Sunday 22nd February 1942

Here we are – God knows where actually. We had 30-40 hours in the train. We did not stop either at Alex. or Matruh. The train journey wasn't too bad; I had a decent book to read (funny how a book can colour one's reactions!) and hardly looked out of the window at all. Once we had a long halt – maybe somewhere near Matruh – and got some hot water from the engine for shaving and a brew.

We are somewhere near railhead, perhaps S and W from Sidi Barrani. The delightful irony lies in the fact that we are encamped a few hundred yards from the place where we spent Christmas Eve (browned off with the present, yet full of high hopes for the future) and we dismounted from the train at the place where we had entrained on Christmas Day! We're living snugly in tents. We probably move on tomorrow, complete with trucks and guns.

Once more we've seen AA shells burst excitingly. Two Jerry planes roared low over the camp this forenoon and later a heavy Iti bomber cruised over at about 8,000 feet.
We know nothing about world news or the local state of the war, having been out of touch since Thursday.