Diary of Wing Commander Edward Lloyd Fleming, January 1944- January 1945 - Part 9

MAY, 1944
Sunday 28
I had my egg for breakfast and then wrote
awhile & then Gordon, Ray Moore & I went
to church. It was very good & we had
sacrament. After dinner I got ready & we
went to town & looked about & then I
went with Chips to Stockton Heath where
we met Mr & Mrs Ballard & their daughter
Beryl & a friend Sue (21 & rather attractive)
I got on well with her & after talking &
having tea, we went for a long walk.
We had to leave at 2230 & caught the
bus back to town & saw Sue home &
the Chips & I walked back. We came
across the fence & got off to bed. It was
very hot today - just like home. I wrote
Margaret today.
MAY, 1944
TWENTY THREE
Monday 29
7,8. A/G 2/3
I git up & had breakfast & then we had our
parade & went to lectures. As usual they were
very interesting. At break I had a bit to eat
& after break lunch I wrote home & posted
it & Margaret's. We did work in the afternoon
& then we knocked off. It was terribly
humid & we wore shorts & shirts after
standdown. Then I had a wash &
read some of my letters & wrote to
pat & then went to dancing. I got on
quite well & we did a bit more of the
waltz. I walked home by a very
[[?]] route & used very bad nav !!
I had a shower & then I wrote & read
awhile & hit the hay. 

MAY, 1944
Tuesday 30
I had breakfast & went to school after parade.

Things passed off much as usual & we
had our Naval exam in the morning. After
dinner we did our shiprecc & it was O.K. They
showed us a couple of films then gave our
marks.I did quite well & then we were
"broken up".. I had tea & then read a fair
bit & had a shower & was going to the
dance but Ed & the others [[?]] getting
drunk & so I stayed back & went to a
concert with Chips & it was good. The soprano
sang "AN DIE MUSIK" & the pianist
played some Chopin, Grieg & a very beautiful
Heller prelude. I came back & went to
the N.A.A.F.I. & then cleaned up & got off
to bed. I wrote to Uncle Sholto, Judy,
& Betty Willis.
Tonight's soloist was Isabel Baillie
SHIP RECC 98% NAVAL86%.
MAY,1944
Wednesday 31
D. A/G1 L.2.
I got up & then we had our parade &
started lectures - the three week course.
They were quite interesting & we also did
some P/T & later on some clay pigeon
shooting at which I did moderately well
as it was my first time. I wrote a
couple of letters to Stumpy & Shirl but
couldn't post them. Today letters from
David, Ian & Beth arrived. They made
good reading & Margaret has enquired
after me. I went to Stockton & bought a
couple of postcard sets & then had tea in
town & left some cigarettes for Sue. I
came home & did some reading & then
my washing & later wrote a bit. I had
supper at the mess & then made tracks
for bed. Bill Brady was very drunk
tonight. 

JUNE, 1944
TWENTY FOUR
Thursday 1
After breakfast I went on parade & then
we had more lectures. I had dinner after
banking my money which I banked got today
We had more lectures in the afternoon. I
wrote home & posted yesterdays letter  A
letter from Shirl arrived today. She is
also engaged!! I had tea & stayed home
all night doing nothing in particular &
taking plenty of time to do it. I had a
shower & came back & read a bit then got
off to sleep.
JUNE, 1944
Friday 2
After breakfast we went on parade & then
to lectures. We had pt. then a bit of
work & games. I had a shot at cricket
then lunch. In the afternoon we had
ordinary [[?]] & I got letters from
Ferdy, Pat & ken. It was a super mail
I wrote to Ken & posted the letter on Sat. I
went to a concert given by WSAAF but
it was not nearly as good as some of
the ENSA productions. There was a goo
tenor-baritone but the rest was [[lousy?]]
I came back & had a shower & got
off to bed. 

JUNE, 1944
Saturday 3
We had lectures most of the morning &
also a talk by the new C.O. He seems an
xtra good chap & is an [[A?]] from
Ops. I had dinner & we had a parade
after it & then I went into town &
made a couple of purchases. I came
out here & had tea & then went to
town again for my dancing lesson. It
was xtra good. I came back full of
resolve to go to a dance but went cold
again - on the doorstep this time. We
came back & I wrote & read for a
while & then went to bed. One of our
lads was got at at [[?]] Day by a
Yank & consequences have been rather
serious.
JUNE, 1944
TWENTY-FIVE
Sunday 4
I went to breakfast & had my egg & then
wrote home & went to Church with Gordon
It was rather good & then I came home &
had dinner & then got ready & we went
down to go to Liverpool. We looked at
the town a bit & then caught a tram to
Pinhead & the ferry to [[?]] after a
bus to New [[?]] I was with Frank
Ryan & Harry [[?]] & they stuck in
the [[?]] park all day. We had a
bit of tea & then caught the [[ferry?]] back
& then walked this town a bit & caught
the train home. Liverpool has been
extensively damaged by Jerry. It is
a huge town & the entrance to the
tunnel is very impressive. I wrote to
Beth today. 

JUNE, 1944
Monday 5
ROME RECAPTURED
I got up & had breakfast & later we
went to lectures & did a couple of NAV.
periods. I had dinner & then we bludged
& did two lectures. I had tea & then went
to the intelligence library & after that I
had supper & collected my chocolate
ration. I wrote to Pat Wade today.
I put in my boots for repair. Meal
lines are very bad here & nothing
very effective has been done about
them.
JUNE, 1944
TWENTY SIX
Tuesday 6
SECOND FRONT OPENED
ALLIED LANDINGS IN NORMANDY.
I went to lectures & we had another
two Nav. periods & all the time we listened
to news bulletins about the 2nd front. I
was impressed by the sense of relief apparent
everywhere & our first news came
thro' about 0920 hrs. After dinner we
had one period & I bludged for the
rest of the afternoon. I [[fixed?]] my parcel
up & after tea I wrote home & played
patience & then went to town to the YMCA
to the dance there. It was xtra good
despite the fact that I didn't dance. We
came back [[?]] the fence. I got a letter
from Shirl And from Margaret. 

JUNE, 1944
Wednesday 7
D.A/G 2 L3
I had breakfast & the whole morning
was a bludge. We were to have had 4
lectures but they were not operative. I
did a spot of Aldis & got on O.K. I then
had dinner & packed my parcel
which I sent this afternoon. I wrote
to Margaret & posted it. We did a
bit of NAV, & a bludge last period
parcel cost 6/9 !! I had tea & then
played cards & read a bit then had a
bath & went to bed. I got letters from
Ian & David today. All is well at
home & the family were up at [[ville?]]
We fooled about & busted Chips
ruler tonight & I was worried about it.
The lads arrived back from Whittles [[?]]
today & Chips etc. have been posted to
E.F.T.S.
Soap.
JUNE, 1944
Thursday 8
I had breakfast & the usual lectures but
managed to do a fair bit of bludging. I
had lunch & did P.T. & played a bit of
cricket & then went to the hut & had a
shave & got ready to go out. I had my
dancing lesson & tea at YMCA then waited
a while & came home. I went to the [[?]]
concert but later went to town & met Harry
& Beryl & we all went to Sue's place. We
had a hellava good time. Margery & Eileen
were there & we talked all night. They are
a swell crew. I came home with
harry & we saw a lot of scrimaging in
the train by Yanks. It was quite a wet
night & we got off to bed very quickly.
Names are Susan Wainwright, Margery
Long. 

JUNE, 1944
Friday 9
10
D.L1
I had breakfast & then we had our lectures
& actually worked moderately hard. After
dinner we had a lecture by a Lieut-General
who served in Abyssinia & has a strange
nervous malady by which he continually
raises his leg !! We did P.T. & then I
had tea. At dinner the "[[??]]" were
in the mess & gave a lot of vocal & instrumental
items. I went for a bus ride
after tea to [[?]] & had a bit of
trouble in finding the place but the
country was beautiful. The village was
most attractive & I heard the Lost Chord
from the church & met a chap who is related
to Andrew [[?]], a celebrity pianist. I
had a shower on my return & then got
off to bed. Three letters today, two
from home & one from Margaret.
JUNE, 1944
Saturday 10
I got up & we had a couple of bludge periods