1945, July

July. Polling day. One-day regatta.  Fratting. Potsdam. London lights come on again. Labour wins. Man of Munich returned in Henley. Germany's 1940 plans for Britain - what an escape.

 

Friday, July 6th

Polling Day; but instead of hearing the results to-night and to-morrow we have to wait three weeks while some northern constituencies poll and the service vote comes in.

1945 June

May. Miss Wilkinson goes home. School election. Churchill a bad third. Tory scaremongering. Donald Heath - a  man of destiny? Miss Auty's Rumanian. Excursion by charabanc. Packed meeting of WEA.

Tuesday, June 5th

Another milestone to peace reached to-day. Miss Wilkinson, who has lived with us since the Alps, our 1939-42 evacuees went, returned to her flat [Ed: 61 Market Place, I think] and our fourth bedroom was free and the house our own for the first time since Sept 1939.

1945 May

May. Hitler dead. De Valera. Peace at last. School thanksgiving. General election.  Petrol again. Our Lady in Tibet. Russians a problem. Fish, but no fishermen.

Tuesday, May 1

A bitterly cold May Day with N.E. wind. The Red Flag flying over the Reichstag. No other news. When the P.M.asked in the house, he replied the only news he had was that the situation was better than in 1939!

1945 April

April. Friendly Germans. 11  million homeless. Roosevelt's death. Concentration camps - Belsen's pastor. Dead German cities. Suicides in Germany. Musso dead.

Easter Monday, April 2nd

To Teignmouth where met Wilfrid (Westall), Ruth and Nicholas, aet VI. Tea with double ices for small boys, then to see Wilfrid’s new church at Shaldon with 3 wc’s! Wilfrid said that as Hilary had not been baptized he should be called B1.

1945 March

March. Shutting Randolph up. Clem Clifford on India. Goering's brio furioso. Long-tailed tits and goldfinches. Across the Rhine. Utility beef. No fraternisation.

Sunday, March 4th

Phyllis came down again from Thursday to Saturday. Churchill met Ibn Saud in Cairo. He introduced Randolph to the Emir, who examined him with interest and said, ”I have to like him”.

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..….

1945 January

January. Hilary's fate in case of 1940 invasion. Possible use for V rockets. Tobogganing. "We have given everything". Clifford home. Power cuts. Russians near Berlin.

 

New Year’s Day, 1945

Train to Exmouth, a cup of coffee and a bun, then bus to Otterton, whence I walked to Ladram Bay. Made on up the cliff path to High Peak. The ground was still frozen and not muddy.