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Clear, hot. Light breeze.
Leprosarium fence & Hosp. windows.
German lesson.
Dug Stones their potato patch. (("Stones" refers to some or all of the three people surnamed Stone in camp, Miss D H, Miss N F P, & Mr W F Stone.))
∴C
3 ½ pkts cigs issued Y5.50, wrappers had to be returned.
I was discharged from Tweed Bay Hospital this afternoon and am feeling a wee bit exhausted after the long walk from the hospital to our room here. Davie Bone and C. Greig ((probably G. Craig, who shared a room with Bone and Gerrard)) came down and carried my things back. I was given splendid attention in the hospital and am very grateful for all that the doctors and sisters did for me.
a.m. outdoor roll-call
Rice bread baked again
Internees allowed to be away from Districts up to 8 p.m.
Showery, humid. SE wind.
Outside roll-call. (Women must take off their hats)
4oz rice bread issued (poor show).
Brackets from Clinic wall.
Dug another potato patch for G.
Plane over 10am no alarm.
More stuff being transported up the hills by Japs.
Allowed out after 6pm r-c till 8pm from today.
Steve had row with Mary re Black-market.
∴C
When, however, on a Saturday night at the end of June the first lot of meat really arrived, the camp was in a fever of excitement. 'Meat!' 'Meat!' the magic word was passed from mouth to mouth as the carcase of an old water-buffalo arrived and was dumped into the kitchens. In the dark it was chopped up and cooked at once to prevent its going more bad than it was. We hung about on the verandas long into the night smelling the vapours from the kitcehens.
Source:
William G. Sewell, Strange Harmony, 1948, 166-167
Beef ration arr'd in evening
Cloudy, hot, showery, better pm. S wind.
Dispensary sink.
Planted potatoes for Stones, made little boats for G. ((For "Stones" see http://gwulo.com/node/25983))
?C but over.
(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
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.
Buffalo stock is used for soup. The buffalo bones are heated in the camp-made pressure cooker until they are soft and can be used as a spread on the rice bread.
Source:
William G. Sewell, Strange Harmony, 1948, 167
Note: see the previous two days' entries.
Since the new Japanese personnel took charge in May we have had regular outside roll calls or parades every Friday. For the parade before the last the Japanese ordered that, on the approach of the Japanese officers and at the order of our respective Block Representatives, all internees should come to attention, bow and then stand at ease. None of us really objected – after all, the Japs would certainly expect their own people to do it – but being British I think we all felt a trifle ridiculous and in our blocks it gave rise to some barely concealed snickering.
Still in hospital.
Miss Batley ((either Edith or Ivy, don't remember which)) in hospital because of eating berries of castor oil plant.
On Sunday last, we had MEAT - wonderful.
To Rosary with the RC nurses in Operating Theatre on last 2 evenings, and Holy Communion in Ward 6 on two mornings. Heaps of people besides family came to visit me, Doreen in particular.
Play-reading - G.B.S. "Capt. Brasshound's Conversion" (Colledge, W.Cox, Blair, Smalley, Billingham - MacNider (c) )
((I've only linked the names where there's a single match. For the other names there are several possible matches.))
Came out of hospital. Was given lard.
We bought wong tong in exchange for dry rice.
Annie brought us some wong tong, she thinks she's pregnant.
Keeping very much better and getting stronger again every day. Not much news except that last weekend we got beef which caused great excitement as this is the first beef we have had since January 1944 and we have again got beef for it came in last night so we'll get a decent stew today.