Diary of Wing Commander Edward Lloyd Fleming, January 1944- January 1945 - Part 13

AUGUST,1944
Wednesday 16
I went to treatment & saw the M.O. &
he seems to think my thumb is O.K., &
then went to dental parade & had
one tooth filled then I went to the
flight & did a period of [[?]] & F/O
Hallewell pinched my kit so I
didn't fly. I I posted a few letters &
then had dinner & in the afternoon
we had the usual lectures. I
had tea & then came back &
wrote for a while & did a spot of
swotting. I had a shave & got
off to bed. I wrote to Margaret
today.
AUGUST, 1944
Thursday 17
I got up & went to treatment & the M.O.
has reviewed his opinion & seems to
think my thumb is not healing at all.
I had lectures and we had a spot
of [[?]] in the D.R. [[?]]. After dinner
I went to the flight & we had a trip
to [[?]] & Wales 1F most of the
way. I practised a fair bit of S.E.
work & S.E landings. I went to
pay section & posted yesterday's
[[?]] then got treatment. & had tea.
I came to the hut & then wrote to
Pat Wade, read a bit then had
a wash & got off to bed.
 

AUGUST,1944
Friday 18
I got up & had breakfast & went to
the flight but flying was scrubbed
for a while & I did some [[?]]
after sick parade. I went up for
an hour and then had dinner &
got my pay. I went to lectures
but we ony had two before we
knocked off. I raced to the hut &
got a lift into Oxford & just caught
Kodaks. My photos were xtra good.
I caught a bus to [[?]] &
straightway got a track as far as
[[?]] where I walked for about
 a mile & then got another lift to
Camp. I got organized a bit tonight
& the other lads went to a Canadian
concert. I wrote to Beth Duncan.
AUGUST, 1944
FORTY-FIVE
Saturday 19
I got up as usual & as it was wet I
waited a while then got a lift to
Cheltenham. It was raining heavily on
arrival but cleared during the day. I
went & did my Xmas shopping & got
some linen & lace for Audrey & Margaret & a
pair of bookends made from blitzed
stones off the Houses of Parliament for
mum & Dad. I wandered around town &
saw the University & bought some postcards
& was going to Gloucester but the
buses were all full so I spent the
rest of the time in Chelt. After tea I walked
out of town a bit but eventually
got a lift. Later in the evening Jack & I went
for a ride thro' Windrush & Sherborne to
[[Rawston?]] where we saw Muriel &
Ron & Angela. We messed about a while
then came home. I didn't have a shave
but got straight off to bed.
 

AUGUST, 1944
Sunday 20
I had breakfast & then went to sick
parade & got the O.K. then went to the
flight & we did some armaments as
there was a [[clamp?]]. We were called
back to the flight & out instructors
went thro' our duties with us.
I had dinner & then went to the
hospital & on to the flight & we
first mucked about & I wrote a
bit. I came back to tea & then
came to the hut & packed my
Xmas presents then had my Camp
Pie for supper & eventually had
a shower & shave & hit the hay.
AUGUST, 1944
Monday 21
22, 23
I overslept this morning & had a hell of
a rush to get ready. I missed first two
lectures & then joined up with the lads.
After dinner I had lunch & then went
to the flight. There was nothing doing
all day so I did a lot of xxxxx
writing. I got mail from Auntie,
Mum, Miss Morris and Margaret.
I wrote a very long letter to Margaret.
After tea I got treatment then
came to the hut & just wasted a
lot of time. Our photos appeared
in Australasian March 25th &
L. top & centre all three. I had a
was & went to bed.
 

AUGUST, 1944
FORTY-SIX
Tuesday 22
I went to breakfast & then went to
the flight after treatment. There was
no flying & I posted my parcels to
home & to Margaret. I went to
[[?]] & got caught out with a CAP
[[?]] as I didn't have my respirator.
Went [[?]] as a result. I had
dinner & went to lectures & they were
quite interesting. I had treatment
and then got tea & after reading a
short time, had supper with Chips
& Jack then did a bit of swotting.
Then went to see Muriel tonight
& got wet coming home in the
mist which is very thick. I had a
shower & shave & got off to bed. I
wrote to [[?]] & to Audrey today.
AUGUST, 1944
Wednesday 23
I got up & had breakfast & then went
to treatment & on to lectures. I had a
talk with the M.O. & then went back to
lectures. I had dinner & then went to the
flight. It rained heavily this morning
but cleared very quickly so I got in
a bit of flying. I did some nautical
I.F. & then had tea. I had a bath &
got a bit of stuff at the canteen. I
did a [[hut?]] & got on O.K.
PARIS FALLS - RECAPTURED BY
FRENCH PATRIOTS - SCATTERED
FIGHTING STILL
 

AUGUST, 1944
Thursday 24
I had breakfast & went to the
flight but a [[clamp?]] set in so
we had to stop down & I did some
[[link?]]. I had dinner & in the afternoon
went to the lecture block & we got
on O.K. I went down to the flight
at 1730 after tea and did a little
nautical IF. I came back & tazied
a N/F kite then had supper. In
the evening I copied up a few notes
and had a shower & shave &
got off to bed.
RUMANIA CAPITULATES TO
ALLIES - WANTS TO BE AN ALLY.
AUGUST, 1944
FORTY-SEVEN
Friday 25
I got up & after breakfast went to
lectures & we had an interesting
morning. In the afternoon we were
scheduled to fly but weather was
crook at first but cleared so I
got in a bit of I.F. I had an early tea &
came back here & wrote a bit & then
went to supper. I sat in the anti-room
for a [[?]] then came
back here & went for a hike [[?]] as
far as Nth heat with Blue [[?]].
I got right off to bed on our return.
 

AUGUST, 1944
Saturday 26
I had breakfast & went for treatment
& then came down to the flights. I
did a spot of [[link?]] and flew only
one period because flying was
scrubbed for a while. After dinner
I wrote a little in the crew room &
then flew for 1½ hrs. Chips doing
a Northern local X/C, ended up
near Andover at [[?]] today.
After tea I went to S.S.Q. & then came
to the hut I wrote quite a lot of
letters & then went to supper &
later to the ENSA show "Out of the
Blue." It was fairly good but a
bit amateurish altho they had a
super ventriloquist. I got off to
bed as soon as poss. Letters from
Audrey. Pat & Margaret & I wrote
to Pat (Cranwell) & Frida &
Margaret.
AUGUST, 1944
Sunday 27
We washed & showered