Thursday 13th March 1941

The air raid siren wailed at 12:30a.m. this morning – the sound rising and falling just as it used to in Blighty in the early days. Most of us got up and filed out to the shelter but nothing whatever happened. The all-clear (suitably triumphant, soaring notes) awoke me soon after I'd got back to bed. Nearly all of us became fed-up and didn't leave our beds when the genuine raids commenced, about half an hour later. The raids seemed to be by single planes and nothing fell near us but there was a hell of an AA barrage and we couldn't get much sleep for the next three hours.
The Aussies in this moved out this afternoon; some more moved in. I now secured a camp bed – it seems very springy and soft, after the dusty floor.

The ammo is apparently ready now but the lorries are not here yet. We wait on.
There are few amenities here. There is a YMCA (“bring your own mugs”) and that is where I am writing this. Unfortunately there is no tea available this evening, nor is the wireless set working yet. However there is electric light and some old magazines. It is a dusty day and I don't suppose the Regiment is happier, somewhere in the open, up the road. I, at least am in a barn tonight (although I do have to reach it by scrambling over a heap of bricks, through a partially demolished house).