Sunday 17th May 1942

I'm on leave at last, a day and a half late. I'm allowed to return a day later than normally, which means they've whittled about 8 hours off my total period.

The drill order was a pretty frantic affair, ending with a smoke screen. Lines were laid several times, at high speed, by Ted Gayler and myself (racing towards each other from the two troop positions) and reeled in – on most occasions – by Don Pounds and the M1 crew.

We returned to camp at 10:30a.m. Breakfast consisted of porridge, jam and chlorinated tea. No bread, no eggs or fish. That was the meal we had after being on our feet since 4:45a.m. without any food. Luckily, the weather is too hot for one to have an appetite.

Subsequently – after maintenance – I loafed about until 4p.m., when a leave pass and some money were available. I am now staying at Toc H, in Soliman Pasha. At “Music for All” I found Jack Chenery who has a couple of days leave still ahead of him. When I arrived, the trio was playing a selection from “Poet and Peasant.”