Saturday, August 9th
Took Hilary for his first visit to the zoo today. Packed with children of all ages in the afternoon, the fruits of our victory in the Battle of Britain last summer, a gift from the so few to the so many. But when you see the many guffawing at the antics of the chimpanzees you wonder at the qualities they display in war. Hilary was disappointed to see no elephants, which had been moved to Whipsnade, but everything else of note except kangaroos and gorillas. Few visitors had any food to offer the animals, but we had taken the precaution of bringing lettuces and carrots, so several times became the envy of a small crowd, especially when giving our last and largest lettuce to the giraffe.
Been extracting honey all week, but by a piece of bad luck crop very poor - early cold spell and long drought.
While away heard no wireless and had no papers on Moor, but returned to find Russians still holding Smolensk and before Leningrad…..Berlin has been bombed again both by Russians and our bombers. The Germans said bombed by R.A.F. on a night when no bombers were out, as they did not want to admit that Russian bombers had arrived. Don’t think Berliners are going to have much of a winter somehow.
Sunday, Aug 10th
Postscript tonight by American journalist – “You bet there’ll be chaos on the continent, Mr Schikkelgruber!” Very fierce and spirited broadcast addressed to Hitler himself. “Do you really believe you have made the Germans believe their miserable existence is heaven?” “It is dangerous to wake the dead, Mr S – Drake, Nelson, Wellington, Allenby, Beatty – that is all Mr S!”
Things are working up to a climacteric “again”. Some evidence that troops are massing in the race to attempt the Straits and advance along both sides of the Black Sea to Baku and the oil, Iraq and Iran. Japs are on the very brink of war. Their troops on the frontier of Thailand and if they invade Thailand they are on the frontiers of Burma and Malaya. The Japs cannot decide whether America will fight or be content to help Britain and Russia. The freezing of American assets and the stoppage of oil will be a long-term disaster for Japan. Will she take the short view and go bald ahead from the British and Dutch East Indies?
Queen gave a good broadcast to American women – a very young voice.
Visited Stratford with M. Great difficulties with food. Came back to private room, in Radcliffe [Hospital, Oxford].
Friday, Aug 29th
I take up my pen again after a fortnight, a week of which was spent in the Radcliffe having my tonsils out. I am now convalescent. The most striking event of the first week was the meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt. Churchill crossed the Atlantic on one of our battleships, the Prince of Wales, and they met in some landlocked firth off the American coast where they and their staffs conferred for three days. An eight point statement of joint aims was then issued. On the eastern front battles continue to rage from the Baltic to the Black Sea….
On the home front, milk is to be restricted this winter. Men write articles saying that production has increased, but consumption has increased still further! Curious!. Honey has been priced at 2/9 maximum, but it is not to be compulsorily bought (so far) by the Food Ministry.
The lodgers have been away for a fortnight and have fortunately decided to stay away for another week. We shall not know the house when we have it to ourselves again. The food at the hospital was excellent, plenty of jelly of all sorts and even dried figs. The surgeon who took out my tonsils has sent his three young children to U.S.A. where faculty at Yale offered hospitality to teaching staffs’ children from Oxford. Still thought it was the right thing to do as believed Russia would collapse this autumn and airborne attempt at invasion made next year and might pitch anywhere inland.
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