Monday 21st February 1944
I was duly on fatigues yesterday morning – i/c cleaning in the officer's corridors and on the staircases of the officer's wing. Just as I was getting ready to leave the barracks at 10:30a.m. I was casually detailed for guard or something similar – to be on parade 1:30p.m. After some trouble I was however, taken off this duty.
With some difficulty I got out of the gate, dashed through the streets and along a tunnel under the river (couldn't wait for the ferry!) and caught a bus to East Ham Station on the other side. Once safely across and in Essex, I gave a sigh of relief.
The 11:40 down; a slow train, via Tilbury. I reached Pitsea about 1p.m. April, laughing and flushed of face (she had been cooking) opened the door of “Terori” to me. I spent a little less than five hours there; I wasn't happy, though I don't know why – there was really no reason why I should be anything but happy! Perhaps it was my fault and I was feeling too deeply depressed, beyond hope, when I went.
Came up by the 6:45 p.m. and reached Woolwich – via the tunnel – without incident.
There was time for a leisurely supper in a snack bar which I often frequent and then I came “home” (home!!!) to the depot and shaved with a bowl of hot water. (We usually heat our shaving water and shave overnight, whilst there is a fire in the room. In the mornings, in the bomb-blasted washing place, the water is almost too icy cold even for washing.)
Between 9:30p.m. and 10p.m. there was quite a genuine air raid, so I was very glad April hadn't made any pointless journeys and had gone straight back to Romford by bus.
With some difficulty I got out of the gate, dashed through the streets and along a tunnel under the river (couldn't wait for the ferry!) and caught a bus to East Ham Station on the other side. Once safely across and in Essex, I gave a sigh of relief.
The 11:40 down; a slow train, via Tilbury. I reached Pitsea about 1p.m. April, laughing and flushed of face (she had been cooking) opened the door of “Terori” to me. I spent a little less than five hours there; I wasn't happy, though I don't know why – there was really no reason why I should be anything but happy! Perhaps it was my fault and I was feeling too deeply depressed, beyond hope, when I went.
Came up by the 6:45 p.m. and reached Woolwich – via the tunnel – without incident.
There was time for a leisurely supper in a snack bar which I often frequent and then I came “home” (home!!!) to the depot and shaved with a bowl of hot water. (We usually heat our shaving water and shave overnight, whilst there is a fire in the room. In the mornings, in the bomb-blasted washing place, the water is almost too icy cold even for washing.)
Between 9:30p.m. and 10p.m. there was quite a genuine air raid, so I was very glad April hadn't made any pointless journeys and had gone straight back to Romford by bus.
posted by Paul Wilson at 3:11 pm
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