August-October. Victory is certain. School brains trust. Giving blood. Bulbs in short supply. No heating.
Monday, Aug 16th
The evening air is filled with the thunder of our bombers each night and the air battle against western Germany goes on. The German reserves in the East seem exhausted….. German satellites, Hungarians, Finns, Bulgarians are getting more uneasy. Sweden has refused to continue to allow Germans passage to Norway….. Victory is now humanly speaking certain. The Germans have no more untapped reserves in Europe, their reserves cannot now be replaced, and our communications with the New World cannot be cut by the U-boats, 90 of which have been sunk in the last three months.
It looks as if a landing will be made in N. Europe. An area in southern England has been closed to visitors and Tom Wheeler is on embarkation leave with all his pay book blacked out and no second bag for sub-tropical kit. Norway? Denmark? Holland? France? Our air offensive in Germany is producing great moral effect in Germany. The population is reported to be leaving Berlin at the rate of 10,000 a day. A strange feeling that in the last two months things have moved very rapidly indeed.
Friday, Sept 3rd
Fourth anniversary of the declaration of war. Remember going over to the school to hear Chamberlain’s speech over the wireless as in those days did not possess a valve set, only a crystal, and this useless owing to changed wave length.
Have been down with Hilary and Nora to caravan at Runnage on Dartmoor. Very poor weather and much rain. Caravan leaked badly, but Hilary enjoyed himself collecting “feavers”, sheep wool and paddling in the stream and picnicking at Bellever. War far away and silence refreshing. The farmer’s wife let us have ¼ of cream every day or so and two half pounds of butter. Believe came back fatter in spite of strenuous life. Paraffin very short supply so cooked on wood fire in the open, trying to the eyes, but amusing. Great expedition to Princeton to claim rations on bicycle. Hilary’s ration card [?only for a] week, but when pointed out he was on holiday from school and “Eton” on card all was well, though own dress, especially trousers, not old Etonian.
Nine o’clock news. Invasion of mainland Italy across straits of Messina begun last night.
Sunday, Sept 5th
To-night going to bed Hilary told me some rude stories, including one limerick – the result of a term at boarding school. He watched very closely to judge the effect. Nora went up to London but the trains completely disorganized and it took her five hours to get from Paddington to Henley.
Wednesday, Sept 8th
7.45. Missed the 6 o’clock news, but Eve Weiss, whose husband, Roberto, in intelligence, just rung up to say Italy has surrendered unconditionally.
Hilary’s birthday (3 years ago date of bombing of London Docks). Nora made a cake and partly covered it with chocolate, i.e., cocoa mixed with sugar, the best we could do, but all right if eaten immediately. It had 7 candles on it. He chose as one present a parachutist “suit”; this consisted of an American cloth cap and a belt with revolver holster!
Monday, Sept 13th
A very exciting week full of stirring events. Surrender of the Italian fleet; a second allied landing at Salerno near Naples; outbreak of fighting between German and Italian troops; the German seizure of Rome; and Churchill and Roosevelt’s message to the Italian people telling them to sabotage and hamper the Germans in any way they can. Rommel has been placed in command. A tremendous battle, one of the fiercest of the Mediterranean campaign, is raging round Salerno….. Hitler has staked his prestige. It appears a classic struggle. Defeat means for him another Stalingrad….. It is announced that three middle-aged men have been executed in Germany for saying in pubs that Hitler could not win.
Revealed to day that when news of Hesse’s landing was telephoned to the P.M., the Minister of Information replied, “We are seeing a film of the Marx brothers.”
Friday, Sept 17th
To-day Hilary used the telephone unaided for the first time to ring up his friend Alexander’s mother. Invested in a pair of corduroy trousers. These used to need fewer coupons, but then they became fashionable, so now they are the same as other trousers. Trousers are not allowed to be made with turn-ups any longer, but the tailors simply enquire if you wish them to be made sufficiently long to enable you to turn them up yourself!
Wednesday, Sept 22nd
The account of the negotiations with Badoglio read like Philips Oppenheim. They tried to keep Musso safe to deliver him to the allies, but they could not conceal his whereabouts from the Germans, who surprized them by a stroke of great force and daring. The guard had orders to shoot him if attempts were made to rescue him, but failed to do so.
Our first-line air force is now 50% greater than the German and it is possible we may be able to “saturate” their defences in 1944, in which case no military target would be safe from us. In the first fortnight of September the U-boats sank no ships in any ocean. The aircraft production of the United States is four times that which Germany can maintain.
Monday, Sept 27th
A feature of the wartime B.B.C. programmes is the Brains Trust, which answers listeners’ questions and has attained national and international fame. Started a school Brains Trust to-day and discovered two excellent talkers among the prefects, who might become “residents”, i.e. permanent members.
Friday, Oct 1st
Went for the first time to-day to give blood. Had been tested at the time of Munich, but because of sciatica had never done anything about it. It was carried out in the Town Hall. You had your card with your blood group marked on it and then waited in a queue for a bit. You went into the Council Chamber where there where eight or ten beds set out. You lay on one of these and then your arm was cleaned - your left arm – and the doctor, a young woman, came round and made the cut in the vein. You could hear your blood running into a bottle. It did not take very long. Your arm was bandaged up and you were taken to another room where you lay down for ten minutes, when you were allowed to sit up and were given a cup of tea and a piece of cake. I went very yellow and felt rather buzzy in the head. However I was told that if I drank twice the usual amount in the next 48 hours I would soon make it up.
We have captured the whole of the Sorrento peninsular and our men are in Pompeii. Roosevelt says we shall soon be in Rome and what happens to Rome is the responsibility of the Germans. Our war, he added, is in the nature of a crusade to rescue the Pope.Tuesday, Oct 12th
Heard later that so few people volunteered for blood giving that it was hardly worthwhile to bring the outfit – only about 300.
Have been trying to buy bulbs for planting; hyacinths long unobtainable, now tulips have gone the same way and there is only a very limited supply of daffodils. Crocuses and snowdrops selling in small quantities at absurd prices. Shall go in for bulbs in a big way after the war. After war! Made a list (verbal) to-day: fresh and tinned fruit and cream, plenty of milk, oranges, lemons, walnuts, plum cake, cherry, raspberry and strawberry jam, sherry, marmalade for breakfast, butter, and then being able to buy things to take out for picnics, especially methylated spirits so that one can boil one’s own kettle – and comfortable and cheap rail travel (Added later: What a hope!)
Our “midget” submarines, now mentioned for the first time, have got far up the [?]Aetan Fjord and badly damaged the Turpitz, the Germans’ only big battleship..… It was a desperate business, “hazards of the first order”, and 3 submarines were lost.Friday, Oct 15th
On way to Reading saw a Flying Fortress down in a field. The wheels had not come down and it was lying on its belly with some of the propeller blades bent, but otherwise it seemed unhurt. I thought it was British till I saw that American soldiers were guarding it and then I saw the star too. Only a year last summer that I saw first American bomber. Now huge daylight formations quite common. M gave me some lovely Chinese gentians, as in October 1940. No heating on in the school. Very cold and clammy. All wearing greatcoats and number of children away.
Sunday, Oct 17th
Reported that at conference between foreign ministers of U.S.A., U.S.S.R. and ourselves, Russians will press for second front soon while events still march in the East. Some of the Stalingrad generals are said to be urging German G. H. Q. to throw out Hitler while yet time to save the army.
Smuts has spoken in London again after a year. He said that next year “the ground assault” would take place on Hitler’s central fortress; in this the Americans must play the leading part, the latest, freshest and most potent newcomers in the field. Speed is essential. Everywhere the enslaved populations are being reduced to destitution and despair with the most brutal ruthlessness…..
Sunday, Oct 31st
Had a night out on Wednesday! Bus from Goring did not come owing to fog; tried train; this 1½ hours late; landed in Reading past midnight; hoped to pick up taxi meeting Mr Stuart from Oxford (Diarist’s note: Vivian Stuart, a wartime music teacher, very bogus, known as the Maestro). This not there either. Decided to bicycle home on M’s cycle, was walking home with M when found Stuart in fog asking way to Henley! So walked with him about a third of the way, finally reaching home at 2 o’clock.
Took Hilary to zoo yesterday, but very cold and miserable. Went into aquarium, which he liked very much, and did the round of most of the other houses.
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