Diary of Wing Commander Edward Lloyd Fleming, January 1944- January 1945 - Part 6

MARCH, 1944
Wednesday 29
I had a wash & went to breakfast &
then went on parade. It was C.O.’s 
inspection. We went around to the 
Instructional rooms & the S.E.O. gave 
us a lecture. Then we broke off till 
1100 when we went to S. Cross & 
finalized leave arrangements. I had
lunch & then went on parade with 
respirators we had to wear them
for 15 min. We were issued with 125's
& then marched out & taken off. We 
wandered down Hove way & I got a 
German paper. After tea I read a 
while, had a shower after supper 
& went to bed. A new draft arrived 
today & we met a lot of old friends. I
got a letter from Betty Willis – the first 
so far!! I replied immediately.

MARCH, 1944
Thursday 30
We were marched to Princes Hall where we
were given a lecture by a Capt. David
Hooper. He spoke on gliding & is a man
with a wealth of experience. It was very
interesting but the sport doesn’t appeal to
me. We did about ½ hr P.T. before the lecture
to warm us up. After dinner we were
inspected by a sgt. for some unknown
reason & then marched away & dismissed
till 1600. We wandered down to Hove &
bought some books & had a snack at
the Hove YMCA. We came back but nothing
happened. I went to tea then spent the
evening upstairs. I wrote to R.A.C for
itenary & did a bit of washing. After
supper I had a bath & shave & did a
bit of reading then turned in. We saw
a Cierva Autogiro today.

MARCH,  1944

TEN
Friday 31
I had a wash then breakfast & went
on parade. I was called to the W/V
test room but it was only to enter
up results. I went to another lecture
by Capt. Bruce Horton this time on
the Sahara. It was very good &
interesting. I had dinner & after
parade we were broken off &
at 1500 they collected laundry & then
we carried down a few “biscuits”.
& I had tea after seeing the educational
officer. He altered my course
O.K. I read & wrote & had supper.
I collected my chocolate & wrote
home then had a bath & shave &
got off to bed & read.

APRIL,  1944
Saturday 1
I. saw Education Officer & pay officer straight
after parade & fixed up the course. We had 
another lecture by Capt. Horton on Logic. It
provoked a lot of argument & after it Chips
& I argued our way right down to Hove &
back. - we got nowhere!! I had dinner & in
the afternoon there was nothing doing so I
went to the Dome where there was a concert
by the Brighton Phil. Society. Oda Slobodaskaya
was the vocalist & quite good. The orchestra
was pretty good too. I had tea & spent
the evening up in our room, going down
for supper.

APRIL,  1944

Sunday 2

From parade we were marched to the
Meth. church where Rev. Goss took the
service. I came home & wrote to Shirl.,
Alan & Mrs Slade then had dinner & 
got straight out with Ken, John Joyes
& Kev. [[Burma?]] to Little hampton. We 
went by bus & it was a super trip
thro' delightful lanes. There were a
lot of Yanks there & we had a look
about for 1 hr & had a spot of
grub & then caught the bus back.
We were in time for tea and then I
went to church. They had no sermon
but did Stainer's Crucifixion. I was
not impressed by it. I came home
& had supper at NAAFI & then came
up & had a shave & bath & got of to 
bed & read. We saw a lot of Mosquitoes
at L/.hampton. The trees everywhere are
coming out in flower now too & 
there were some super thatched roofs.

APRIL, 1944
Monday 3
After breakfast I went on parade & we were
broken off until 1100 & so I had time to
visit the hairdressers. He did quite a good
job. I then paraded to collect my shoes & 
they have been done well with a rubber heel.
I had dinner & in the afternoon a Miss
Webb gave us a lecture on Adolf Hitler. She
has been very near to him on several occasions
& was very interesting. We were broken
off & wandered to Hove Gardens where we
saw a Tolmen or sacred druid stone.
We came back & had tea & then Jack & I 
went to the picture. The Tivoli show was
no good so we took the bus to the Regent
& saw The Lodger" - a thriller - & "Yanks
Ahoy" with Sgts. Ames & Doubleday. We
came back & I had a snack at the
canteen then shaved & bathed & got off to
bed.

APRIL,  1944

ELEVEN
Tuesday 4
I went on parade & we were marched
down to Hove where we were broken
off & so Ken, Chips, Jack. Bill & I all caught
the bus to Lewes. We looked over the Keep
& the Priory of St Pancras. It is a very old
town & very interesting. In the afternoon
we were broken off & I wrote home. I had
early tea & then reported for gun crew. I 
read & wrote & had supper then came
up & had a shave then got off to bed.

APRIL, 1944
Wednesday 5
I was awake c.0530 & got up & washed & made
my bed etc. I had breakfast then went along
to Hackley's Hotel for gun crew we were on
till 1200 & it was very cold & there was a
thick mist. I had dinner then went out to
Pyecombe & walked round a bit. I wanted
to get to Devil's Dyke but the area is closed
by the Army. I walked back home from
there doing about 8 miles in all. I had
a yarn to a policeman on the way
back & he explained about hunting to me
& fowls etc etc. I was rather tired when I 
got home. I had tea & in the evening played
patience & wrote. I got a letter from Cliff
Briggs today & answered it right away.
I had supper & then came up & proceeded
as usual. I saw a Lancaster & a [[?]]
today.

APRIL, 1944

Thursday 6
I had a walk & went to breakfast then
After parade we were brought back
to the hotel & broken off for a while.
we went to the I.T.W. lecture rooms &
Capt Ottley R.N. (retired) gave us a bit
of a lecture, called "Scrap Book". It was
quite interesting but nothing very new.
I had dinner & in the afternoon just
waited around for my selection
interview at 1500. I ended up a
heavy bombers. I had tea then read 
& played patience & turned in after
having supper & washing & shaving

APRIL,  1944
Friday 7

I got up & had breakfast & then went on parade.
We returned our drab uniforms & overalls etc
& then were issued with P.T. equipment.
We also got our flying kit & fitted it all.
I had lunch & in the afternoon we had a 
period of exchanging but they didn't take
any blues. I marked all my new kit &
then had tea. Jack & Ken & I went to the
Academy & saw "Doughboys in Ireland"
& "Town Lawyer". It was quite good. I came 
back & finished marking then had a bath
& a shave & hit the hay. Mail has been
coming in continuously but still I have
had none from home.

APRIL, 1944

Saturday 8

I had breakfast & after parade we put
on our webbing eqpt. & paraded wearing
it. we were off for the rest of the morning
& I tried to change my blue tunic. I 
had lunch & they first changed dirty &
clean clothing at the laundry & I signed
the book for rail warrants. I changed
my tunic & spent the evening sewing. We
were told today that we are not allowed
to send mail out any more - invasion?
I had supper & sat on the verandah for
a while then came up & wrote a bit &
did a few physical jerks then had a 
bath & a shave & got off to bed. I read a
bit before turning in.

APRIL,  1944
Sunday 9
I didn't go to the ordinary church service
but went to the 1100 one for the public at
Norfolk Rd. Rev. Goss gave quite a good Easter
message. I met our [[?]] at dinner & had a
long yarn with him & then went out with
Jack & Ken. We went to the Odeon & saw His
Butler's Sister" with Deanna Durbin & "Good
morning Judge" It was quite a good show
we came back & had tea then I read for
a while & went up to the church of England,
St Nicholas,' Brighton - It was built in
1892 & is very high church of E. It was very 
interesting tho & they burnt incense I came 
back after a stroll around town & then
had some supper. then I had a shave & 
a bath and then got off to bed & wrote a 
bit & did some reading.

APRIL, 1944

4 AND 5   Monday 10

I had to report at the guard -room then
we went down to St Ives hotel for
guard & I was in charge & the day
passed very quietly. Nothing unusual
occurred & I spent most of the time
reading. I had a quick lunch & signed 
off at 1800. I came back to the hut &
[[upped?]] the log book then went along
to see _"Thousands Cheer" & _"Forgotten
Gold". It was an a1 show & a fitting
celebration for the arrival of the first
letters from home!!! Long is in the 
blue & there were some big fires at
Yallourn and Morwell in Feb, Eleanor
Anderson is engaged to one of [[Lewis'?]]
boys!

APRIL, 1944
TWELVE
Tuesday 11

I got up & went to breakfast after having a
bath. I packed up then went on parade
we handed in our flying kit to the store
& then our personal stuff. After dinner
we were taken to the Southern Cross where
we were given our address for leave.
I'm going to a Mrs Bridges in Oxford.
We were paid (₤22.) & I banked ₤15
& ₤2 this morning. We came back to
[[?]] & I did a bit of sewing then I
went with Jack & Bill Kleinig to
the picture (Academy) where we
saw "who was the 13th Guest " & 
_"Claudia". The latter was very
good indeed. I had a spot of supper
at NAAFI then came up & had a 
shave & shower & got off to bed.
I wrote home today.

APRIL, 1944

Wednesday 12

I got ready & after parade we handed

in our blankets. Then we came back to

the billet & had the morning off till

1130. We had some morning tea. we

packed up & moved off shortly after

& caught the 1208 train to London. we

got out at Victoria & caught a 36 bus

via the Marble Arch to Paddington. We

dropped our stuff & had some grub

then walked around a bit & caught

the train. We went thro' a lot of super

country in the Chilterns. Eventually we

got to Oxford & took a taxi out here. We

were met & made welcome & are in

beaut places. I had a bit to eat &

then yarned then Ken & Jack & I went

for a walk to [[?]]. Coming back we

met a lass called Nancy & yarned a bit.

We came back home & talked a bit more

then I had a wash etc & hit the hay.

APRIL, 1944

Thursday 13

I had breakfast & after getting ready, went

with Ken & Jack to Oxford. We walked to

Marston then came back for dinner. Then

as it was raining we went to the pictures

& saw "Last Angel" & "[[?]] with 

Music. Former was good. We then have

a stroll to Wolverest Junction. The trees are

beautiful & the homes very nice along here.

We came back & out to [[?]] where

we had tea then talked. Mrs [[Seal?]] & Mrs

[[Parter?]] were here & Mrs Bridge came in

with Brenda & Josi. It was a nice

evening. Josi is c. or (Aware!) We 

had a stroll then I had a bath &

got off to bed.

APRIL,  1944

Friday 14

I had breakfast then hurried off to the

Harrisons to pick up Ken & Jack. We went

to town & after wandering around went

to the Eng. Speaking Club & got a guide to

show us thro' the colleges. We had a super

morning & as she took so long, we shouted

her lunch & then we looked around again

We saw Christchurch, Corpus Cristi.

Merton, Ziebels, Camilla library, Worcester,

St.Peter's in the East, St Johns, [[?]], All

Saints, University Bodeian etc etc.

We came home to tea then we went

to a play at the [[?]] Theatre with Lara

Gregory "Waltz Dream".It was xtra

good. I took Josi & we came home by bus

to supper & then washed up & hit the hay

The [[?]] name was Bridget [[?]] &

she is a student. Been in USA in the

evacuation business - Josi is a sweet kid

APRIL, 1944

Saturday 15

I had a bath then breakfast & we went for

a stroll over the downs to the hearse (7 trees

on a hill) then over a bit more country to

[[?]] & wandered around looking at the

13th century church. Then we came back to

dinner. After that Ken & Jack & I went for

a walk thro' Wytham, Godstow & to Wolverest

It was delightful & we saw some old [[?]]

at Godstow. We caught the bus to Hinkley & had

a long walk up the hill to Shepherds[[?]]

[[?]] Wilsons. We had a very nice time, tea

& a yarn & at 1930 pushed off again.

Bridget seemed a bit crushed "[[??]]"

we got a yank truck into town then

looked at the theater & walked home. I

had supper on arrival here. We talked

for a while then I had a wash & got off

to bed.

APRIL, 1944

Sunday 16

After breakfast we tidied up & then went

to church. Brenda & Josi came too. It was

quite a nice little outing & a good service.

We had dinner - beautiful too - & then

helped Mr Bridge to put up a run for

Simon, the injured dog. Then we fooled

about with the children & gave them

piggy-backs. Then we went to the farm-

was where we had tea. I met Mary

Bennett (22yrs) there & we all had a

long yarn till about 2130. Then we

came back indoors where we had

supper & yarned a bit longer. Then we

washed up & Mary left & I turned in

It has been a super day & Mrs Bridge

asked me back sometime.

APRIL,  1944

Monday  17

Before I had breakfast I did a spot of

"Hoovering" then we made our beds &

I got on with some gardening & mowed

the lawn. Jose helped too. We had morning

tea then the kids came around & our work

was a bit broken up! We had dinner &

Ken & I went into town. We roamed about

& I took a couple of photos & wandered the

Blackwell's. It was very interesting. I

came back & read a bit then went to the

Playhouse with Jose. Ken, Mrs [[?]]

Jack & Bridget were there too. We saw

"Desire under the Elm" It was unusual

but very well done. We got taxis home

& I paid. Then Jose & I smooged in a

mild fashion & had supper then turned

in. I packed my kit tonight.