Another US Independence Day.
Cloudy, hot, showery. S wind.
Window in Lep.
Awfully fed up am.
(Rumours. Enough British troops in Luzon to re-take Singapore & HK. Chinese warned to be ready for an attack on Colony. Chungking & Red Armies converging on Ning Po)
Dug potatoes pm 7lbs Gs ∴
Doreen for shorthand.
Worked in afternoon, typed much of Catholic Youth Magazine. Father Hessler sick.
Went to see Mr Burnett with my 'exercise' - 400 words about camp life. He said it wasn't bad.., but to me it sounded like a school composition compared to his which he read to me as a sample. He has offered to help me with narration, and told me to report on the food queue as if writing a letter, and he will criticise it.
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.
Death of John Joseph Osborne a 57 year old post office employee.
Boy scouts disbanded
J. draw attention to misdemeanors on roofs, say “OK between man and wife but…”
Outdoor a.m. roll call
Doctors to report on mental condition of camp
Cool, showery, E wind.
Outside roll-call. Some unpleasantness, the rats are bad tempered about something.[He’s drawn an arrow linking this statement to the one about Russia declaring war]
Ring for G’s friend.
Cigs now 35Y. 4/1d each.
Mary lent me Y75 for Canteen, to G.
Russia declared war on Japan 4th?
W.T. ¼ Tea ¼ Salt ¼ ½ box matches. ∴
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.
“Dover Road” (play reading) (Tomlinson, Wadeson, J. Smalley, D. Holloway, Shields) (Colledge)
Overcast, showers, strong E wind, cool.
Finished glazing Lep. window.
Spoon for G, sat 3.30pm – 4.30pm. so nice.
No smokes, no news.
Lorry in 10.30pm. Meat & Black market goods.
∴x
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.
As we have not been allowed newspapers since the end of May, any news trickling into the camp is very scarce and most unreliable but sifting it out and using our grey matter thing must be moving rapidly and our release should not be long delayed.
Wittenbach / Alton
(Meat )
Overcast, showery. Cool, S wind.
Chopped wood V & G.
With Steve aft. real flour cake.
Ring for Ying.
No flag up. No rescription [?] in East.
Black-market stuff: Lard 875Y. Sugar 300Y. Sardines 400Y.
Weather improved pm.
Lorry with veg. 10pm. ∴
Engineers, Customs, harbour, docks men went to C.S.O. and asked how long been in firm before war and how long in HK.
B.M. Wongtong ￥280, matches ￥20 box
E Read (SS) arrested – sugar (what sold, customers asked to return). Toihan ((sp.? Looks like Toihan but maybe Tollan?)), Bendall, Trevor Edwards also. Read slept in C.S.O
Humid, showery SW wind.
Finished off Lep. window.
Col. came in.
Engineers etc. checked up by Japs. Much conjecture re reason.
Flower vase from ½ “ U.S.A.F. cartridge to G.
Outside roll-call due to Reid being absent. (Some trouble re sugar stolen from go-down) ∴
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.
Edward Reed escapes from arrest - he's accused of stealing 300 lbs of sugar from the godown ration store to sell on the black market - and creates a furore in camp that lasts until tomorrow.