Fine, overcast aft., rain 10pm.
Double Y10 Canteen.
Steve to concert pm. Talked with M till he returned.
Re-organised labour in Block.
Franks about the poorest specimen of ex R.N. I’ve ever met. ((R E Jones was also ex Royal Navy))
Entertainment Comm. asked to be prepared to give farewell concert.
Black-out.
We are all expectantly waiting for Col. Hattori to come back from Japan with good news of parcel, food and repatriation. He is said to have arrived yesterday, but when he will come into the camp is not sure. Everyone is generally fed up with present conditions. The Japanese authorities ordered a general spring cleaning throughout the camp and at the usual weekly roll call they made an examination which was very casual.
Dow / Wittenbach
Drown
B.O.
Fine, humid.
Took on more work, wood chopping etc.
No news, all seems hopeless sometimes.
Steve to practice but he doesn’t like it due to inability of other players to play.
Full moon.
3 ½ hrs work.
“Spring-cleaning whole Camp area”
B.O.
((Following text not dated:))
Mavis Xavier and Mrs Allen ((Probably wife of Charlie Allen)) lamenting ((both their husbands were POWs in Sham Shui Po)). Parcels to camp returned. Means husbands have gone, probably Japan.
Fine, humid.
Rice grinding etc. took 5hrs of my time today. Not feeling so energetic of late. Pulse rate low.
With Steve pm.
No news, a depressing day.
Reading book “South of the Sun” by Russell Owen. He talks of boredom, lassitude etc. after only eight months on the Southern Ice Barrier with 41 other men, plenty of food, cigs & drink. He’d have died long ago under these circumstances.
Spring cleaning everywhere as per Jap? order. 4hrs work.
Little Brian Gill drowned at the beach. (Saw his pathetic little body brought to the hospital on a stretcher. His mother, Billie Gill, was playing bridge with friends while another friend took Brian for an afternoon at the beach to give Mum a break.)
Edith Hamson is sitting on Tweed Bay Beach watching men trying to fish:
The atmosphere was always one of serenity at Tweed Bay, and visiting gave me brief respite from the realities of war.
I was absorbed in the tranquillity when all of a sudden I heard a commotion coming from the children’s wading pool. I will never forget the awful screams. I jumped to my feet and everyone else on the beach did the same.
Overcast, humid.
General cleaning.
Young boy aged 4 Brian Gill drowned in rock pool on beach.
With Steve pm.
Hatori returned last Saturday.
Meeting called for tomorrow. Hope we hear something worth while.
Beans & bran arrived at pier.
Jap paper lousy as usual.
4hrs.
To Brian's funeral. Father Meyer made him a coffin out of the drawer from a chest-of-drawers, lining it with bunched-up white satin. Children sang 'Heaven is the Prize' - unforgettable.
At Brian's funeral, the children were asked if they would like to lead the procession and to see if they could find something white to wear. When the day came, hundreds of little ones, each carrying a bunch of wildflowers, turned up to say goodbye to Brian. It was quite a sight. Someone had made a coffin out of some old timber, and in it, Brian Patrick Hirst Gill's body was laid to rest in the cemetery that overlooked the tranquil waters of Stanley Bay.
Source:
Allana Corbin, Prisoners of the East, 2002, 240
Issue coconut oil
Beach closed until further notice
B.O.
Overcast, squally.
Ground rice etc etc. 5hrs work.
No news, rations lousy, no smokes. No meeting as rumoured.
F & F finished Jap working party. ((What was "F&F"))
Little fellow Gill buried 6pm.
5 days wood. 100 catties.
With Steve pm gave me some tob. & curry pwd.
Sky cleared at 9pm & temp. dropped.
Death of Cyril Conway Shilton, aged 58 at Tweed Bay Hospital.
Source:
http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/searchgarrison/nonuniformedcivilians.ht…
Cloudy with few showers.
Final clear-up ready for inspection. Roll-call & inspection 2pm.
Saw Steve pm.
No news. Jap papers prints nothing but bull, seems they dare not tell the truth.
4hrs work.
