Diary of Wing Commander Edward Lloyd Fleming, January 1944- January 1945 - Part 2

JANUARY, 1944
Sunday 9

1st after Epiphany
we all went along to church after

breakfast & it was a very good
sermon by a Rev. Woollacott. Arnold
was there too but he had to go
home to dinner. After dinner we all
went for a trip to Springfield &
I was amazed at the beautiful
homes there. I came back & we had
tea then Jack & Bill (Jack came out c
1330) had a game of tennis & I
went to town to ring up. Delay
was just 2 hrs & I got thro' quite

nicely. Mum & Dad can't come over
but all is well at home I came
back & we had supper then Bill &
Jack went & then we washed up
& eventually after yarning with Pat I

got off to bed. 

JANUARY, 1944
Monday 10
the family was on the move early & I 
said farewell to Pat & then had breakfast
& after packing said goodbye to
Mrs Cranwell. I came into town & dropped
the camera at Kodak & saw Arnold there
I bought a book & then went to the

station. The train left at 1000 & about 200
chaps missed it. It was a very ordinary
trip & on arrival I missed lunch & cleaned
all my dirty clothing & my drab suit.
I went to the flight but there was nothing 

doing so I came back & cleaned up my
locker a bit & then ironed the drabs. I
had tea and then wrote to Pat and
came back & packed a parcel for home
I had a shower & shave & wrote a bit in
bed. The boys came in on the 2000 hr
train. I feel a bit blue after the wkend 
& feel I was too quiet. I fell pretty deeply
for Pat but noone would believe it
unless told!

JANUARY, 1944
Tuesday 11
They altered the general proceedure
today I had a church parade after CO's
It was a bit tiring having to stand.
I had some signalling today with
Chips & Harold but we first flew
around & did nothing After lunch I
went on a X/C to Kangaroo Is & we
landed at Kingscote. S/L Lawley was the
instructor & didn't know too much
about the route. The drome there is
not too bad. I had tea & fired up my

log book. have now finished ATS
flying with 61.10. I wrote Arnolds
relations & went to the pictures
& saw "Fall In" & "Silver Queen"
It was a mediocre show. A letter
came from home too today posted
from Cranwells. 

JANUARY,1944
Wednesday 12
I went over to breakfast for a change
& then drifted down to the flight. There was
nothing doing & so I just bludged all the
time. I had lunch & then went out
into the sun. I slept & read all the
afternoon then came back & had a shower.
I went across to tea. After tea I went to
the pictures & saw "There's Always a Woman"
It was fair but the other "King steps Out"
was punk. I came back & heard Greig's
1st Concerto & then came to the hut. Ken & 
I had a bit of a showdown & then we got
off to bed. I got a letter from Pat today

JANUARY, 1944
Thursday 13
Last night was very wild but we got a lot
of fun out of it This morning we
were rounded up & had to do a spot of
signing then went to Dental clinic & also
had a lecture by the M.D. We went to
dinner & then were detailed for work.
Al Beattie & a couple others & I bludged
into sigs. After a while I came out &
did a bit of shovel work. I attended
a dental appointment and then had 
a shower. Two cavities were filled.
I had tea after the reheasal for Wings
Parade. We fooled around after tea & were
successful only in losing ₤9 for Harold.
I played a bit of tennis & then came
inside. I played some ping pong with
Ken Exelby & Geoff Briggs. I then came
back to bed.

JANUARY, 1944
Friday 14
Last night was very quiet & we all felt pretty
tired. I went to to breakfast & was hut orderly
with Ray Woolley. Harold found his pass book
minus the money. We spent the morning
getting postings & pay etc. I am a Sgt. &
off to IED. I had dinner & then went to
the clothing store to return my flying coat
& also draw some chevrons & wings. The
attention was amazingly slow, we did a

fair bit of drill & rehearsed the parade
then had tea - The evening had been spent
by all preparing clothing etc for
tomorrow. Mr Jones is unable to come.
We had our short arm & got thro' O.K. Don
Crase, Col Bell, Les Wilson & Geo Bate & Don
James & Al Beattie all got commissions
in our hut. There are 3 instructors of to
IWAGS & the rest are off to ED's, I pushed
up & had a shave & then came to bed.

JANUARY, 1944
Saturday 15

Today all was excitement & the boys rose

quite early. We attended to paliasses &

blankets etc. then got dressed & got our

leave passes. We went on parade at

0900 & I got my Wings c.1000. I felt

terribly nervous. Pat and Joy came out &

I showed them around & almost missed

the train as a result. I came in with

Pat & then got my seat & went to ACF

had lunch. I went to see the Finnies &

had afternoon tea there & they drove me to

Cranwells. At Cranwells I said good-bye

& came back to town. I met Ken Exelby

who was drunk & looked after him. We

had tea & eventually got on the train.

There were a lot without seats but we

let them bludge on. In our compartment

were 3 sailors & 5 RAAF. Half the

boys were sozzled & it is a rough

house on board.

JANUARY, 1944
Sunday 16

I spent a rather restless night & at about

6.30 we had all had it. We tidied the

compartment and had breakfast at

Ballarat. The rest of the trip uneventful

except that I put my back thro' a

window in the corridor just near Melb.

I was surprised to see the whole family on

the platform & the Aunties too. I got my

luggage & we came out home where I

had dinner & then in the afternoon I rang

Ian & went over to see Stumpy & then

dad drove us home with Aunty, Grandma

& Grandpa. Ian also came for tea. The

Almora folk went after tea & Ian, Dad & I
went to church. Audrey & John Norton

were down here & I met John for the

first time. I walked up to the tram

c. Ian then got to bed.

JANUARY, 1944
Monday 17

I did all my washing & ironing after a

scrap breakfast & during the morning sewed

on some more chevrons I rang up

Alan Windmill but he has been posted to

IWAGS. I had a yarn with Mrs Windmill

& also with Mal Jamieson. Later Mrs

Gross rung. We went out after lunch &

I went & did some shopping & then

saw the university people & came

on out to Mirboo to rejoin Mum.

We came home & had  tea & I played

records & the piano & read a bit. After

a shower I went to bed.

JANUARY, 1944
Tuesday 18

My watch stopped at 10 past 8 so I got up

pretty late. After breakfast I played the

piano a while then went out and clipped a

few roses. I had a hair cut too this

morning. After lunch I got ready &

went to town. Mum fired up my drabs

& on return I took them down to

Denisons. I had tea & then David & Audrey

& I had a hit of tennis. Audrey especially

has become pretty hot stuff. She paraded

in a few of her new clothes & then I had

a shower after playing for a while &

got off to bed.

JANUARY, 1944
Wednesday 19

I was up fairly late & got on to the pruning

again when Ken rang to ask me to

have dinner in town. I went straight

in and was there first. Al. Baker
came with us too. We dined at the
Elizabeth Collins & had a good meal.

In the afternoon we went to ''So

proudly we hail" & it was a rather

sordid war picture. I came home &
took my clothes to Mum to fix up. After
tea we went for a marvellous
drive up to the hills. We got out
at Olinda & had a short walk &
at another Joint looked at a
beaut new C.E. church. We came
home a back way & by then David
had arrived & I got to bed. 

JANUARY, 1944

Thursday 20

I heard Dad play the organ at the

Toorak Pres. church & then went on into

town. I tried to get seats for the pictures

but the best were at the Savoy. I did a

few odd jobs in town then came home.

After lunch I did a spot of painting

& mended the gates. I did some washing

& then we went to town to tea. It

was my birthday & I got some beaut

presents. We had tea at Wentworth

I then went for a drive to Pt Melbourne

It was very interesting & the developement
there is amazing. We came

back to town & went to "RANDOM HARVEST"

which was terrific. Greer Garson is a

marvellous actress. When we came out

we found the car had been pinched!

We told the cops & started off to come home

but passing along Flinders St we met

another party which had had their car

stolen. Saw Ronnie Power & then came

home to a bed.

JANUARY, 1944
Friday 21
I got stuck into a few odd jobs today
& the time passed quite quickly. I
cleaned up the fernery a bit & the creeper
also the painting had to be finished. I
carried on after dinner & at 3 oclock
started the hosing. 6 Beauforts went over
here today & a Thunderbolt very high up.
I went down to Denisons at 5.30 &
picked up my drabs which they were
cleaning. We had tea & I got rings
from Peter Parkin and Alistair Cole. A
letter from Pat came today & one from
Ian & a telegram from Bern. Mrs
Edwards gave me some handkerchiefs
for my birthday. I wrote Pat & did a
bit of work & played. There was no
word of the car today & Dad is hiring
a Mercury 12/6 a day & 8D a mile plus
your own petrol.!! 

JANUARY, 1944

Saturday 22
Audrey set off for home N'hill this morning

and I went in with her at about

10.15. I met the Duncans and went on to

the platform. It was very hot - a bit like

when I went last year. I came home

(saw Dorothy Card in town) and rushed

thro' lunch & went over to Wattle Park &

met Margaret. First impressions 100%! I

went to the tennis place but no-one was

about so I walked home. I had a shower

& just as I was about to go David found

Lois was a wipe off & eventually got Bonnie

I met Mr & Mrs Short and went to Bambi

with Margaret. She had also seen it before.

The seats were very poor & hot as hell. I

had supper & brought Margaret home &

it was sure good only it rained a

bit. I walked on air all the way home

& got in c. 0100 hrs.

January, 1944
Sunday 23

Even after the late night I managed to

get up quite early and Mum & I went to

church. Old Sam Flockhart was preaching

so it was rather boring. I had dinner &

Dad drove me into IED. I put my

luggage in there and more or less

signed on. Ren & Al Baker came in too. We

all got leave till the morning. I met Dad

& Mum & we came home via Kew & Wattle 

Park. David and I went for a walk over to

Wattle Pk. & my friend Margaret was there

We had afternoon tea and then bade fond

farewell & I came home. After tea we all went

up to church and Father Blythe held forth.

Joan Trotter was there & I must talk to

her one of these days. I came home & we

had a shower & then hit the horsehair. 

JANUARY, 1944
Monday 24

As I was reporting in at 7.15 I had to

get up very early (c̄.05.30) & we saw IED

working for the first time. The day

was taken up by visiting & getting OKed

by sections & receiving our new kit.

I was able to get out quite early & took

all the new stuff home for marking.

Met Dad in the car in Wellington Par &

so got home a bit quicker. After tea

I had the whole family on the sewing

of names & printing nos. I had to leave

early to get a spot of marking & packing

done in here. I got to bed after shaving

as early as possible.

JANUARY, 1944
Tuesday 25

We had to be up fairly early & I got

all my jobs done. I was marker

on parade & then we waited there

for 1½ hrs while we were inspected

then we had a complete kit inspection

after which we just sat around

waiting for a V/S mg parade. This

continued into the afternoon & I

didn't finish till about 4.30

when we had another parade. We

were dismissed & I had tea in

town at Wentworth with David &

Gordon. We went to Softgoods 

Club & then to Mirboo & David collected

a cornet. I came out home & saw

the folks for a little while then

returned to E.D. where I had a

shave & shower.

JANUARY, 1944
Wednesday 26

I was a bit too late to get breakfast

& we had COs parade & inspection

so there was plenty to do. I got on O.K.

on parade but there was an

incredible amount of bulls. After

parade we bludged about generally

during the day. There were a couple

of parades & we were all tied up. We

got away c.12.30 & I came out

home for tea. I had lunch in town

as we had been sent in to get a 

haircut. I went to Archers, [[?]]

Flemings & Phillips to say au revoir.

Shirl was marvellous & gave me

a real thrill. I got back to camp about

12.00 & had a wash & shave &

hit the hay.

JANUARY, 1944

Thursday 27

Once again I missed ordinary breakfast

but I had brought in a few sandwiches

& so was able to stave off hunger. In the

morning we did nothing constructive &

I did a bit of sewing & marking. I

had lunch & then we paraded in

blues & after an inspection we

broke off for a while. At 1500 we

fell in again and C.O inspected

us & we did a spot of marching etc.

Then we had a church parade as

a farewell & blessing on the draft.

We had to parade at 18.15 so stayed

in camp for tea. I got home as soon

as possible & David & I went over

to say a few more adieus. We went

to Shorts & Margaret was out & to

Aunty Roma's where we had a yarn.

The Woodfulls were retiring so we

came home & caught the picture crowd.

Harold Taylor was killed at 7 EFTS

West. Junct. today. 

JANUARY, 1944

Friday 28

As I had to be in at 7.00, I rose at

about 0500 & had breakfast & a shave

etc & then dashed into town. The morning

was taken up by the dressing up in helmets &

water bottles & going thro' our short-arm

parade. I had lunch & then

we dressed in blues & I was marker

& we had pay parade in dollars. I got

$14. The A.O.C. came down to inspect us

so there was a big parade & there were

some photographers there. We had to

stay there for tea but were given leave

at the last minute till 1200.I came home

in battle dress& messed about generally

I had a shower & then made tracks

back to camp.