Diary of Denis Patrick (alias Rupert Bert Patrick), 1941-1945 - Part 2

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2   1942
this is 1942 - 

having recently

arrived in England -

this is 1942 - 

having recently

arrived in England -

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2   1942

My leave eventually came through

and with Colin I caught the Waterloo

train for London - The train was quite a

nifty little thing with a dining car attached

we visited the latter first and consumed a

moderate dish of stewed Rabbit which seems

to be a popular filler upper over here.

On the way we passed through Portsmouth

Quite a large city with lots of docks & 

chimneys - Portsmouth has been bombed
quite a lot but looks very much intact

from where I sat. The usual Balloons

floated over the city reminding one of the

ever present preparation just in case.-

After two & a half hours Waterloo greeted

our eyes- a large rambling station with

lots of soldiers, smoke, & quite a lot of

debris about.

We staggered out here and we completely

lost, eventualy however got the tra tube

to the Strand and after calling at Bert

Williams office went down to the Bank of

England by bus- I was amazed at the

damage between ft st: Pauls & the bank

acres of buildings are just ruins- broken

a ton dust are sound brick upon another

FRIDAY, JANUARY 3 1941

even the road had been rebuilt- a the girl

who was conductress on the bus told

me how hundreds of people had been

trapped in their own shelters- strangely

enough most of the damage had been

caused by incendiary bombs- these

buildings hundreds of years old had just

gone down in flames- the bus girl

said "We work right through the blitzes"

she also added ' I am dead scared but

we keep going'-

St Clements church who after almost a

thousand years of reign is ruined as fo

We went into the famous st Pauls. I was

speechless before the beauty of this place-

about the walls are statues & monuments

in remembrance of famous soldiers &

statesmen- One bomb which did not

explode left a great hole in the

ceiling & floor but fortunately that was

all

SATURDAY JANUARY 4 1941

later I met my second cousin Bert- he is

quite a good egg. and was delighted to

see me- Later we found us a pub

a Kensington gardens square and after

bargaining with the land lady decided

to stay there.

During the day I saw places of which

previously I had only rea. Marble arch

just a little granite arch but very

famous- Hyde Park is just like any

other park- they had taken away the

iron railings to melt down for bombs, neverthe less

quite a pretty spot.

At Trafalgar square Nelson still stands

high up on his pedestal- many bombs

had dropped close by him but unscared

he stands like a sentinel

After tea we went to a bit of a dance

which didnt turn out to be very exciting

and so came home early and went to bed

for the want of something better to do

SUNDAY, JANUARY 5 1942

After much slumber the maid brought

my breakfast into my room and a little
toast went down without much trouble

We then met Bert who took us to

lunch with his very charming wife

Old times were revived ad altogether

we had quite a pleasant session

After this Col & I went to madam

Toussads wax works- I surprised

to see such models as Don Bradman

Kingsford Smith Jean Batten, Bluey Wilkinson

and mr menzies- The work is extrordinary

life like- We couldnt miss the chamber

of horrors which is very aptly named

there they have all the first rate

crooks and some horrid pictures &

models of prosecutions, grotesque

& gruesome- no doubt madam derived

some fiendish pl∧easure out of making these

things

In the evening we went to

a dinner dance a Barbery square

under invitation from a very charming

lady, one Miss Oakshott when I called

pipshott mapleshott infact any [[O?] but

Oakshott

The women were unusually nice

and a good time was had by all
 

MONDAY, JANUARY 6 1942     

Jan 29

Am still a resident of the more

elite circles of Bournemouth- postings

seem particularly rare- Brian

Fait- Stan [[Sismery?]]- John Harrington.

Harry Horne, Jim Henderson & Dickeson

all went away to a flying boat

squadron. the rest of the 18 [[can?]]

G R. school have been posted to

an S.T.TS except two or three sgts.

these officers & myself- Colin has

of course gone to a wireless school

so that we are the only ones left

to wallow in the sun of the great

southern city-. Life has been

particularly bright down here

the girls seem to be oh so much

in love with the very first Aussie

boys who are somewhat Pagan

in their romances.- I have

two very sweet girls- fortunately

living at opposite ends of the

town- and I migrate from one

to the other according to words

One is a nurse- Thelma. by name and

boy- what a girl the other. Edna.

is a bit exhausting but very

attractive-

Owing to the lack of duty of

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7 1941
any sort one finds it difficult to

keep out of mischief-.

Went to the very ancient castle 

of Corfe.- Corfe castle was believed

to have been built in the year

866. by the normans. it was a

colosal place with two moats

and huge stone walls- and

thus it stood fending of hostile

tribes until it was blown up

by cromwells men- the remnants

still stand however and bear silent

wittnes witness to the dim dark

ages. when men were perhaps

a little more civilized than

they are now.

At the gateway a small notice

tells how Richard I was stabbed

under order by his mother in. law-

He was given a glass of wine

and as he drank they stabbed

him in the back. He jumped

on his horse & galloped away

but fell from loss of blood

only to be trampled to death

by his horse.

Also I went with my very dearest

Thelma to Christchurch after

inspecting the ruins. we biked

out to the Cat & Fiddle Hotel.

where the swingglass was back in

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8 1941

the good old days used to stop

for the last pot before the

travelled Eastward on their "wicked"

escapades.

These old towns do not flourish

but remain dormant living in

their past like old antiques

consequently this race can barely

survive against modern thinking

people like Germans. Americans

or Japanese- I like these old places

in a [[?ous]] sort of way- but

if I were King. I should destroy.

them and out of their ashes build

modern homes shops & warehouses

and thus only would these people

obsess themselves with up to date

ideals and ambitions-

D

Feb. 18.

have been given a job looking

after a pack of serjeants- they

are an oblidging lot- but up

to all the gags in the world

to get out of work. I don't blame

them but am only regretful

that my bludging has been

curtailed- Thelma often takes

me places to her friends for tea

and I enjoy her company she

is a jolly little kid with 

 

THURSDAY,JANUARY 9 1941

a heart of gold and a winning

smile. In lots of ways she

reminds me of Dear old Vonn

whom I have not seen for ages

but recently I keep a spot in

my heart for the girl who also

Feb 26-

On the 20-2-42 posted to an operational

training squadron at a far northern English

town called Silloth Cumberland- we

were jolly glad to quite the post

of Bournemouth after eight glorious

weeks of loafing eating and less

mentionable past-times- It was tough

having to leave a charming girl like

Thelma- Thelma was a bit broken

hearted at my going, she knew I would

probably not see her again and was

quite fond of me in her own quiet

undemonstrative way.- I left her

with the profoundest respect due.

to a girl with high ideals- a spirit

of adventure and a generous

personality- We were seven strong

Eric Rutherford- George Knaves-Brian

Fitzgerald-Bobb Wells Stuart Wilson

Sid Vincent & myself.- Enroute we called

at London and spent a few hours

there at a cafe called Corner House

in [[Totenham??]] road

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10 1941

The cafe had a charming orchestra composed

of refugee Austrians who played high

Delaso salon music & sweet swing

Leaving there we caught the Carlisle

(Capitol of Cumberland) train and so

spent the remainder of the night-

morning brought the town itself and

we despatched ou rselves to a pub

to breakfast & wash up- There we

met "Alf Alfa" Frank Cassels who has

been flying Wellingtons and had done

thirteen trips over occupied France including

Brest.- He also had gone after the Scharhaust

& Griesman when they put out from

Brest last month- During our travels

in the day we ran into a bunch of

Australian AIF blokes who insisted

on us spending the day with them

so we acco acommodated them and

arrived at Silloth twelve hours late

Silloth is a little border town on

the coast and also on the border of England

& Scotland- most of the local inhabitants

date back to the Roman invasion- The

streets are still lit by gas and a very

pre historic atmosphere prevails-

I am billeted out of the camp and

staying with Eric at a private home

The Lady of the house is very pleasant

and treats us excellently-

The Station itself is a Hudson

Day Bomber  Recco O.t.U- the staff are

all operational pilots with an up

to date and vast experience- I have

started my flying on Hudsons and

already am becoming accous accustomed

to the faster heavier more modern

type of aircraft- The station is

typically R.A.F with a vast distinction

between "Pupils" & staff the former

being a lesser sort of being cast upon

them by circumstance- We are

however impervious to their childish

fads and look forward to the day

when we joinn an Australian or

Canadian unit run by our own

officers who think more comradship

and less of snooty distinctions- The

Australians and Canadians over

here are a bit fed up I think with

the Raf as an organization- apart

from this diversion from the

provision of this document Silloth

isn't bad place the local people

are much more friendly than their

southern counterparts and we

should have a good opportunity

here to save a few bob.

Thelma wrote to me today and

quite a touching little letter- She is

a lonely kid inspite of her pleasing

personality she hasnt got a great

many personal friends and as she says

she misses me a great deal- She expects

to join the Queens Alexandria nurses

in April and go abroad perhaps to

Russia or heaven knows where-

This war disorganizes the normal

existance of the individual beyond

comprehension- There is Thelma just

a kid 20 years and going away to

the hardships of the battle front.

What an influence on her whole life

this affair and yet she is just another

of the many thousands of "grey ants"

[[searching?]] on to new adventures like

a pawn-

10-3-42

The days pass on and although there

are no signs of the approach of spring

the calendar makes quite definite calculations

on the matter and one is oblidged to

just trust with blind faith- made

moderately satisfactory progress on

the Hudsons and am now quite

qualified to scoot around without

any instructors- Today I took an

observer and we cleared off to Glasgow

the plane was covered with a wreath

of smoke and I didnt see much of the

famous scotch city.- but I dont imagine

it would have been very exciting if I had

we then did an air tour of the Lakes

district- The lakes lie in the gullies

between the mountains the setting was

most impressive- the snow coloured

mts & the blue lakes.- Today was the

first really sunny day we have had

since we came to Silloth.

Colin wrote me a short leter saying

he had been up in the north of

Scotland he also said he would drop

in and see me, but phoned instead

when I was out and when I phoned

back he was out- He then x vanished

and as yet I dont know where he is.

Harry Lethbridge had a narrow escape

today when his plane crashed after

take off. one member of the crew was

seriously injured and another got out

with a fractured collar bone.

The mortality on this station seems

to be colosal- Hudsons are very

nice to fly but they are no fools toy

and have to be treated with respect-

Raye Brown wrote to George Knows.

and said he was "browned off" properly

nearly all the Australians [[Unit?]] had

been killed off.

Had a letter from home dated 27/11/41

just a little one from mum wishing me back

I can see she misses me a great deal

and longs constantly for my return- I too

long for the green fields or perhaps the

brown fields of home- I have enjoyed my

little trot around the globe

13-3-42

Yesterday another plane hit the deck and

two more airmen were seriously injured the

plane was almost a total wreck & burst

into flames just after the injured had been

taken away by the rest waggon- Edna

wrote today & expressed the passions of her heart

she says she 'loves me with all her little heart'

& longs to 'hold me in her arms again' well

thats O.K. by me I can stand a lot of that.- also

she says she will be coming up to see me in

a months time woo woo- Colin phoned up from

Cranwell and explained his misterious departure

from Carlisle he expects to be posted to a

bomber command station shortly probably

Wellingtons and at also with a good prospect

of going East- I sincerely hope he does

the East would never be any more than the

East with out wild Bill Hickock-

Our observers turned up and unfortunately

they are all Canadian sgts- not a very

brilliant looking bunch- typically Canadian

lacking the keen ness & skill of either

Australians Ca New Zealanders or Englishmen

However I have two good Australian

Wireless air gunners who apparantly

know their job. somebody will have

to in this crate because I doubt if

CURtinn'S SpeAch. FebRUARY 1942

"Who among us on that day in

December last- when Japan struck

like an assassin at Pear Harbour

at manilla Manila at Wake Is

& Guam would have hazarded a guess

that by December the enemy would

be astride all the south west

Pacific except the one defended

by Ge McArthurs gallant men

and Australiann & New Guinea Zealand

"But, that is the case, and

realizing very swiftly that it would

be the case, The Australian government

sought a proper recognition of the

post the Pacific was playing in

the general strategic positon of

the worlds warring forces

"It was therefore but rational that

with 20 days after Japans first 

treacherous blow. The I said we

looked to America as a paramount

factor on the democracies side

of the Pacific

"There is no belittling of the old

country in this outlook- Britian

has fought and won in the

air the tremendous battle

for Britian 

Britain has fought- and with

your help has won the equaly

vital part of the atlantic- she has a paramount

obligation to supply all possible

help to Russia- She cannot at the same

time go all out in the Pacific- We are

her sons and on us the responsibility falls

I pledge you my work- We shall Not

Fail you, as I have said must be

our leader we will pull knee to knee

with you for every ounce of our weight

"We looked to America among other

things for council & advice- and it

was therefore our wish that the

Pacific War council should be located

inn London. Washington- It is

a matter of regret to us that even

after ninety five days of Japans

staggering advance south ever south

we have not obtained first hand

contact with america- There for we

propose sending to you our minister

for External Affairs Dr. H.V. Evett

who is no stranger to your country

so that we may benefit from his

discussions with your authorities

Dr Evatt will not go to you as

mendicant- he will go to you as

a representative of a people

as firmly determined to hold &

hit back at the enemy as

courageously as those people

from whose sons we sprung