Diary Jack Lusby Burns - Oct -1944 - Jan - 1945 - Part 1
DIARY:- No. 5.
Started :- 4th October 1944.
Finished :-
Lieut. J.L. Burns.
A.I.F.
Room 4.
[* anchor watch.*]
Thursday Wednesday 4th October 1944.
Lets hope this is the last diary I start in this place.
This is the 4 4th I've started - If I can get them out
should make fair reading for my people when this
show is over. Used a tin of "pâté " out of the room "fund"
in the soup this morning. - Put a nice taste in one's
mouth & gives one a craving for the better amenities
of life so sadly lacking in this place. Did 1½ hrs
tour of duty "anchor watch" 0430 - 0600 hrs this
morning. We get this duty once every 13 - 14 days.
Showed all members of the Indep. Coy., the mater's
photo - They were very impressed. 'Twas great
receiving same. Had small fish for evening meal
tasty bones & all eaten, but NOT enough.
Thursday 5th October 1944.
W.D. Conner's birthday - He gave me two mixtures of
"Bully" & rice - Really tasted beautiful - also a "bun"
after the evening meal. Had the room duty. Col. Scanlon
& I managed to win our 2nd Round Match of the
Tourney. - Did my washing late in the aft. & will let
it soak over the night. Being able to lie down all day
is a bit of all right. Daikon tops are being to make
their appearance for our "chow" - If someone had of
told me thru' the war that I would be eating rice &
couldn't get enough also sweet potato tops & daikon
tops I'd have called them a liar. Gee I hope some
more Red + boxes come in. 'Tis a trouble shaving
avoiding the hollows & bumps in one's face.
Friday 6th October 1944.
Intensely cold today - looks as if my washing won't get
dry. Some "fuss" going on re the galley. Rumour hath it
that the enlisted men's work party that go to "Takamatsu"
& "Sikijti" get the "solids" of the sweet potatoes grown by
the officers and we (i.e. the officers) are getting the "tops".
This matter was taken up by the various rooms through
the Room Leaders, to Division, to the International Committee who in turn stirred up the galley. However it turned
out to be a lot of poppy-cock. Cracked another tin of
"bully" for our Syndicate - now have one left. Everyone
is hoping for more Red Cross parcels to come in as
chow is getting light on. Woke up the other night & would
have given quids for a good feed. "Luego" for even. meal.
Saturday 7th October 1944.
A large Number of Amer. letters came in & in one dated
12 July 44 appeared - "Relief ship on the way - No kin represented" - which rumour ^now hath it -Red + parcels
are coming & NO personal packages. Cracked my 3¾
oz tin butter - sure tastes lovely on the rice. Rained
Non-stop all day - fairly easy to take a shower
nowadays as the attendance is dropping off due to the
cold weather. One of the padres is in the brig. for
smoking during prohibited hours. Dashed inhuman
as he is there without blankets. Inspection was held
at 0900 hrs. - The J.'s went crook at the way we folded
our towels on the racks. Now that food is short
everyone is talking about possible dishes etc.
Sunday 8th October 1944.
Saved ½ my mid-day ration of rice - made a mixture
of raisins, milk & butter & poured it on my
evening rice - tasted delicious - Sure aim to try
this mixture in proper proportions when I get
home & to the land of plenty. Some more Aust.
mail trickling through - mainly April & March
'44 stuff. No beans in the evening rice - consequently
it looked as if the rats had been at it. Our ration of
cereals is only ¾ cup. The rats round here are bad.
Every night they have a derby on our shelves. Had Teddy
Goode in for morning coffee - His idea re boats is quite
a good "flyer" to invest money in. Had some sound
advice from Clarrie Archer - he is very like dad - decided
to toss the Hong Kong Show.
[*Signed our post cards. *]
Monday 9th October 1944.
Called down to the Canteen to sign our post-cards
put in on the 2nd October. Lets hope it gets home as
soon as possible. Y'day was Imperial Rescript Day
- they don't celebrate it like they used to do - Previously,
they used to beat "tom-toms" etc in the shrine next
door & have a big "do". Now nothing happens.
Finished our 50 rubber match against the dutchmen
- won by 900 @ 50 sen a 100. Nice sitting out
in the sun, after such a cold spell. Now changed
my Shower time from 1730 to 1200 hrs, so as to
have it at a warmer time. Had an informal inspect.
this morn. of 2 civilians. The J. interpreter came round
looking under mats for maps.
Tuesday 10th October 1944.
Vegetables certainly grow quickly in this place - there is
a patch of silver-beet just opposite to where we
muster - the darned things grow about 3-4 ins.
a day - also some ground just dug up last week
young plants are beginning to rear their heads.
Had octopus in the soup this evening - tasted
all right. We use this stuff (squid) for bait at
home, also shrimps. The latter properly fried I
intend trying at home. One of the Queenslanders
has promised to send me some peanuts when
we get home. I intend trying them cooked in the
rice à la soya bean. The odours from the banjo
when they dip are pretty hectic in this room.
[*Issue of J. u/clothing.*]
Wednesday 11th October 1944
The J's. issued the winter underclothing they withdrew from us
about 2-3 months ago. It was just lumped out anyhow & we are
having a hell of a job straightening it out. The clothes were
supposed to be washed but by heavens some of them were filthy
in the best sense of the word. The galley are issuing out pickled dyk daikon tops, daikons & eggplant - result "runs" ^are of the
order of the day. Been getting up twice of a night to answer
nature's call. Damned rotten as one has to go outside to
the banjo. Very cold nowadays., especially with our small
rations. Some more aust. mail came in. April & May letters.
Quite a few of the lads rec'd. photos & great was the rejoicing.
Discussed a trip to Queensland, N.S.W. & Tasmania with one
of the lads from Q'land. He promised to send me some tropical fruits.
[*Burnt rice - Rec'd J. u/clothing*]
Thursday 12th October 1944.
Rec'd Burnt rice for the evening meal - soaked it in
my soup & had it after muster - sure tasted fine.
Managed to get back my own J. shirt & underpants
handed in some 2-3 months ago. It was quite a feat trying
to straighten up the mess. Will be grand sleeping
between sheets once again - Been between blankets
for close on 3 yrs now. Jove's, it will be wonderful
seeing the mater & pater again. 'Tis warm sitting in the
sun but very cold indoors. The Colonel & self lost
our match in the Aust. bridge Tourney. Quite a few
enquiries for cigs nowadays. Lecture tonight for the
room was on Britain's Colonial Policy. Talked of doing
a trip of the Eastern State's of Aust. & Tasmania.
Friday 13th October 1944.
Red Cross rumours rearing their heads once again. -
- Red+ stuff at Bsaka - supposed to have been in J.
for the past 40 days -¿Quien sabe? - I'll believe them
when I have the stuff in my hands. Vegetable tops
form the main part of our diet these days. - Never
throw them away when I get home. They certainly
"spartanize" the kids round here. They play & run round
in the school ground stripped to the waist, while we
sit & shiver. They beat a drum (48 beats) every morn.
at 0500 hrs in the Shrine across the way. Got some
advice from Clarrie Archer re the Hong Kong Show - decided
to chuck it. Will be satisfied with simple things
after this. Try & concentrate in future to get through the
exams.
[*Letter dated 3rd April '44 from home.*]
Saturday 14th October 1944
About 1400 hrs rec'd a letter dated 3rd April 44 from home.
It twas great receiving same. and to know they are well. I hope
we are all re-united in the very near future. Feel very
optimistic re the news. Very cold last night. Martin
Schechter's b'day. Had him up for coffee in the morning
& just prior to tea. Tea-water comes out 4 times a
day. - 0630, 0900, 1330 & 1700 hrs. The inspection
took place at 0930 hrs inside & 1100 hrs outside. 'Tis
a bit of a rush getting ready for the 0930 one. Obtained
some feathers from the chicken house to clean my cig holder.
Butts are too precious to throw away. Bought ½ ration of
rice for 2 pkts kinshies. Winter seems to have set in
early this year - as I've been extremely cold the last 3 days.
[*Put in as having
25 yen.*]
Sunday 15th October 1944.
Climbed into my winter trousers (captured British clothing)
this morning. Had 3 blankets & a greatcoat on last
night. -'Twas bitterly cold. The Home Guard were busily
engaged in training on the school yard across the way.
The inevitable subject at the table nowadays is food -
We are all of the opinion that we are being screwed by the
nips. ref. last nights meal - Had sweet spuds put
in the rice & the J.'s took 20 kilos of barley out of it.
'Tis is also annoying to see the office staff through
bowls of rice away. Never will I waste food again.
Felt so damned hungry today that I had a touch of
stomach cramps. Gee everyone is getting thin. Had
small clams for evening meal - 1 little of one per man.
[*Canteen issue - bamboo forks, fish pills, 1 pkt smoke bombs ruler*]
Monday 16th October 1944.
Instead of cigarette lighters worked by electricity, we are
now allotted 4 matches per room per day. Consequently,
the poor old cigarette smokers go through a bit of merry
hell - as pipe smokers are always "bumming" a light. What prompted me to write this was that I had a cigarette
mucked up today by a pipe smoker. Feel convinced in
my own mind that I shall be home by next April.-
Still time will tell but I hate going through another
winter in this place. The photo of mother was certainly
a beaut she looks much stouter. Dad seems to
be doing fairly well at bowls. Bless 'em. Going to be hard to
shift when I get home. Will never throw vegetable tops
away in the future, after what we've eaten here.
Tuesday 17th October 1944.
"Taro" vegetables made their appearance this
morning. I hated this stuff last year - now
I can't get enough of it.- such is life. Was
caught down at the "banjo" when the reveille bugle
went this morn. Had to cut it short to get onto
muster in time. Some Aust. mail came -
more photos - the boys say these are worth 10 letters.
All home letters say the same. - "That they haven't
heard from us for months." Still one American
lad who rec'd a letter dated 16 Aug. '44 says our
October & Dec '43 & Jan '44 letters & p/cards were just
rec'd all together - also mail from America & Aust
takes 10 days (regular service) so they should receive some
soon.
[*Anchor Watch 0300 - 0430 hrs.*]
-Wednesday 18th October 1944. -
Had a severe attack of the "runs" last night about 0100
hrs. - in fact couldn't hold onto it before I reached
the banjo & made a mess of my "pyjamas". Blast it.
There is quite a lot of this going about of late. The
pickled "daikon" is blamed for it. Had the 2nd
last shift on "anchor" watch. Had quite an interesting
yarn with the chap I was on with - He is a mining
engineer from North Malaya - lost his home savings
& everything in the Malayan "washout". The taro "b'fast
was the most filling meal we've had for weeks.
Hard ground up seaweed (kelp) for lunch, "Sandy" Rob's.
b'day - gave him a drink of coffee & a packet of fags.
He owes me 630 ¥ for insulin which I hope to get back after
the war.
Thursday 19th October 1944.
Bit of a scare thrown into the lads - Just after tea this
aft. the J's. stopped people going down the stairs
whilst they "searched" rooms 1 & 2 of the English
division - We thought it was a shake-down but
they were only inspecting clothes - after captured
British b/clothes (Hong Kong) issued by them. As
we had nothing in the galley for evening meal, we
had to go out & dig sweet potatoes from our plot.
Since we've had a fair bit of rain of late, we found
that a %age of them were rotting - so for the next
few days I guess we'll be spud digging. Typical J.
action this, to hang onto something until it
becomes near rotten.
Friday 20th October 1944.
Due to a bit of a "mixup" the J's. have decided to
recall all J. u/clothing issued to us on the 11th.
Many of the lads are bemoaning as quite a few of them
have washed the sets issued to them. Typical J.
mix-up. Quite a bit of feeling aroused over the
sweet potato project as the officers here think we are
being "screwed" by the J's. inasmuch as we aren't
getting what we bring in from outside. Quite a
few of them are refusing to go out & "voluntarily"
work in the garden. Also it appears as if some
Amer. officers were up at 0300 hrs vine-stripping
for greens for the soup. A number of the lads are
making booties out of old scraps of clothing - Getting ready for
the winter.
[*Hot baths*]
Saturday 21st October 1944.
Re the protest that was put into the J. office re the substitution
of sweet spud for barley as xx a cereal (50 kilos for 21
kilos ^resp.) in the rice - the same was tried tonight (35 kilos
of sweet spud to 10 kilos of barley) an answer was
rec'd. from the Nips that such barley would be made
up & last tonights lot of substitution was cancelled.
Just another way to screw us. I understand a menu
a week in advance goes to Tokyo but our meals
are nothing like what is in the menu. Someone must
be getting a rake-off. Ran a "bingo" (housey-housey)
game in the room after chow last night. Had our
1st lot of hot baths for the season - No more than ½
bucket of hot water per person - put through by rooms - 12 mins
for 32 men.
[*Weight. 60.3 kilos - lost 9/10 kilo.*]
Sunday 22nd October 1944.
Weigh day - lost another 9/10 ths of a kilo - sure am
becoming "slim" these days. The average loss for
the room was .98ths of a kilo. Still its nothing
a good food won't cure. Fixed up my booties this
morning - today was intensely cold - now have on
all my winter regalia. Attended church service
& thought of home - have a feeling it won't be
long now before I see the mater & pater once again
Making arrangements to purchase some suit lengths
from Jim Addison (Scotland) through money owed to me
by Englishmen. Knick-knacks from Java. (Lt Comdr Stal)
& cheeses candy & maple syrup from (Capt Biggs USA)
giving him a 100 yen for 25c worth of goods.
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