January 1945

Here's wishing you all a happy new year and a speedy reunion. Hoping that 1945 brings the "Grand Finale". This New Year we had a grand holiday. The 31st-1st and 2nd. ½ a Red Cross parcel each and a good issue of food from the cookhouse. Tan made a good cake to celebrate with and I can assure you that we had a very enjoyable 3 days.

I have not mentioned much about the weather this winter. I suppose the main reason for this is that although it has been pretty bad, 10° below many mornings and a lot of snow I have not particularly felt it.

Once more thanks are due to the Red Cross for boots, clothing and food.

14th January

A Rest day. Am afraid it has been a pretty miserable day today. The little Red Cross food we have been looking forward to and no dates, luckily I have a little store of tobacco and a couple of tins of meat put by so did not do so bad, even though the atmosphere was not -?-.

28th January

Once more we have a rest day. Rest days have been cut down now to three a month, the 2nd and 4th Sunday and some other day. As there is so little to account for these days I have decided to write up on rest days only.

Since the 14th the weather has been very severe. Most mornings it has been 12° or even 15° below in the camp. The coal ration has been cut down to 5 kilos (11lbs) per stove a day. The food is the shortest it has been yet, and no variety, although we were lucky enough to have bread for tiffin today, the first for months. I had a couple of days off from work last week with a bad throat (tonsils) and was glad to get back to work.

On the 19th changed over to 3 Camp with the permanent dock workers. The cigarette ration just lately has been 20 every 10 days, fags are quite a luxury these days. The simplest things in the good old days have become the rarest of luxuries now. Tan and I made a cake from the remains of our Red Cross for today. It turned out a real treat.

Well, this is the end of the first month of 1945. The winter weather should show signs of breaking next month.