15th September 1944

Friday

Dull, misty morning, and no ‘planes about.  Saw Butterworth who absolutely denies any truth in the Elmstead Rocket story.  Did not tell him it came from Jameson, whom he knows well.  The mystery deepens – heard a girl in the café say to two others – “I hear you have an unexploded rocket near you!”  They giggled and said “Shh!”

This afternoon, out with Maidstone, checking machinery.  Went to Glebe Farm, Abberton, found they were only now beginning to cut the barley, which was being carted without being stood up, with 2 motor lorries and 3 tractors.  This has been kept quite quiet from the office.  Fortunately the stuff is very dry.

Our waste on carting is enormous – nearly £200 was spent to cart corn at Salcott, about 50 acres in all, done by lorry.  Saw Baldwin, talked of the ploughing match to be held at Mersea next week.  Then went to Mersea and to Brook Hall, Fingringhoe.  The tide was full, and a barge came sailing silently up towards Colchester, past Brightlingsea Church on the hill behind.  Looks like another break in the weather, in fact we had a few showers during the day.  It will be terrible if the weather breaks again.  This has been a disastrous harvest.

All the afternoon there was heavy explosions to the SW, but may have been gunfire from the German guns shelling Dover and Folkestone. 

Saw Poulter this evening, and heard more rocket stories.  The rockets are getting smaller – only weighing a ton now, instead of 13 tons as they were last week.  However, they make a hole big enough to bury three trams – so they tell us.  Whether the trams are to be laid end to end or one on top of each other was not said, or whether they were single or double-deck.

Snowball told us today that he had picked up a man walking on the road who worked in Woolwich Arsenal, who said 6 had now fallen in London.  Poulter says Hull’s version is that 3 fell on London yesterday, and 8 had fallen in Essex, but he didn’t know where.

To the Post at 9.  Young Willsher, who was on with me, works at a garage at Elmstead, and says he heard the Dodge Plug works were destroyed on Saturday night.  What an amazing business this is.

Continual heavy firing all evening from the SW, probably Dover.  Early in the evening 14 Dakotas came over in formation, which in conjunction with the Air Borne Troops in the town, looks rather suggestive.  Heard that one of the ‘Bolts at Langham shed its bombs on the runway when taking off today.

Bed 11.30, after a lovely ride through an autumn scented night under a sky of brilliant stars.