Diary of John William Cardwell Wyett, 1942 - Part 15

TUESDAY - November 24th, 1942

We held the usual comds conf this morning &

after lunch I worked in the office.

A Jap car pulled up on the barrack sq

about 6 1830 during a very heavy rainstorm

& I got a lift as far as Gen HEATHS house

where it was going with a parcel from his

wife & a letter from OKASAKI for his birthday

which was yesterday. The Jap interpreter

told me that he expected the Gen to move

about 28 or 29th.

The manufacturer of my peep-bo came across

after dinner & said he would be back

later. He turned up about 2230 with

a decent yarn. He is an efficient &

cheerful soul & it is a pleasure under

these conditions to hear a good yarn or

a funny story which one has not heard

before.

I started a class in GERMAN this evening

under a DUTCH teacher.

WEDNESDAY - November 25th, 1942

A fairly uneventful day. My usual stroll was

interrupted this evening.

THURSDAY - November 26th, 1942 

Tonight Lt Gen HEATH came to dinner & also

Brig MAXWELL. We went to the concert afterwards

but it was somewhat delayed in starting owing to

failure of the lights. However everyone rose to

the occasion & the orchestra played well-known songs

the audience joining in. I obtained a petrol

light from 2/9 7d Amb & the concert finally got

going. It was a very good show. John WOOD

makes up very well as a woman & played

an extremely convincing part.

A few of us went to supper later at Gen HEATH'S

& sampled a little benedictine-rose wine which

was a present to the gen from Lt OKASAKI.

FRIDAY - November 27th, 1942

PEACH & I did a recce of the area to find a

suitable place for the DUTCH to use as a concert

hall. We visited the gardening area which

is quite extensive & may prove valuable if food

becomes short in the future.

We held a conference in the afternoon to discuss the

matter of DUTCH entertainment generally. Lt-Col McEACHEARN

presided as he will be administering the DUTCH as

a group. I have seen chain cigarette

smokers, but never until now have I seen a

chain cigar-smoker. Lt-Col McEACHEARN lights one

cigar off the but of another.

SATURDAY - November 28th, 1942

This morning Lt-Gen Lewis HEATH & Brig MAXWELL

departed for overseas, probably to join the others in FORMOSA

The AIF held a voluntary parade, lining the road

to the gate 3 deep on either side. About 1200 turned up,

the groups cheering as the gen, Brig M, comd & the

generals staff passed through. The concert party 

supplied a band at the gate & both offrs were

deeply moved and very gratified at the reception

accorded them.

About 1200 DUTCH tps from 18 div area & 550 AIF are 

also moving overseas. Brig MAXWELL gave me

three recommendations for filing, one of them a DSO for

Pat GARDE. He asked my advice with regard to

the wording - a bit unnecessary I thought since his

treatment of me over the original promotion business

was rather two-sided. The whole gestures seemed

to me a bit apologetic.

I went to Gen HEATH'S house later in the morning over

the fate of those of his staff who are left. Lt-Col FRITE

comd 3 Corps is anxious to get them back but

they are not so keen to go.

I called in to see Col DEAKIN who was at QUETTE

with HGR, Col LICKMAN & others I know. He, with

one offr & a few OR's are all that are left of

2/5 PUNJABIS which he commanded. He was cut off

at SLIM river & taken prisoner at KL.

After tea I listened to recordings of CHOPIN'S concerto B

& TSCHAIKOFSKY'S symphony No 5, afterwards day some

MALAY with BOYD.

SUNDAY - November 29th, 1942

Phil H is pretty much played out lately & is

off to hospital today for a much - needed

rest.

MADDERN is back after about 10 days spell

in hosp with a relapse of malaria.

I went to Con Depot to the church parade at

night & attended my second German class

afterwards.

MONDAY - November 30th, 1942

The wing of the building was completed today &

a globe fitted into a petrol lamp for use

in the mess.

We had a complete inspection & check of

the IJA at roll call this evening.

Alex T is back after a fortnight's rest in

hospital & is now acting as A.Q.

TUESDAY - December 1st, 1942

The usual morning conference lasted until midday

I spent the afternoon in the office & read for

a while after tea, going to bed early.

The night is the coolest for a long time

& quite pleasant.

We reorganised the office today, comd moving

his desk upstairs.

THURSDAY - December 3rd, 1942

Tom MITCHELL is in bed for a few days because

of severe headache The MO's are afraid of

post-traumatic lesions & are making him lie-up.

I visited Maj c̄ ROBERTS this

afternoon. He was police inspector (political)

for JB & is an interesting chap to talk to.

After tea I retired early to bed, reading for

a while by a light which I borrowed

off Alex T's bed. Alex moved over

today & is now sharing a room with Phil

& me. Phil is still resting in hospital.

An order arrived this evening for 14 senior offs

from CHANGI area to parade at the gaol

in order to congratulate FUKUYE on being

promoted to Lt-Gen.

Three tpts laden c̄ tps & MT went out the

straits today.

FRIDAY - December 4th, 1942

COBLEY came over to see Gus K about the

war history & had lunch with us.

Lt-Cols GALLEGHAN & KAPPE have gone off

to the gaol this afternoon to congratulate

FUKUYE. They had to stand about for 2 hrs,

saw a Jap ceremonial march past. The new

Lt-Gen then delivered a speech & Col HOLMES was

ordered to reply.

The march past was in close coln of coys which

wheeled on a wide arc in file of pairs, the inner

goosestepping & the remainder moving to keep up.

Hand drawn diagram - see original document

Turn right & form fours at the same time.

Stewart P & I went patrolling after dinner but

saw little activity. The night was

cool & pleasant, & I slept well on my

return.

SATURDAY - December 5th, 1942

I went to the Car Depot as usual this

evening to hear a recorded recital of SCHERAZADE

of Rimsky KORSIROFF. It was most enjoyable

& the best I have heard. I spent an

hour with BOYD afterwards doing MALAY.

SUNDAY - December 6th, 1942

I went to the gardening control gp this morning

to see Pat GARDE about his proposal to

draft AIF into a permanent garden party for

the gardens now being prepared under IJA

supervision. A cool wet night gave me

a decent night's rest & I did not rise

until about 1100 hrs.

The afternoon I spent with Desmond SHEAN

& Capt PEEL at MC talking over the garden

scheme with McGEE.

I returned late having stopped at the hospital

en route to arrange for EATON to be att

there.

Our hosts were late in arriving for the roll-call

which is at 1830 on Sundays instead of

1930.

Stewart PEACH, Noel MAY, WHARTON & I went

for a stroll & got very wet, meeting nobody 

but a couple of Dutch Javanese & later

Robby.

Two offrs from MC, Capts CADBURY-JONES & CRICKMAY

came in just as I was leaving to say they

had been taken by the a Jap armed party

to a swamp up the S.SELETAR to round up

three AIF escapees. They were duly captured

(HUGHES, ROLLISON & ROSS, all 2/29 Bn) & retained of

the Jap for questioning.

It has been raining all day. I missed my GERMAN

class this evening for the second time.

MONDAY - December 7th, 1942

I went this morning to MC where I had a yarn

with Chang D & heard about Pte ROBERTSON, 2/19 Bn

who was returned to CHANGI today in company

with an English OR by IJA for keeping in

custody. I told them to send him

to AIF hosp.

It has been raining heavily all day.

We received permission today to use the

electric light but a sudden blackout

prevented us using it. The blackout is to last 3 nights.

The alert sounded at 3 PM today in SPORE

& working parties were rushed back to their

camps & guards doubled.

Phil H returned today from his spell in hosp.

I took the same party out for a stroll this

evening & caught two 2/9 Fd Amb personnel

who were trading rice. 

TUESDAY - December 8th, 1942

The usual weekly conference occupied most of

the morning & the afternoon I spent in the

office. Later, I went to hosp where

Col SUMMONS charged SHANNON with being AWL

& gave him his £5 & 28 days, remanding him

on the second charge of trading to comd AIF

The same party went out again tonight &

caught two tommies from 11 Div allowing them

to go on. Later 5 Dutchmen turned

up & threatened to shoot. A humourous

incident occurred later when, farther back along

the track the two tommies, recognising the trops

wire said "OK, OK - we know".

Today is the anniversary of the first bombing of SPORE
& the Japs are apprehensive of retaliation.

WEDNESDAY - December 9th, 1942

I had a general clean-up today in the office

getting various papers straightened out.

After lunch SHANNON & CANNON were up before

the comd & I had to give evidence of their

arrest. They both got a total of 90 days

detention in addition to the £5 fine.

Later I went to 2/9 Fd Amb where Ken B

gave me a cup of coffee. Tom M is much

better & I spent a jolly half hour in

Ken's room. Michael W & MAYNARD

were present. I spent an hour with

Michael catching up on the last German

lesson.

I retired to bed & read "In Quest of the Sun"

for a while by a small 2V globe run off

Alex's battery. Tonight is the last

of the blackout.