[July. Sardines with everything. The working married women. P. G. Wodehouse. Feeling pleased to be English. V sign army at HGS.]
Tuesday, July 1st
Professor R over today for the French oral exams. Still obsessed by the French collapse, as is only natural, and hatred of Germans but especially Darlan. He has learnt nothing of his mother and can make no attempt to communicate with her. Says food position in occupied France is dreadful, especially in the big cities such as Lyons. In occupied territory workmen are given chance of working for Germans in factories. If they refuse the are cut off relief. And when the agree they are moved into Germany. 2,000,000 soldiers are still in concentration camps in occupied territory. He is in the Home Guard here. “We shall stop them for at least 10 minutes.” French men are crossing channel in their fishing boats from Brittany. What a disaster our Spanish policy has been. With a neutral but friendly Spain we should have had a backdoor into France and they a way to us. Some of his information comes from a Frenchman in Dublin who, as in a neutral country, had been allowed into France. He gave a picture of despair and a feeling of the hopelessness of resistance.
Petrol ration to be cut by 1/6th by halving ration for October.
Russian news not good tonight. German motored columns said to have reached the Beresima on way to Moscow. Battles on so huge and long a front that after 10 days no coherent picture of situation.
Friday, July 5th
Struggle continues and Russians seem being forced back, the war becoming one of zones instead of fronts; the armoured forces on both sides seem to have overshot the infantry and to be operating by themselves – at least the Germans do…. Hard to tell if they can keep up this pace for long. Been at it for a fortnight now.
Churchill’s speech of last Sunday week more and more seen as a masterly piece of propaganda, swift and sure. The Soviet propaganda will now go all out among the German working class and the Balkan peasantry. Though things look black, if Russian resistance continues we may have turned the corner. The clash with fascism which began in Spain has now reached a climax and everywhere for the oppressed peoples of Europe the knowledge that the U.S.S.R. is fighting the Nazis will bring fresh hope and the spirit of resistance.
Sunday, July 7th
As more things are controlled in price but not rationed, the queues are forming. Yesterday two long queues in the market place, one for tomatoes and one for potatoes. It is very difficult to find anything to take on a picnic except sardines. There are plenty of those and you are offered them everywhere. On toast they are sometimes the only thing in teashops, you get them if you go out to supper, they are taken on picnics, and even offered to travellers on trains in the restaurant cars. Soon I shall start growing fins as I have eaten so many lately. We are lucky for we have honey, but after honey for breakfast, tea and supper for weeks, one gets tired even of honey and would like some jam and marmalade. The honey this year is poor because of the early cold followed by a long drought.
Friday, July 11th
Rain at last after very long drought. News better this week. Russians are holding and counter attacking. They claim some big victories in central and southern parts of front and say they have destroyed many German tanks. In Syria our forces in Beirut and Vichy has asked for an armistice. Best of all the Americans have sent troops to Iceland to co-operate with our force already there to prevent Iceland being used as German base for attack on Greenland. Very alarmist stories of wasted time, confusion and muddle in production debate in House of Commons. Air Force offensive by day over N.W. France and by night over western Germany continues. One air raid warning this week at night – quite unaccustomed to them.
Sunday, July 13th
We heard today that Russia and Gt. Britain have signed a treaty of mutual aid and an agreement not to conclude an independent peace.
Hilary Daniels, welfare worker with the L.M.S. [London, Midlands and Scottish Railways] has been staying with us and tells of the problems on the railways caused by the employment of hundreds of women – the intrusion of a new class, married women, to the two already recognised – virgins and widows! The enormous number of pregnancies and the difficulties about leave of absence, the language difficulty where men and women work together and the medical examinations, the “crudity of their conversation” there, and so on. H.D. sometimes interviews nearly 100 women a day. Described the appalling stench in the lavatories where a refrigeration plant for meat had been bombed and the carcasses were rotting under the debris. Also the unpopularity of the railway because an ammunition train had failed to get clear of the city before the night raids began and had been blown up - great damage to life and property in the area where it was caught.
Tuesday, July 15th
A nauseating broadcast tonight by a journalist, “Cassandra” of the Daily Mirror. P.G. Wodehouse, the funny writer, was caught in France by the Germans and put in a prison camp. He recently broadcast to America, after his release, from a suite in a hotel in Berlin. We have not been allowed to know what he did say. But questions have been asked in Parliament about his activities. Tonight’s broadcast was in reply. It was a thoroughly undignified performance, full of rhetorical questions addressed to P.G. Wodehouse, every device was used to chuck mud at him. Only one scrap of what he actually did say was allowed to escape – apparently that was that he was unable to arouse any enthusiasm for the war. Very stupid and silly.
Firmly announced by P.M. today that Russians are our Allies and no nonsense. He made a fighting speech yesterday, which I heard recorded at 10.0. The massacres of Rotterdam, Warsaw and Belgrade would be fully avenged. “In the last few weeks alone we have thrown upon Germany about half the tonnage of bombs thrown by the Germans on our cities during the whole course of the war. This is only the beginning.”
“I remember one winter evening travelling to a railway station – which still worked – on my way north to visit troops. It was cold and raining. Darkness had almost fallen on the cold and blacked out streets. I saw everywhere long queues of people, among them hundreds of girls in silk stockings and high-heeled shoes, who had worked hard all day and were waiting for bus after bus, which came by already overcrowded, in the hope of reaching their homes for the night. When at that moment the doleful sound of the siren betokened the approach of the German bombers, I confess to you that my heart bled for London and the Londoners. Sometimes the gas had failed over large areas – the only means of cooking for great numbers of people - sometimes the electricity. There were grievous complaints about the shelters and conditions in them. Water was cut off…large districts were destroyed by fire, some 20,000 were killed and many more thousands were wounded. The courage, the unconquerable grit and stamina of the Londoners showed itself from the very onset. Without that all would have failed. Upon that rock they all stood unconquerable.”
Monday, July 21st
Broadcast on P. G. Wodehouse did rouse some letters of protest to The Times I am glad to say.
School today plastered with V signs and “ . . . – “ in Morse. This propaganda device put up by a Col. Britton on the foreign broadcasts a few weeks ago. All the oppressed peoples of Europe asked to put up the sign as the symbol of victory, victoire, victoria (German sieg) and tap it out in rhythm of the opening chords of Beethoven’s Vth symphony. This caught on last night and the V army was mobilized – i.e., to chalk up the sign, take a vow never to submit to the Germans and read if possible Daniel 5. v.v. [the writing on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace]. The Germans have tried to pinch it for themselves by hanging out the sign on such places as the Eiffel Tower.
There seem indeed to be some signs that they are getting rattled, especially by the air raids which go on day and night on France and western Germany….Also reports of demoralization in the ranks of German infantry in Russia and dissensions in the party (Goering reported arrested)….The German drive to Smolensk and Moscow continues…
Reading book by American journalist, Virginia Cowles, Looking for Trouble – good on the character and stamina of the English. Our secret, according to her, is that we can and do trust our government, the French could not and did not. The distrust of government the root of French collapse. Last summer eight sovereign states had been disarmed and broken, England’s equipment lay scattered through Flanders, the Navy was engaged in the Atlantic, the European coast from Bergen to Bordeaux was in enemy hands and the Air Force was only a third of the size of Germany’s. The ordinary people actually took heart from the fact that they were alone and had no longer to rely on strange and unpredictable foreigners, and felt that their own people were bound to prove more reliable. On June 29th 1940 she broadcast to the U.S.A. “Englishmen are proud of being Englishmen. They have been the most powerful race in Europe for over 300 years, and they believe in themselves with passionate conviction…..” “Although the people knew they would be bombed, blockaded and besieged, their insularity, with roots in nearly 1,000 years of independence, was serving them in good stead; they were positive their island could not be invaded. It was not surprising that Hitler’s peace offer of July 19th fell on deaf ears.” This and a great deal more of the last part of the book made me feel quite pleased that I am English.
Thursday July 24th
Russians holding German push towards Moscow and at Smolensk, after reporting town captured several days ago [Germans] are now having to admit that are not in control yet. The new offensive started 10 days ago and will probably spend its force soon as reports are coming through of heavy strains on transport as lines of communication lengthen and it takes a gallon of petrol to take a gallon of petrol to the front. The German communiqués are beginning to make excuses, which is a good sign – bad weather, rain and so on, to prepare the German public for a long campaign.
Friday, July 25th
2.18 to Exeter ran punctually. Up at Runnage on Dartmoor by 7.30. Molly had pitched tent. Bull in next field with one cow and quite amiable. Wind got up and tent flapped a good deal.
Saturday, July 26th
Molly and Ruth went off early to help with sheep dipping at Stannon. I walked out with the lunch at about 12. The sheep went through the dip about 10 a minute until the afternoon when the policeman turned up. Then they were left longer. About 1,200 done in the course of the day.
Since last year wooden watch tower has been built up on Merripit Hill. In the evening walked up to Sousson Down, and as we climbed we could see the barrage balloons over Plymouth gleaming in the sunset. Found a shell of an incendiary bomb embedded in peat up to the fins. By tearing and scraping with fingers and a sharp piece of granite was finally able to dig it out. It had ignited but the lower end of the case though burst through had been extinguished by the enclosing peat. Brought it back to the caravan and hung it in the porch as a trophy. A big white crater on the hillside beyond Stannon, big enough, Mr Coker said, to put two houses in! Apparently aimed at searchlights.
Sunday, July 27th
A lovely day with big white clouds and hot sun. Walked to Dartmeet with lunch, had tea at Badger’s Holt and walked back to support of bacon and whortleberries with huge dish of cream. Saw dipper at Dartmeet.. Lovely views over Bellever…
Monday, July 28th
Molly and Ruth left for school at 7.30. Could hardly leave caravan all day for fog and drizzle. Slept in caravan.
Tuesday, July 29th
Showery with very clear views over Moor. Walked to Birch Tor where had lunch on egg and cheese, then to Chagford and to Exeter by bus.
Wednesday, July 30th
Went to Budleigh Salterton in afternoon. Only one small avenue in the wire down to sea. Much more wire than last year, and kind of skeleton grandstands been erected with steel tubes, like the early stages of the coronation, and placed against the shingle as tank traps. Saw practically no aeroplanes while on the Moor and only fighters at Exeter. Drone of bombers we get at Henley noticeably missing.
Stayed with Maud till Saturday. She brought out a plum pudding that was a year and a half old and served it with brandy, but no cream. It was excellent.
The public were asked not to travel for Bank Holiday, but they disregarded this and poured out of London by the westbound trains, which had to run in five or six parts.
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