Some 3 weeks ago we moved to our present billet a stone 2 roomed bungalow. It is very damp but drying out gradually. There has been a slight epidemic of influenza colds which I have had for the past week. Snow has been on the ground now for over a month despite some days of very warm sunshine, as today is. I have been fortunate in staying in the billet today and had a worm’s eye view of some hundreds of allied bombers flying in a north easterly direction. They flew over in perfect formation wave after wave and without the least molestation by fighters or Ack-Ack. Incidentally there is no AA in this district. This is only the second occasion that I have seen allied aircraft since being a prisoner. The first time being only a fortnight ago on 20th February when 4 waves of 50 bombers flew over the factory. They looked quite large in the sky but must have been very high judging by the apparent size of the 3 German fighters which were hovering around in a sort of helpless manner.
Since the arrival of Red X food parcels the German rations have fallen off very sadly, and to such a degree that one can almost be said to be living on Red X parcels and German bread. We are getting about 1lb of bread per day, I ounce of marg [margarine], I ounce of jam and 1 ounce of sugar. The mid-day meal, with the exception of Sunday when we have a sort of porridge, has been boiled turnips and carrots “bust” for the past 3 weeks. We are told potatoes are hard to get. Despite all this we are all putting on weight and my face and body for that matter, is fatter than it has ever been since my early youth. So much for Canadian tinned foods.
At the present moment life is fairly bearable. The lagerfuhrer [camp leader] or felt-weble is an elderly man and quite fatherly and fair, whilst l believe the guards to be gentlemen. In some aspects the life is harsh although one becomes to expect harshness. For instance whilst I had a very severe cold and was aching all over, I was compelled to sit in the dining-room for two days and peel and chop carrots and turnips even though I had two days excused duty by the MO. Of course I always think things could be worse and think of Tobruk, Derna and Benghasi not to mention PG 87 [Prigoniero di Guerra – Prison of War. PG 87 refers to a prison camp in Stalia, Italy] and PG 53. [A prison camp in Sforzacosta, Macerata, Italy].
The snow which fell early in February has been enjoyed to the full by the young people here who seem to be expert in skiing and tobogganing. I am rather surprised not to have seen any ice skating, for there are innumerable frozen ponds. Although this spot is approximately the same latitude as the South Coast of England the climate is altogether different in my observations. The weather continued fair until well into November with such heat in the sun as is never experienced in England at this time. This was followed by a period of damp cold which gave way to a clear dry frost, which persisted more or less to the end of December. January was rather a wet month with frosts which transformed the trees into a veritable silvery fairyland.
February alternated between snow and clear blue skies with warm sunshine. The snow is dry and powdery and a childrens’ paradise. The present month has had plenty of warm bright sunshine although there has been a fair amount of very cold wind.
I still continue to read Shakespeare in nearly all my spare time which isn’t very much these days. Up at 5.30am, out at 6am, half hour’s walk to factory, commence work 7am, fruhstuck [breakfast] 8.30am – 9am. Mittag Essen 12 – 12.30. Feirabend 5pm. Never in billet before 6pm when one prepares tea or supper and lights out 9pm. I begrudge every single minute of this utterly wasted and useless time and hope and pray that this war may end soon.
Attached to this factory there are now British, French, Belgians, Poles and Russian men and women and children, not to mention one single young Serbian girl. I have also learned that all the French and Belgian women from 18-35 are to be brought to Germany. The punishment for such crimes as these, must be as G and S [Gilbert and Sullivan, The Mikado – Let the Punishment Fit the Crime].