duty at Prison Gate 12-2pm. To watch rate of dis. of Prisoners. We tried to get some Radio gear & informed the Jap Gendarme on duty that we expected to take over the Gaol in a couple of days.

Visitors as usual. 

Electric iron repairs.

Dancing to Gramophone in the Hall 8-10pm.

Little walk with G & V till 10pm. ∴ 

Full Moon.

Squalls for Norly direction.

Odd jobs in workshop.  

7 flagstaffs rigged beside the British one.

C of P took over administration of Camp from C.S. yesterday. ((C of P could be "Commissioner of Prisons"? C.S. was the Colonial Secretary, Mr Gimson.))

1 Pkt. Gold Leaf from B.A.T. issued.

Some visitors in but bad weather stopped many others it seems.

Walk SE corner of Prison Wall und wir sind sehr froh ⨳ trotz der Regen [and we are very happy in spite of the rain?]

Overcast, much rain. W wind.

G bridge lesson.

4oz & Workers sugar issued. Real bread & butter to G & V & myself.

Visitors as usual but no P of Ws again due to poor weather.

Am feeling very well fed at present. The days of hunger, rice & stew are over forever I guess. Live pigs brought in for rations. 

Walk with G. SW corner of Prison till 9pm ∴

Conflicting reports re time of arrival of Harcourt & his Fleet.

Overcast, rain, SW wind.

Some pigs killed 4am.

G trifle remorseful am congee?

US bomber over during the day. Letters “P.W.” cut into turf etc around the Camp.

Gimson & nucleus of Govt. to town am.

Few visitors arrived.  

Swim with G & V afternoon.

2oz oil issued.

Lorry with onions & pumkins [sic] 5.20pm.

Japs seem to be obeying the order to increase our rations.

C nar heute abend etwas kalt, aber ich bin vielleicht fehlerhaft. [..?this evening was cold ? but perhaps I am ?] Seems like the evening is mucked up. H.K. around till 10pm ∴ aber nicht so gut [but not so good] ((Translation notes from Jill Fell: I think it should read: "C (or G) war heute Abend etwas kalt, aber ich bin vielleicht fehlerhaft." so "C (or G) was rather cold this evening, but perhaps I am mistaken."  "Fehlerhaft" is invented but a good try!))

Some low cloud but brighter.

Painted traffic sign.

P o Ws & visitors in.

Gesellshaft mit G ist fast endete zeimlich. ((Jill Fell: "Companionship with G is almost at an end seemingly". "ziemlich" actually means "fairly", but I think he's improvising here, as he's already said "almost".))

Swim aft. & investigated for hole above beach & came round by Prison reservoir.

G searched for me 6pm but I saw first, sehr schõne. [very lovely]

Klein spazieren um gehn uhr hatten ∴ ((Jill Fell: "[We] went for a little walk at ten o'clock". I think "gehn" is meant to be "zehn" = ten))

Fine, hot, light SW wind.

G hat smerchen, zu viel essen. ((smerchen most likely is "schmerzen"=pain, so the entry is in English: G has [stomach] pain, has eaten too much.))

Fixed up & painted traffic signs.

Fan for G & V.

Ground coffee beans (3oz each issued)

P of W arrived by launch, other visitors as usual.

Starving villagers being fed from Camp. Coolies employed in kitchens & other jobs. 

On roof with G before & after flag-raising practice. ⨳ blut. [blood] Went down to I.Qs together for radio broadcast but no luck, weary & drawn bless her beautiful heart.

Showery, S wind.

Plane [draws little symbol of circle with line thro’ and dot in centre] white gave us a few thrills during am.

Rigged enclosure around flagstaffs.

Twin-engined bomber [another little symbol, a star with 2 lines] –white dropped supplies to us during the aft. Everyone thrilled to death almost.

Supply vessels anchored S. of us.

Japs supplied, 2 Fandosis [?], toilet paper, 5 boxes matches & a pencil.

Rained all evening.

Walked in the Hall with G & V. Conditions most inconvenient but ∴

Orders dropped by plane told Jap Surrender reps. to either board ship & make position E on Tamkow Is [?] or allow planes to land & take them off from Kai Tak to Harcourts rendezvous.

Hill & Fordham suspended. ((Probably fellow Prison Officers, F N Hill, and L J Fordham.))

Fine, E wind.

Many people in Block have tummy trouble.

Rigged enclosure for flag hoisting ceremony. 

Staff meeting re booze?

Sunbath on roof.

Admrl Harcourt & Gimson etc arrived by 5pm & flag hoisting ceremony performed. Introduced to Ad. by Willcocks. Speech by Capt. of ‘Maidstone’.

Sherry with G & V. 

Brandy with Steve.

Walk with G 9-10pm. Rocks W of Prison. ⨳ so sweet but I felt frustrated & a bit sunk.

Plenty of drink in room up to mid-night. Had very little.

((Jones makes a very brief mention of the flag hoisting ceremony, but he was the person who hoisted the flag! Here's a photo of the ceremony, courtesy of his daughter Rae. It shows him facing the flag, ready to hoist it up:

No sleep, up at 5am.

G so f & s [?] 7am.

Took down wire from enclosure as my last Camp job. Prison Staff now standing by to take over the Prison.  

Segt. Jones came out to see me.

Sent Radio message to Marj.

Went on duty at 2.30-6pm. had several photographs taken. Muster 281. Ind. C.W. & 9 others arrested.

Lt.Comdr. Bailey I/c Camp.

Sloop arrived in Stanley Bay.

Cocoa, Oats etc to G & V. Open air supper with them 9-10.30pm. On roof ⨳.

Fine, hot.

Jap. food supply ended, thank heaven for that. Capt. Bailey, Liaison Officer made other arrangements yesterday. All is going well.

The loafing women here will soon have to do a job of work as most of the men, fit men, have Dept. jobs to do.  

Oatmeal, milk, sugar, toast, marmalade, butter & coffee for breakfast.

More odds & ends of stores arrived & it seems to have the B.C.C. beat as to its distribution.

T.B. cases etc went aboard the “Oxfordshire” today.

Majority of police back to town.  

HK officially taken over this afternoon.

Comdr. W. Griffiths took over Camp Com.

Next of kin handed in. 

Duty 12-3pm. Cleaned up a couple of rooms ex Formosan for Willcocks.

Little walk. 8.45-9.0pm ∴ Open air supper till 10.30pm.

Fine, hot.

Bowls etc to G & V.

Airmail letter to Marj.

Poor issue of M & V, chocolate etc ex US. Had to draw for odds & ends of it. 11 oz meat ration – 3,  3 cigs – 2, mixed supper ration – 2.

Navy man had accident with Jap. pistol & is in T.B. Hosp in serious condition. G & V N.Duty on him. [I wonder if G & V are nurses?]

R.N. took over Camp Guard & hoisted White Ensign.

Marine Band of “Euralue” [Euryalus?] played on bowling green from 5-7pm.

Mary brought me tinned food from town & after duty 3-6pm had bottle H.B. & Hamburger with Steve.

Supper & little walk with G 9.15pm then took her to Hosp. 

∴ Cooked porridge. 2 tins Milk from Prison Store.

Hazy, hot.

Naval rating died this am.

Duty 6-9am.

G & Vs beds from Hosp.

Pascoe to HK.

4oz Milk & 4oz Peanut oil issued. Fresh pork from Prison pig.

Camp labour shortage very acute.

Mary’s mother safe after all.

SW corner, supper with G. ⨳, splendid & sweet.

Hazy, hot.

Duty 9-12 noon on Gate. 39 discharged.

Nice tiffin by G & V. Pork, lard & flour from Gaol. 6oz corned beef from Camp.

E. of Aust. arrived. Some return passages to Manila booked. 3,000 RAF personnel landed.

Filled form re £100 I.O.U.

Posted letter A/m to Marj.

Willcocks app’td. to work out plans to clear the Camp.

8oz White bread issued.

Supper & walk with G & V. On roof ⨳

Cloudy, showery, S wind.

2 Pkts Jap cigs. 1 Irish potato. ½ tin milk, ½ tin marmalade, (oatmeal, cocoa, ½ milk & ½ catsup) White bread.

Duty 12-3pm.

G & V to “Swiftsure” among their own once more. Makes me feel somewhat inferior.

Quite refreshing to read the daily paper again, all British & mostly sensibly written.  

G & V back 9.15pm made porridge, had supper & peg with them. We all registered for repatriation on board Emp. of Aus. ∴

Showery, E wind, a little cooler.

Posted A/m to mother.

Franks took photograph as I hoisted colours this am.

G to town. Not going E of A.

Duty 3-6pm. All pris’s dis.

G to Concert.

Apple & orange, ¼ lb butter, 3 tins milk, ½ tin tongue, 1 tin jam. 8oz bread issued.

Saw Daisy for 5 mins. 12 years ago. 

Name on list for E of A.

Arranged roof but fell asleep, rained so turned in.

3am ∴ bed. So lovely.

Duty 6-9am.

Showery SE wind.

Water-boiler for G & V.

Painted names on bags & cases.

1 time – 2.[?] 1 tin tomatoes  1 tin Beetroot – 3, white bread 8oz issued. Got comb in odds & ends draw.

G & V to W.M.H. aft.

Paraded 6pm.

Willcocks bid us Adios.

Little walk with G 8pm. Sat W wall prison. then supper with them ∴ weary.

Fine. SE wind.

Little sit with G. till 10.30am. North of boundary wire.

Photograph.

6oz corned beef, 2 tins milk, 2oz egg yolk, ½ lb sugar, 8oz white bread, 5 Pkts Jap. cigs & some pepper & mustard issued. 

G & V to town.

Five of us who had been selected to remain for Prison duty asked to make decision whether to stay or go as listed on Tues 11th. Decided to stay at first but altered my decision after. 

Sat with G Dutch Garden 8-8.30pm.

Still no mail.

Drink & chat with G & V Mrs Gandy & Dawes.

No sleep, waiting.

Fine, hot, light E wind.

Felt lousy this morning, tired & washed out.

x G before going to church. G to town with Mrs Ballean, back at 3.30pm.

Dried pears, peaches, 8oz bread & 2oz Navy cocoa issued.

Started packing.

Supper with G & V. On roof till midnt ⨳

Fine & hot.

Took in odd gear to Prison store.

Gave G torch for her birthday. 36. G to clinic. Packed up. Helped G with their other room.

Left them at 3.30pm & boarded “Geraldton” for “E of A”. On board 9pm. Proper troopship accommodation. E6.Mess 139. Nice supper at 10.20pm.

Goodbye Gwen dearest, for a little while only I hope.

Slept on boat-deck under the stars, ship under way at 7.30am after oiling.

Caught my last sight of Stanley 8.15am.

Good food issued, 20 cigs, choc. & soap issued.

Hot & sticky on our deck.

Wrote A/m to G. Bless her sweet heart.

Slept on spare mess deck.