1945 February

February. Crowds stream from Berlin. Greece. Semi-famine in France. Pet rides on D Day. Eve Weiss and contraception. Yalta. Dresden raid. Boat Race at Henley. Wouldn't like a black market.

Thursday, Feb 1st

Recall how dubious I was about the Russians in 1941. Feel I owe them an apology now they are so near Berlin..…. News full of accounts from German refugees – crowds of homeless streaming through Berlin westward. A new experience for the Berliners; previously it has always been Paris, Warsaw or Moscow.

White Paper published to-day on Communist activities in Greece, massacres and hostages, ill treatment of prisoners, robbery and murder of peasantry. Churchill appears justified in his refusal to yield to left-wing clamour based on confusion of communist gangsters with national movement for liberation from fascism.

Remarked to-night that shall soon have passed 10 years of my life in war – 1914 -18 and 1939 - 45. Nora pointed out that house hasn’t been decorated for eight years.

Sunday, Feb 4th

In France there is semi-famine. Goods cannot be distributed for lack of transport, so unless transport is delivered as well as goods nothing can be done. Civilian relief seems to have been badly planned by Americans and ourselves and realization that crisis was coming slow to penetrate the American mind. Belgium in much the same state.

Dorothy Wade here for weekend with her Siamese cat. Had some stories about D-day mascots. One Canadian paratrooper distraught because he lost his tame squirrel shortly before he was due to leave so he took a mouse which she supplied instead. The mouse made the parachute drop and eventually arrived back in England. Another brigade major had a guinea pig which his batman carried in a box specially constructed and hung on him with all his other equipment. The guinea pig was wounded in the leg at the same time as the major and came over with him in his blankets on a stretcher in a tank landing craft. When he got to hospital the guinea pig refused admission but taken in charge by someone and taken to another hospital for treatment.

Sunday, Feb 11th

Talking to Nora to-day about rigid R.C. attitude to birth control said it could be modified by casuistry. “Yes,” said Nora of Roberto and Eve Weiss. ”Roberto does nothing and leaves the casuistry to Eve.”

Wednesday, Feb 14th

The great meeting of the Big Three at Yalta is over. The Polish questions settled as far as the U.S., G.B. and U.S.S.R. are concerned, measures for final attack worked out and zones of occupation fixed. The Russian work steadily towards Dresden, which we have bombed heavily from the air – Dresden where my grandfather was chaplain and of which Mother often used to speak. We have reached the end of a long and difficult journey – it cannot be very far away or long delayed. I put it about May, and this afternoon was busy getting a new halyard on the flagpole.

Began digging the garden. Lettuces germinating in cloches.

Diarist’s note on the Dresden Raid, based on The Destruction of Dresden, D. Irving, Sept 1965.

As early as February 1942 Bomber Command had been directed to attack residential areas in a list of industrial towns. In March 1942 Professor Lindemann had advised P.M. that area bombing by making 1/3 of the German population homeless could break the enemy’s spirit. At Casablanca, January 1943, the undermining of the morale of the German people was made a priority task of Bomber Command.

The first firestorm was raised in Hamburg in July 1943, a second in Cassel. In 1943 and 1944 a closed controversy was going on about area bombing in Bomber Command itself and the country. In September 1944 a fire typhoon, hurricane force 10-12, when 286,000 fire bombs dropped on Darmstadt in 40 minutes. In Brunswick, Oct 1944, 23,000 were trapped in the firestorm in giant bunkers. It took the 4 500 firemen 6 days to control the fires. 80,000 out of 202,000 were homeless.

Casualties: Hiroshima 71,379.

Coventry 380 killed ; total G.B. 51,000.

Wuppertal 2,450, Darmstadt 12,300, Kassel under 8,000, Hamburg 31,000 – 40,000, Dresden 135,000.

Tuesday, Feb 20th

Barrage balloons are to disappear. Cannot remember exactly when saw the first one. Think it must have been at the time of Munich in 1938

The Americans have landed on Iwojima, an island in the Pacific 750 miles from Tokyo, which has been heavily bombed by carrier-born aircraft from a fleet steaming 300 miles off the Japanese coast unmolested. The Pacific war, like the European war, seems to be moving to a final stage.

Reputed that Hitler and Goering went to the railway station to buy tickets to Switzerland, but they were recognised. The ticket clerk was Goebbels

Friday, Feb 23rd

To-night we killed the first of Hilary’s rabbits. The skinning will take place to-morrow and the eating on Sunday when we expect Phyllis Autoyback from the Mediterranean for dinner.

Sunday, Feb 25th

Hilary, Nora and Alexander went down to the boat race yesterday afternoon, a wartime boat race rowed over the Regatta course. There was a large crowd and Hilary purchased a dark blue rosette, as I had in 1907 or 8 or 9. But Cambridge won by two lengths. An enormous number of aeroplanes, at least two dozen, circled and dived around the course. I was amazed to see them while I was digging the garden. It (will be) a nuisance if sporting events are to be disturbed by this kind of bad manners.

To-day Phyllis Auty came down, three days back from Italy. She came in an unloaded troop transport and was kept three days off Greenock before disembarking. Hilary was much pleased by a dagger of Damascus steel bought in Trans-Jordan. He was however puzzled by he habits of the Arabs and their practice of dagger carrying, also by references to the Black Market in Italy, which I found it difficult to explain. "I wouldn’t like to go to a black market,” he said on going to bed.

Phyllis also brought a basket of figs, some lemons and a bottle of olive oil. After a year in Italy she was impressed by the opulence and luxury of life in England, trains that ran on time, were warmed and had glass in the windows, centrally heated homes with hot baths and so on. She had been at Bari doing secret service work and she hoped to go soon to Yugoslavia. The place full of deserters and creeping with thieves of all sorts. She was much impressed by the number of aeroplane smashes and accidents and said that if you did enough travelling you were pretty certain to get killed in the long run. For dinner we had the rabbit, which was excellent, and in honour of Phyllis I opened the precious bottle of Graves kept for the liberation of France. We all filled our glasses, including Hilary, and drank “to France”. Hilary had a sherry glass diluted with water, but drank it all up and said he liked it.

Wednesday, Feb 25th

No newspapers to-day as the boy from the school who delivers them is temperamental and only delivers them if he feels like it, which is not always.

Yesterday Hilary returned to Long Dene at Chiddingstone Castle, near Tonbridge. He went by train from Reading to Penshurst to avoid rockets in London. He was interested in the scenery of the Downs between Guildford and Reigate.