page 192 — August 1942

Saturday 15^th

… Tom Garland and family left at 9.30—taken in the car to the station by Mommy—we get 4 gallons a month now. At 9.40 Mrs. Shiner called to fetch me, and she dropped me and Hugh at the bottom of Duncton hill. We walked on for 40 minutes until the bus caught up. We arrived in Chichester at 11 o’clock. zhy zmo zrn zfr

After meeting his mother and sister and having an ice-cream with him and his sister, he and I went and successfully bought a tweed jacket for me—quite a nice bluish-green one for 39/6. Then we wandered around a bit and bussed to his house, about a mile from the centre of the town. Here we had lunch—his mother is a comfortable nice sort of woman, his father looks like a business man but is actually director of education. zhy zsh zop

After lunch we drove down in the car, Hugh and I being dropped at the cinema. … Met the others [Margaret and friends, who had also by chance been to the cinema] in the bus. We got off at Dog Kennel cottages and trudged back in the rain singing. Supper, woffle, bed (happy woffler). zfr zfm zwr zem zmh

News bad in Russia. Malta convoy fights through, ‘Eagle’ (old a-c. carrier) sunk. zru znb zwe

Monday 17^th

News—Maikop oilfield very scorched and left by Russians. More threat to Stalingrad. America consolidating with very heavy losses in the Solomons. I shocked up in the morning 9-12, repairing fallen ones—a miserable job… zru zlb znb zws zhk

Tuesday 18^th

More shocking up. … It was a scorcher of a day, and we were doing horribly floppy and tickly barley—I was miserable and we were all bad tempered and worked badly, getting little done. … zhk zwr zem

News. Churchill has been having important talks with Joe [Stalin] and [Ambassador] Harriman (USA). (This yesterday published). Daddy said zpl zwg