31st January 1943

Sunday

Woke at 7.  Tremendous wind and rain, the whole house shaking.  Never heard such a storm, and it kept on unabated all day.  At times the rain eased, but the wind blew until you felt the house must collapse.  Spent morning writing.  This afternoon had to go to Colchester to feed Bob.  Went up by Humberlands.  Elm tree down near Bargate Lane, bringing down the electric power wire with it.  Broken glass from forcing-frames all over the road by the Land Settlement.  The gale was due S.W., and blew me to a standstill several times.  It took me one and a half hours to get in.  Fed Bob, home to tea, and then left at quarter past 6.  Pouring rain again, but got back in 30 minutes, wet to the skin.  Lovely supper, and warm room, made the journey well worthwhile.  

Writing until 10p.m.  Wet clothes hanging up to dry all round the room. 

In the Sunday papers today, the news that Saunders-Lewis, the Welsh Nationalist, has polled more than 1300 votes in the Welsh University election, out of a total of about 5,000.  He was second in the poll.  In the same papers, it reports Mr. Maxton as warning the Scottish Nationalists against violence.  Can there be something stirring  among the Celts?

Wind and rain again with great violence about 9 o’clock tonight, the house shaking and rattling with every gust.

30th January 1943

Saturday

High wind.  Had quite a struggle to get into town.  Clouds flying over, huge masses, every now and then releasing sudden sharp showers of hail and rain.

Extraordinary story about the Maldon War Agricultural Committee. They apparently appointed a farm-foreman, who in due course was found to be unsuitable.  The whole clumsy machinery to dismiss him was put in motion, and some time later the necessary authority was received from the Labour Officer to dismiss him.  When this was done, the man appealed, and the appeal was heard by a tribunal of the Man Power Board.  This tribunal, without the slightest knowledge of the true facts of the case, ruled that the man was in the right and should not be dismissed.  Maldon Committee bowed to this ridiculous decision, and agreed among themselves to employ the man as a ganger; he again appealed, and the Man Power Board ruled that this decision referred to his job as a farm foreman, and as a farm foreman he must remain.  As he is quite unsuitable for the work, the Maldon Committee have now had to give him six months holiday, with pay, in order to keep him off the farm.  Moreover, they are compelled to let him remain in the foreman’s house.  Can the insanities of the Man Power Board go much further?  I honestly believe there is no perverse piece of lunacy which they would not do.  The men and women chosen for these Boards are mostly Civil Servants, quite ignorant of the most elementary knowledge of industries and labour and all of them quite drunk with the vast power over their fellow creatures which has been put freely into their hands.  There is no appeal against any of their decisions, however wildly stupid they may be.

It was a member of the Colchester Board who lodged at Nurse Horwood’s, opposite my Mother’s, who refused to stay there when he found he had to have meals at the same table as two gangers working on Langham aerodrome.  It was too, the Colchester Board which took away Pulford’s lorry driver and put him with Wright’s, so that in order to get his work done Pulford had to hire Wright’s lorry with his own driver!  Can insanity go further?

Thought I was on duty tonight, and made all arrangements, but when I got to the Castle I found Simons there instead, so cycled out to Lawford just after 9.  Bright starlight, but could not see the comet which is now approaching the Great Bear. 

29th January 1943

Friday

Strong wind, high clouds, moving fast.  Lovely fine day after 9 o’clock.

Mr. Lucker came down from Writtle again, this time to make an inspection of the actual payment of wages.  Nott and Spencer were furious, and made sure that he had to walk miles over wet, heavy fields.  The old chap came back about 2, quite exhausted.  This continual spying and investigating from Writtle is most irritating.  Spencer went so far as to say that he did not care who won the war – German methods could be no worse than English.  

There was then a general conversation about Germany and England (a thing which rarely occurs) from which I gathered that the Ministry of Information and the Press have over-estimated the credulity of the public in their treatment of Germany’s “total mobilisation” this week.

To infer, as has been done in every paper, that open announcements to the German people that the situation for them is black and that the nation must mobilise for total war, mean that Germany is in a desperate plight, is absurd, for England has been told repeatedly by all members of the Government, particularly Churchill, that this country’s plight is worse than desperate.  Some papers even made a great thing out of the “conscripting” of German women for war work, while they printed, (often on the same page), the official announcement that all married women up to 46 are now to be compelled to undertake part-time work, yet other headlines spoke of the mobilization of men from 16 to 65 – exactly the same as in England!  I can never understand if the editors of the daily papers are themselves fools or whether they think their readers are.

Heard a very interesting conversation at lunch.  At the next table sat an elderly woman, a pretty little red-haired girl, and a young couple, probably man and wife.  The exact relationship between them all I could not guess.  When I walked in the pretty girl was discussing (very loudly) as to how she could avoid being called up, and suggested that she might say she was a conscientious objector.  The elderly woman said briskly “Oh no, you can't do that!  You can't be a conscientious objector unless you’re one of God’s Witnesses or something.  Of course we all have our objections, and nobody wants to go, naturally, but it doesn't do to set yourself against people, you know, you only get called eccentric.”

The girl then said she would not register, and “they” would never find her, at which the other three hastened to point out that as the possessor of an identity card she was “on the list” already.  But, the girl said, how can they know how old I am?  Ah, she was told, they know that from the figures on your card.  “Oh well,” said the girl, “I’m not going if I can get out of it, anyway.”

All this conversation was quite loud, and everybody in the café could hear.

This afternoon left at 4, and cycled to Dedham.  Back to Lawford at a quarter to 11.  Many searchlights out, and a few RAF planes.

In Essex County Standard tonight that Hervey Benham has got a daughter.

28th January 1943

Thursday

Low clouds, strong S.W. wind.  Went down to Mersea this morning with Nott, to see how much work the so-called thatcher has done – about 2 squares in 3 months.  He must certainly go.  When we arrived, he was a mile up the road talking to some Land Girls.  North Farm looks better now – heifers in the yard, and the old Woods brothers carting muck.

Back by way of Wigborough.  Called at Abbots Wick.  Frost, the foreman, mentioned that he had had considerable experience in working bullocks in France.  Very interesting.  This place is beginning to look really well – a yard full of stacks, a man thatching a straw stack, men carting straw into the yards. 

Capt. Folkard annoyed when I got back.  The Chairman had been in, and I should have been there.  Committee members in and out about their cropping forms.

About half past 3, an alarm, for which I had been waiting all day.  There is hardly one cloudy day when the Germans do not come.   The girls were just coming out of school, and from the front windows I saw them scampering gaily into the Park, towards the shelters.  The Museum was full of visitors, looking around in the usual way, the Attendant Butcher giving a little lecture.  I heard planes coming in low.  Nothing happened, and I suppose they were RAF and in a few moments all-clear sounded.

On the way out, I noticed that the barbed wire entanglements round the American HQ at St. Anne’s are now ornamented with tin cans hung on the top wires.  Perhaps to jangle if intruders cut the wire?  

This evening writing.  Heard an all-clear at 8, so there must have been another alarm, which I missed.  No planes about.

27th January 1943

Wednesday

Lovely morning.  Went in by bus, very crowded and most uncomfortable.  A lot of work because Mortimer, of Abbots Hall, is going to arbitration on the valuation of his land.  This man has been an obstructionist from the very beginning of the war, and did all he could to prevent the Committee from cultivating the 500 acres of this farm.  Now we shall have endless trouble to prove our case.

Clouded over for a while this afternoon, but not for long.  A man called Ward, a thatcher, has been dismissed at Mersea, and came in this afternoon making a great disturbance.  Threatened to beat us up, smash the office, etc.

This morning I went down to Boasts’ on East Hill to see Mrs. Nichols of Lawford Hall drive her phaeton away.  It looked very fine indeed, all yellow and blue, and she drove away down the hill at a spanking trot.  Half a dozen old stagers stood by Motum’s harness shop to see her go. 

Wrote out the précis of short story tonight, “There was Slight Activity over East Anglia …”, founded on the bombing of Essex Street.

An alarm at a quarter to 9, and all-clear about 10 minutes past.  Several planes about, but impossible to say if they were German, as they continued in the area after all-clear had sounded. 

26th January 1943

Tuesday

Lovely fine morning, the moon brilliant at 7 o’clock.  Went in by bus.  Busy all morning, but very little done, people in and out all the time.  Much to do about the senseless cropping forms, which gave me a headache.  Slipped out this afternoon and went home to tea, then back to Holly Trees and found the Sissons there.  I was thus able to get a car ride to Dedham, and then, by good luck, met Joy and Parry there, with their car, and so rode all the way to Lawford.  This is the first evening I have seen a sign of spring – light until well after 6.  It was so nice out I walked up to the buildings to see my little Robin.  I shall be able to drive him again soon. 

During high-tea we could hear planes about, apparently going out.  Joy said “We seem to be going off somewhere,” and Parry replied “Yes, trying to get another reprisal raid I suppose.”  But when I looked out I saw the starlit sky full of searchlights, and several planes flying with their landing lights on, so it was only an exercise after all, and I was very glad.

Writing for the rest of the evening.

25th January 1943

Monday

Woke early, and got up an hour too soon by mistake, so that I came out of the Castle to find it only a quarter past 7, with low, wet clouds, scudding across from the S.W., the moon showing faintly behind them.  Washed and shaved and did an hour in the office until the post came.  Then breakfast, the sky clearing, and the sun coming up red.

I had high hopes of getting a lot done in the office before Committee, but a fellow called Lucker, from Writtle, came in, sent by the Finance Officer with a mass of queries to settle.  It was a great nuisance, and annoyed both Capt. Folkard and myself.  He made several criticisms of this District which I do not think were really justifiable, and I told him so very firmly.  He stayed the whole morning, with the result that I had no chance to get any lunch before Committee. 

  

There were a lot of planes flying near Birch during the afternoon, and at about half past 3 four large bomb explosions shook the house, and, as I learnt later, the whole town as well.  There was no alarm, and people seem to think that an RAF machine must have been in trouble and thrown out its bombs.

Rain began about 4, a steady drizzle.  I begged a lift back to Lawford with Moorhouse, so that I had only to walk down the hill.  Home by 6.45.  The rain increased, but about 8.30 I heard an alarm, which lasted about half an hour.  There were no planes and no gun-fire.  The night was so dark and wet that it was impossible to see a yard.  What good can any planes do in such weather?

There is a puncture in the rear tyre of my cycle, but when I took it to Langley’s to be mended he told me that his man had been taken away by the Ministry of Labour to work in the Army Ordnance, but that he comes in on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons to work in the repair shop.  A most extraordinary state of affairs.   One would think they would leave men in the cycle-repair works at a time when more people than ever are using cycles.