Worked in a.m.
In afternoon, visited Clifton in hospital, and Mrs Hamilton, Mr Poyntz and Mrs Stratton. ((I can't recall which Mrs Hamilton I visited, it was probably the one who lived in a room near we Redwoods in the Married Quarters. I only knew her as 'Mrs Hamilton' as in those days young people didn't call their elders by their Christian names which we didn't know.))
J.J. Osborne died.
Practised bridge with Peggy and Dick Cloake at Peggy's.
Mr Ingram came for cigarettes.
Bridge.
Outside roll call in the rain, with a lecture on how to stand from the interpreter. 2 hours outside. Japs nasty. Rainy, squally.
Rumours that Russia has declared war.
We beat Miss Newman and Finnie by 32!
Eileen getting worse.
To Mr Osborne's funeral; aged 57. Crowds there.
Went to R.C. Children's Congress: recitation by Wilfred Ogley (12) who forgot his words and had to dive in his pocket for copy; a 'talk' on 'Florence Nightingale' by Joe de Broekert (10); and 'two words' by Brother Grimshaw ((but many more than 2!)). Good crowd of children there.
Wrote a little of 'Roll Call'.
Played 'hearts' with Mum, Mabel and Peggy.
Meat stew, delicious.Took egg white to Peggy which she will cook for Mr Nicholas. ((This was part of a scheme of Father Meyer's whereby he would get egg white to be cooked by some of his congregation for elderly invalids mainly.))
Visited in hospital Pat C, so glad for him and Sheila; then to Ivy Wright-Brown, Mrs Hamilton, Mr Nicholson.
St Catherine's meeting in a.m.
Bridge at noon.
Eileen Grant still very sick.
Bought 1 lb wong tong between us (Redwoods).
Pacifist meeting.
Just after 8 this evening, all sorts of whistles went, meaning an outside roll call. Edward Reed (a youth) had escaped while under arrest at Jap HQ for selling white Military (Jap) sugar; the roll call was supposed to be to find him. We were there till about 9.15 - quite dark, fishing lights out in bay.
Reed gave himself up near Bungalow C and was beaten up again. Dick Cloake said people were being taken up hill from St Stephens (his billet) all night long.
Mabel weighs only 105 lbs.
C.A. Meeting, then to work.
To St Stephens in evening to repeat my talk on 'Films' – rather sceptically since it was originally written for younger people.
I was in the soup with Mrs. E. Longworth. ((She was next door to us, among the 25 of us who shared the bathroom, and used to knock on the bathroom door when in the queue saying 'Will you be long?' - we secretly called her Mrs. Will-you-be-longworth.))
Black market trouble.
Swotted German.
Bridge in evening against Burnett and Sully and lost 25. ((Connie Sully was about my age, so I think she was the bridge player rather than her mother who was also in Stanley.))
Sheila (Haynes) 30th birthday, we had supper party outside in evening.
Repatriation rumours again!
Went to first lecture on Pope's Five Point Peace Plan on 'order' – the first point. About 40 there.
Outside roll call during which it rained, but they (Japs) let us go inside.
Went to see Willeys (F.J. and Veronica and daughter Barbara aged 6; their son Brian died in camp in 1943 when 3 years old.), and Asletts in morning.
Swimming in afternoon with Peggy and younger sister Audrey, and Anneke Offenberg.
Air raid alarm 12 - 2 but heard no bombs.
Bridge in evening with Billy and Vivienne.
3 and a half packets of cigs. Each Yen 5.60
Confession.
Worked in am, then swimming, glorious.
Rumour that we're going to Manila, and that a ship is waiting in Manila with food to rush to Hong kong on the fall of Hong Kong.
Went to see Annie, the Van Der Lelys lavished potato leaves on every one there. ((Anything extra to eat was welcomed.)) Abie Hardoon there too.
Worked in a.m. Had to stay there until 1.15pm because of air raid alarm from 11 until then, but no bombs. Meat.
To meeting of British RC Club. ((This was a club planned for Hong Kong after liberation. Committee elected:- Q. Macfayden, Harold Bidwell and Elsie Bidwell, W. FitzGibbon, F. Willey, Tom Cashman, Mrs Dorothy Wilson, Peggy Barton, etc.))
Benediction in evening, then Peg and I went for a walk to cemetery (met Jim Johnson (HKPolice) on way: husband of Betty nee Bone, a Govt. colleague of mine, evacuated to Australia.)
Pacifist meeting in evening - only Audrey, Charles, Father and myself.
Rumours in abundance:-
We cling to the repatriation rumours and the parcel ones: re the latter, argument is that the Americans can now dictate because they have Japanese prisoners in the Philippine Islands. ((We internees did in fact (about 2002) receive £10,000 each compensation, less £1,000 each to cover cost of negotiations by a postwar society which had been pushing for compensation for years.))
Feeling sickish and unhungry.
Jap order is that all dry reserves of rice to be handed in to Indian Quarters Quartermaster by tomorrow morning, under threat of dire penalties.
Pasties.
Feeling better now, but not perfect.
Bridge, Peg and I played Tacchi and Goldenberg in afternoon, went down 36. ((Beryl Goldenberg was a good friend of mine, though 5 years younger than me. However I think it more likely that the Goldenberg I played bridge was more likely her father William, as I think I Wd have put 'Beryl' rather than Goldenberg in diary. Also, Clifford John Tacchi (shown on Greg Leck's list as an engineer in Public Works Dept, Waterworks) was 65, the same age as Beryl's father, so a more likely partner for him.))
We (Redwoods) ground all our dry rice this morning.
Am still not hungry.
Very brief letter from Uncle Harry (my Dad's brother in Bath, Somerset), dated 15th January 1944. Two letters from Aunt Lily, one 31st December 1943, saying 'My best Christmas gift was your card. Happy to know you are so cheerful and busy. Longing to see you.' And one 8th March 1944 saying 'Hope you and girls are keeping fiit and cheerful as we. Don't worry, everything going fine. Just off to buy oranges.'
Mum got contents of her Safe Deposit box. ((This had been kept in H.K. & Shanghai Bank in town. Now the Japs sent contents of boxes to owners in camp. What a generous gesture this was - having lost our home and all our possessions in the war - to receive treasured letters, policies, the last letter from my Dad before his death, certificates – including my L.G.S. Matric one, and a few snaps.))
To lecture by Mr P.E. Witham on 'The Ledo Road between Assam and Burma.'
250 tons of firewood supposed to be brought today by lighter - but cancelled. Even Mr Gimson (Colonial Secretary & Representative of Internees) detailed to assist. We were to have pasties for meal to help men - but pasties had already been started to be cooked when cancellation of firewood so we will still get them. ((The logs of wood had to be hiked up to the camp kitchens then chopped or sawn - very heavy work.))
Later: the wood came in later after all, and a number of women took hot tea down to the men, made from tea leaves collected - a teaspoon or so from each donor.
To Crutwell's German lesson at 12.30. - Jill Beavis, Mrs Betty Drown, and J. Oram.
Then to girls' club meeting in Rosaleen's room ((the Grant family)). Mrs Dorothy Jenner ((a wellknown Australian journalist who wrote for newspapers there under the name 'Cassandra' or something similar)) came and talked about careers.
Here is what each girl would like to be-
Outside roll call, after which Mr Burnett came in and ran over my 'roll call' exercise, criticising and suggesting.
Some folk said they heard shelling and bombing last night, and some claim to have SEEN machine-guning at 9pm last night.
Peggy and I went swimming in afternoon, later I visited Tom Cashman and Mr Nicolson in hospital.
Went to see Annie and Kristine in morning. Planned to go swimming in afternoon but beach closed, so sunbathed under tree and read.
The de Vleeschouwer children wildly excited to see their (banker) father carrying wood, which arrived per lighter about 4pm. ((That the Japs were supplying us with so much wood for cooking was rather depressing, as it seemed to imply that we would be in camp for a much longer time than we'd hoped.))
The men were working all night, bringing in wood from lighter. They were given congee, and Margery Fortescue's band worked supplying tea until 3.00 am., but Mrs C. infuriated us all by growling at Margery this morning for the movement and noise - a noise outside the chlorinated water tap in the courtyard - because of Weir baby & Mrs. W had a temp.! Margery tired and very upset.
Clifton said Japs wouldn't let Mr Gimson carry wood but he spent the night among the men doing so.
News is supposed to have come in camp that someone called Mitchell in Macao has picked up a radio message from a Mrs Lockhart saying she's well in May 1945, and the message has been passsed to Mr Lockhart in here.
Just about 9 pm last night there was a sudden noise of a plane and machine-gunning: Mr. Ingram ((it must have been Mr. A. Ingram, as I didn't know the other Mr Ingram listed in camp)) saw plane,very low, having come down with engine off, and after he heard a little bombing.
Tony Sandberg's third banns called today.
Catholic Action meeting. Mr FitzGbbon gave talk on establishment of a Catholic newspaper in HK after the war. ((Such newspaper was established - the Sunday Examiner: when attending St Joseph's Church in 2008, I noticed the Sunday Examiner was still on sale there.))
Mr Albert Victor Frain died this afternoon. ((Poor man, he'd gone ga-ga and had to be accommodated in a tiny room on the ground floor of the hospital, with a minder.))
Worked in morning.
Olive's beri-beri is coming back again, and her legs are septic.
Pacifist meeting in Rosaleen's room in evening, Q. MacFadyen, Gregory; and S. Carr came too.
No sugar ration - deficity by (someone ??E. Reed??) stealing it has to be made up to Japs.
To Mr Frain's funeral, taking by Rev. MacKenzie Dow. Father Hessler there too
The Formosan (guards) now living up the hill.