27th June 1944

Tuesday
To Observer Post at 1am.  Fine and clear.  Found myself on with Goody the ‘bus driver.  Then clouds came, and heavy rain.  Had the alarm ‘divers’, indicating that flying-bombs were coming in over Kent, but nothing came over our sector.  Rain stopped and it gradually got light.  Lambs began to cry, and larks rose up, singing.  The dawn sky was full of wild, torn, cloud with great masses of yellow, and red, gold and green.  Made me think of the dawn last year at Aviemore.  Wished I was there.  Thought of the 6 o’clock train leaving for the North this morning – by 8 tonight I could be in Edinburgh.  Got off at 5am.  Only heard one plane all night.  Bed for 3 hours.  Fine morning, but heavy rain from 11 to 12.  Weather bad for the invasion, which does not seem to be going very well.

Several pairs of army horses with wagons went by the office during the day.

An alarm for 10 minutes at 3 o’clock, just as the bombers were going out, so that had a flying-bomb come near it would have been difficult to hear it.

Was told today that on Saturday last “Tornado” Smith, now a fireman, the man who kept a lion at Boxford, rode into Colchester on a penny-farthing bicycle.

Fine evening, very calm.