[transcription and transcription annotations have been provided by the collection donor]

Thur Apr 1, 1943:
Raining today, the morning parade was held inside. I went to the library. Not many novels in - drew out Scott’s Talisman. As it was a rainy day I stayed inside and read.

Fri Apr 2, 1943:
After a little rain it cleared up. Strolled round the compound. Read during the afternoon. We still wear our chains outside the hut.

Sat Apr 3, 1943:
Raining again this morning. We went for our fortnightly shower - only a limited time under them. I attended the Drawing class at 12 noon - simple objects with shading. I had my hair brush cut. Our musicians gave us a jam session. A Scot with the 6th Commando gave us a talk on the 2nd Army’s activities in Tunis. For some unknown reason the chains were taken off at 4 pm. The gates remained locked for the remainder of the day.

Sun Apr 4, 1943:
Raining and cold today. I feel the absence of hair on my head. I stayed inside and read. Sent my 2nd letter. Read “Landscape Painting in Pastel” by L.R. Squirrel. Chains taken off to-day at 4 o’clock. These days nobody wears their chains unless an officer is seen coming into the compound. Then there is a mad scramble by everybody to get their chains and snap them on. The guards usually warn us when the officers are expected. If we get caught without the chains, the guards lined us up facing the barb-wired fence, but about a foot away from it. You stood at attention and you could stab your face on the barbs. That only lasted about an hour because the guard had something else to do. Another punishment would be to wrap your wrists around and around with chains and secured with a padlock. These were known as straff chains. If this happened to you, you would go into to the hut and see the fellow, who had a stolen padlock key. He would undo the padlock, then would padlock the ends of the chain together. Your hands would be put into the loop, and twisted around so that it would look as if you were still chained. German Youth celebrations this weekend so we will be locked in at 7 pm thus giving the guards a chance to celebrate. Tonight in 16A a New Zealander lectured on his work with the Long Range Desert Patrol in Libya. No music tonight but Jock Spiers (paratrooper) who sleeps near me amused us with his dry wit.

Mon Apr 5, 1943:
Warm and sunny. Instead of Red Cross parcels we get a bulk issue, one quarter tin of bacon, or one tin for four men and one tin of condensed milk. I am going on my own from now on. Ted Sawkins and I strolled round the camp. “Little Abner” Chiswell (Ont) brought in another art book. Played solitaire, then slept in the sun. I watched the Aussies play their gambling game of Pitch and Toss. The German soldiers training in the nearby fields seem a sloppy lot. On every parade we are amused by a chubby Fr. Canuck.

Tue Apr 6, 1943:
Another hot day. I went to the Advertising class. Washed some clothes. A heavy downpour of rain in the afternoon which stopped at 4:30 pm. This compound was made into a straff block. This happens each month, so the Gerries can have a chain check. They are supposed to be surprise checks, which is really a farce as the guards always warn us in advance so they will not get into trouble, if there are too many chains missing. If the guards make too many mistakes they could be sent to the Russian front and they tell us that, that is hell. Bulk issue - one tin jam, 6 oz. sugar, l tin biscuits. From the cookhouse - stewed apricots and later bread soup.

Wed Apr 7, 1943:
Cold and dry today. Meat and vegetables. Gerry margarine, today’s issue of German jam looked like crushed beets and smelt and tasted like strawberry ice cream. From the library I took out F.J. Mansfield’s “The Complete Journalist”. Our bunks were inspected this afternoon by Joe Unterofficer. Mine and Eric’s didn’t meet his approval, so along with others we had to parade outside with our blankets. We were given a warning. A bit of snow fell during the day. Just after tea about a dozen German officers walked into the barracks to see if we were properly chained. They were greeted with a snapping of chain locks.

Thur Apr 8, 1943:
Very cold this morning. I went to the advertising class. I’m beginning to get the drift of it. More theory of perspective at the Drawing class. Some homework to do for Saturday class. Bulk issue - 1 tin cheese, 1 tin margarine, 1 tin salmon. German rations - mangle soup and fish, cheese which smells very high, but tasted fairly good. Wind, rain and sleet all afternoon, however it warmed up a little in the evening.

Fri Apr 9, 1943:
Cold but sunny this morning, warming up at noon hour. Eric Ramm, Doug Robinson and I went to the library this morning. Our chains stayed behind in the hut. Meat and Vegetable at noon. Snow fell for a couple of hours this afternoon. Bulk issue of porridge at 4 pm. After the 5 pm parade the weather became very mild and warm. Robinson and I had to carry the hut’s supply of chains back to the storage room. Practiced perspective drawing exercises before going to bed.

Sat Apr 10, 1943:
A bit warmer today but still cloudy with occasional showers. Rumours still going round about the fall of Tunis. I attended the Advertising class. A new course will start soon leading up to the Advertising Association’s Intermediate exam. More perspective at the drawing class. Bulk issue - l bar soap, 1 tin Cornish pie (a mixture of meat, onions, etc). I read all afternoon. Had some of the Cornish pie for supper. After tea there was beer on sale in the hut - l mark per mug.

Sun Apr 11, 1943:
Cloudy but not raining. No bulk issue today. German sauerkraut soup, margarine and bread, also some smoked meat in the form of a huge sausage. I played solitaire in the morning. As it was raining in the afternoon I stayed in and read a book. Cornish pie again for supper. Went into 16A to hear another lecture on “The Long Range Desert Patrol” by Bluey Grimsey (N.S.)

Mon Apr 12, 1943:
No rain today. I read a book in the morning. Eric and I had a look at an Advertising book in the reference library. At 2 pm we went for Red Cross parcels. It’s my parcel today. Geordy Davidson keeps the Thursday parcel. Today’s parcel quite good - margarine, cheese, fish spread, chocolate, biscuits a packet of butterscotch, bramble jelly, tomato juice, bacon and meat roll. Hank Campbell is doing a surrealist painting entitled, “A man in evening dress playing an accordion in a fish shop": It is causing quite a bit of comment. After the 5 pm parade we went to the camp theatre to see the R.A.F. Variety show. “Out of the Blue” - quite good.

Tue Apr 13, 1943:
A fine sunny day. I went to the school and enrolled in the new Advertising course. Sat outside and received a bit of sunburn. Frank Gartland’s New Zealand Army friend brought my death’s head ring back. I bought a German pipe from him for 1 mark forty and 20 fags. Some of the fellows melt down silver paper from fag packets and make trinkets.

Wed Apr 14, 1943:
Another hot day. I did some reading and sunbathing. Everyone took advantage of the weather. Meat and vegetables today. In the evening I watched the English, New Zealand and Welsh rugby trials - the two N.Z. teams gave the best display. After this I watched some Palestinian Jews play a game which seemed to consist of walloping one selected man. A large body of German soldiers marched by singing. I wonder if they are as happy as they make out to be, considering Tunis.

Thur Apr 15, 1943:
Clear and hot. The school building was being deloused so we couldn’t attend. We had our fortnightly shower. I lay out in the sun all afternoon watching the rugby. At the 5 pm parade we were warned not to make off with any German women. How could we with all the barbed wire and machine gun posts around us. Fish cheese today. After lights out at 10 pm a dog barked and a Verey light went up and we heard a long burst of machine gun fire.

Fri Apr 16, 1943:
Up early. Ted Sawkins and I ran round the compound. Fish cheese for breakfast. The smell of it nearly emptied the barrack. Spring cleaning today. I borrowed a pencil drawing test book from Doug Brown (Kings Royal Rifles). I lay in the sun - very hot. After supper I watched a baseball game, then a football game and ended up by going over to the Dieppe Compound where some fellows were tossing the shot and others were doing some balancing.

Sat Apr 17, 1943:
 Not quite so hot outside. The wind blew up the sand. Watched a good baseball game. The last day for the present Advertizing class. We took the Theory of Light and Shade at the drawing class. Sixteen hundred men came in from the Berlin and Munich P.O.W. camps.

Sun Apr 18, 1943:
A warm wind stirred up the sand making sun bathing a bit difficult. I’m table waller. Geordy and I had a Stalag stew and apple pudding for supper. Today’s cook-house brew was mint tea, a lot stronger than what we were given at Dulag (interrogation camp). Watched a football game in the Rockets compound, then a baseball game in which the French-Canadian clown did some pitching, better than Abbott and Costello.

Mon Apr 19, 1943:
Another warm day. The wind and sand made sunbathing difficult. I ended up the day feeling like I’d been sand-blasted. Parcel Day. Six pm the Simple Simon Symphoniers played in Hut 15A. Had some beer in 15B - 40 pfenning a mugful - tasted like well watered lager. Went over to the Dieppe compound to see a fist fight, when this had finished I listened to the singsong and music at the back of the same compound.

Tue Apr 20, 1943:
Warm but cloudy. Felt very restless. In the afternoon the Military Band played in Hut 17A. After listening to the music I headed for the library, but was stopped at the compound gates for the Germans were going to put us through a photo check. We were paraded outside for this check. It started raining and Joe called it off. Meat and vegetables today. After the usual 5 pm parade we had to parade again for the Lager Officer, who told us that owing to the large number of swap overs we would be confined to our compound for fourteen days. That means no school or library. The Dieppe compound is also locked. Apparently these two compounds contain the most dangerous prisoners. When one of the fellows was trying to break a piece of wood a German came to his rescue and chopped it with his bayonet. No German newspapers have come into the camp since Saturday so we don’t know what’s happening outside. This is Hitler’s birthday. Maybe Berlin was raided.

Wed April 21, 1943:
A hot day. I had my head clipped clean of all the hair. This afternoon we had the photo check. My picture showed me having a beard and long hair standing up straight. The absence of both puzzled the examiner. They took the names of forty suspects including a couple of Pukka bomber crews. In the evening some of the fellows went over the fence into the other compounds. Some swap-overs swapped back, buying their way through the gate with a couple of cigarettes. While peering out through the barbs on the fence I saw Norm McGowan (Initial Training School, Regina and Elementary Flying Training School Sea Island). He is a convalescent repat and has been here since last August.

Thur Apr 22, 1943:
Very windy today, however I managed to get in a little sunbathing. Meat and vegetables, porridge. Some Palestinians came in trading canned goods for smokes. The prices were too high for us - 150 cigarettes for one small tin of lemon curd. As the big ovens are no longer in use the fellows are making a couple of stoves from flattened tins. Klim tin stoves are taboo. Red Cross parcel today.

Fri Apr 23, 1943:
 Good Friday and it promises to be scorching hot. I decided to wash my battledress blouse., It turned out better than I expected. Made some shorts from underwear. We were issued two postcards for this weekend. Ran around the compound. Did some abdominal exercises and dips between the bunks.

Sat Apr 24, 1943:
A hot windy day. The Germans are checking up on the chains again. Since the pipe band couldn’t get into our compound they played for us in the Repat Compound, close to the separating wire fence. Extremely hot in the afternoon. Four of us crawled through the two barbed wire fences into the Repat Compound and from there we went down to the school to see the Art Exhibition. The exhibits are a very high standing. Watercolor, oil, pastel, pencil, pen and ink among the mediums used to depict camp Dieppe, Crete and Grecian scenes. The dreariness of prison life was ably depicted by Cyril Hamersma, the art instructor. The Lambsdorf Melody Makers provided music. Ours next stopping place was the soccer game in the Rockets compound. I caught the seat of my trousers on the wire when getting back into our compound. Our apple pudding was green with mold when we opened it. A thunder storm and a heavy downpour of rain this evening. The boys are swinging tonight on the saxophone, fiddle, guitar and accordion.

Sun Apr 25, 1943:
 Easter - sun shining but a cold wind blowing. I stayed inside and read a book. A good many fellows crawled through the barbed wire to see the rugby matches. A pipe band added color to the matches. A Munich Stalag friend of Eric’s came in and told us about the German people he’d met while on working parties. Apparently free love is the accepted custom among the Germans. An Unterofficer noticed a hole in the fence so he placed a guard by it. The fellows who where outside went to the other part of the wire and queued up to get in. We were notified at the 5 pm parade that anyone seen going through the fence would be shot at. This threat didn’t stop many.

Mon Apr 26, 1943:
It might be a warm day later on. The Germans are mending all the holes in the fence. Very windy in the afternoon. I stayed inside and read. The Fr-Canadian clown gave a boxing exhibition in our washroom. Raining tonight. What a super country!

Tue Apr 27, 1943:
This morning the gates were opened to allow us to visit the Art Exhibition. “The Diepper” by Cyril Hamersma sold for 1250 marks. Meat and vegetable at noon. Red Cross parcels in the afternoon. A tin of porridge in this week’s parcel, changed the bad apple pudding. Porridge from the cookhouse before the 5 pm parade and bread soup after. This was a rain and shine day, just what the Met-man ordered. Played poker in 15B ending up on top. The doors were locked when the game broke so I had to crawl out and in by the washroom windows.

Wed April 28, 1943:
Another rain and shine day. More poker this afternoon up on top again with regards to Red Cross parcels. Tossed the medicine ball round with some French Canadians. Played poker at night again.

Thur April 29, 1943:
The weather was a bit more reasonable today. No meat and vegetables, an issue of fish cheese. Jock Spiers (paratrooper) tried frying his fish cheese. Our new three and four hole stoves were in use tonight. Supper - fried spuds and German sausage. The Fr. Canucks amused every one with their horse and rider contests. Still exercising on my own.

Fri Apr 30, 1943:
Sunny but still not very hot. Apparently the Journalism class is to be altered so I’ll join when we’re free to leave the Compound. The spinach soup would have been better if the sand had been washed out. Red Cross brew at 3 pm and 6:30 pm. I played poker and won a little.

[transcription and transcription annotations have been provided by the collection donor]

Thur Apr 1, 1943:
Raining today, the morning parade was held inside. I went to the library. Not many novels in - drew out Scott’s Talisman. As it was a rainy day I stayed inside and read.

Fri Apr 2, 1943:
After a little rain it cleared up. Strolled round the compound. Read during the afternoon. We still wear our chains outside the hut.

Sat Apr 3, 1943:
Raining again this morning. We went for our fortnightly shower - only a limited time under them. I attended the Drawing class at 12 noon - simple objects with shading. I had my hair brush cut. Our musicians gave us a jam session. A Scot with the 6th Commando gave us a talk on the 2nd Army’s activities in Tunis. For some unknown reason the chains were taken off at 4 pm. The gates remained locked for the remainder of the day.

Sun Apr 4, 1943:
Raining and cold today. I feel the absence of hair on my head. I stayed inside and read. Sent my 2nd letter. Read “Landscape Painting in Pastel” by L.R. Squirrel. Chains taken off to-day at 4 o’clock. These days nobody wears their chains unless an officer is seen coming into the compound. Then there is a mad scramble by everybody to get their chains and snap them on. The guards usually warn us when the officers are expected. If we get caught without the chains, the guards lined us up facing the barb-wired fence, but about a foot away from it. You stood at attention and you could stab your face on the barbs. That only lasted about an hour because the guard had something else to do. Another punishment would be to wrap your wrists around and around with chains and secured with a padlock. These were known as straff chains. If this happened to you, you would go into to the hut and see the fellow, who had a stolen padlock key. He would undo the padlock, then would padlock the ends of the chain together. Your hands would be put into the loop, and twisted around so that it would look as if you were still chained. German Youth celebrations this weekend so we will be locked in at 7 pm thus giving the guards a chance to celebrate. Tonight in 16A a New Zealander lectured on his work with the Long Range Desert Patrol in Libya. No music tonight but Jock Spiers (paratrooper) who sleeps near me amused us with his dry wit.

Mon Apr 5, 1943:
Warm and sunny. Instead of Red Cross parcels we get a bulk issue, one quarter tin of bacon, or one tin for four men and one tin of condensed milk. I am going on my own from now on. Ted Sawkins and I strolled round the camp. “Little Abner” Chiswell (Ont) brought in another art book. Played solitaire, then slept in the sun. I watched the Aussies play their gambling game of Pitch and Toss. The German soldiers training in the nearby fields seem a sloppy lot. On every parade we are amused by a chubby Fr. Canuck.

Tue Apr 6, 1943:
Another hot day. I went to the Advertising class. Washed some clothes. A heavy downpour of rain in the afternoon which stopped at 4:30 pm. This compound was made into a straff block. This happens each month, so the Gerries can have a chain check. They are supposed to be surprise checks, which is really a farce as the guards always warn us in advance so they will not get into trouble, if there are too many chains missing. If the guards make too many mistakes they could be sent to the Russian front and they tell us that, that is hell. Bulk issue - one tin jam, 6 oz. sugar, l tin biscuits. From the cookhouse - stewed apricots and later bread soup.

Wed Apr 7, 1943:
Cold and dry today. Meat and vegetables. Gerry margarine, today’s issue of German jam looked like crushed beets and smelt and tasted like strawberry ice cream. From the library I took out F.J. Mansfield’s “The Complete Journalist”. Our bunks were inspected this afternoon by Joe Unterofficer. Mine and Eric’s didn’t meet his approval, so along with others we had to parade outside with our blankets. We were given a warning. A bit of snow fell during the day. Just after tea about a dozen German officers walked into the barracks to see if we were properly chained. They were greeted with a snapping of chain locks.

Thur Apr 8, 1943:
Very cold this morning. I went to the advertising class. I’m beginning to get the drift of it. More theory of perspective at the Drawing class. Some homework to do for Saturday class. Bulk issue - 1 tin cheese, 1 tin margarine, 1 tin salmon. German rations - mangle soup and fish, cheese which smells very high, but tasted fairly good. Wind, rain and sleet all afternoon, however it warmed up a little in the evening.

Fri Apr 9, 1943:
Cold but sunny this morning, warming up at noon hour. Eric Ramm, Doug Robinson and I went to the library this morning. Our chains stayed behind in the hut. Meat and Vegetable at noon. Snow fell for a couple of hours this afternoon. Bulk issue of porridge at 4 pm. After the 5 pm parade the weather became very mild and warm. Robinson and I had to carry the hut’s supply of chains back to the storage room. Practiced perspective drawing exercises before going to bed.

Sat Apr 10, 1943:
A bit warmer today but still cloudy with occasional showers. Rumours still going round about the fall of Tunis. I attended the Advertising class. A new course will start soon leading up to the Advertising Association’s Intermediate exam. More perspective at the drawing class. Bulk issue - l bar soap, 1 tin Cornish pie (a mixture of meat, onions, etc). I read all afternoon. Had some of the Cornish pie for supper. After tea there was beer on sale in the hut - l mark per mug.

Sun Apr 11, 1943:
Cloudy but not raining. No bulk issue today. German sauerkraut soup, margarine and bread, also some smoked meat in the form of a huge sausage. I played solitaire in the morning. As it was raining in the afternoon I stayed in and read a book. Cornish pie again for supper. Went into 16A to hear another lecture on “The Long Range Desert Patrol” by Bluey Grimsey (N.S.)

Mon Apr 12, 1943:
No rain today. I read a book in the morning. Eric and I had a look at an Advertising book in the reference library. At 2 pm we went for Red Cross parcels. It’s my parcel today. Geordy Davidson keeps the Thursday parcel. Today’s parcel quite good - margarine, cheese, fish spread, chocolate, biscuits a packet of butterscotch, bramble jelly, tomato juice, bacon and meat roll. Hank Campbell is doing a surrealist painting entitled, “A man in evening dress playing an accordion in a fish shop": It is causing quite a bit of comment. After the 5 pm parade we went to the camp theatre to see the R.A.F. Variety show. “Out of the Blue” - quite good.

Tue Apr 13, 1943:
A fine sunny day. I went to the school and enrolled in the new Advertising course. Sat outside and received a bit of sunburn. Frank Gartland’s New Zealand Army friend brought my death’s head ring back. I bought a German pipe from him for 1 mark forty and 20 fags. Some of the fellows melt down silver paper from fag packets and make trinkets.

Wed Apr 14, 1943:
Another hot day. I did some reading and sunbathing. Everyone took advantage of the weather. Meat and vegetables today. In the evening I watched the English, New Zealand and Welsh rugby trials - the two N.Z. teams gave the best display. After this I watched some Palestinian Jews play a game which seemed to consist of walloping one selected man. A large body of German soldiers marched by singing. I wonder if they are as happy as they make out to be, considering Tunis.

Thur Apr 15, 1943:
Clear and hot. The school building was being deloused so we couldn’t attend. We had our fortnightly shower. I lay out in the sun all afternoon watching the rugby. At the 5 pm parade we were warned not to make off with any German women. How could we with all the barbed wire and machine gun posts around us. Fish cheese today. After lights out at 10 pm a dog barked and a Verey light went up and we heard a long burst of machine gun fire.

Fri Apr 16, 1943:
Up early. Ted Sawkins and I ran round the compound. Fish cheese for breakfast. The smell of it nearly emptied the barrack. Spring cleaning today. I borrowed a pencil drawing test book from Doug Brown (Kings Royal Rifles). I lay in the sun - very hot. After supper I watched a baseball game, then a football game and ended up by going over to the Dieppe Compound where some fellows were tossing the shot and others were doing some balancing.

Sat Apr 17, 1943:
 Not quite so hot outside. The wind blew up the sand. Watched a good baseball game. The last day for the present Advertizing class. We took the Theory of Light and Shade at the drawing class. Sixteen hundred men came in from the Berlin and Munich P.O.W. camps.

Sun Apr 18, 1943:
A warm wind stirred up the sand making sun bathing a bit difficult. I’m table waller. Geordy and I had a Stalag stew and apple pudding for supper. Today’s cook-house brew was mint tea, a lot stronger than what we were given at Dulag (interrogation camp). Watched a football game in the Rockets compound, then a baseball game in which the French-Canadian clown did some pitching, better than Abbott and Costello.

Mon Apr 19, 1943:
Another warm day. The wind and sand made sunbathing difficult. I ended up the day feeling like I’d been sand-blasted. Parcel Day. Six pm the Simple Simon Symphoniers played in Hut 15A. Had some beer in 15B - 40 pfenning a mugful - tasted like well watered lager. Went over to the Dieppe compound to see a fist fight, when this had finished I listened to the singsong and music at the back of the same compound.

Tue Apr 20, 1943:
Warm but cloudy. Felt very restless. In the afternoon the Military Band played in Hut 17A. After listening to the music I headed for the library, but was stopped at the compound gates for the Germans were going to put us through a photo check. We were paraded outside for this check. It started raining and Joe called it off. Meat and vegetables today. After the usual 5 pm parade we had to parade again for the Lager Officer, who told us that owing to the large number of swap overs we would be confined to our compound for fourteen days. That means no school or library. The Dieppe compound is also locked. Apparently these two compounds contain the most dangerous prisoners. When one of the fellows was trying to break a piece of wood a German came to his rescue and chopped it with his bayonet. No German newspapers have come into the camp since Saturday so we don’t know what’s happening outside. This is Hitler’s birthday. Maybe Berlin was raided.

Wed April 21, 1943:
A hot day. I had my head clipped clean of all the hair. This afternoon we had the photo check. My picture showed me having a beard and long hair standing up straight. The absence of both puzzled the examiner. They took the names of forty suspects including a couple of Pukka bomber crews. In the evening some of the fellows went over the fence into the other compounds. Some swap-overs swapped back, buying their way through the gate with a couple of cigarettes. While peering out through the barbs on the fence I saw Norm McGowan (Initial Training School, Regina and Elementary Flying Training School Sea Island). He is a convalescent repat and has been here since last August.

Thur Apr 22, 1943:
Very windy today, however I managed to get in a little sunbathing. Meat and vegetables, porridge. Some Palestinians came in trading canned goods for smokes. The prices were too high for us - 150 cigarettes for one small tin of lemon curd. As the big ovens are no longer in use the fellows are making a couple of stoves from flattened tins. Klim tin stoves are taboo. Red Cross parcel today.

Fri Apr 23, 1943:
 Good Friday and it promises to be scorching hot. I decided to wash my battledress blouse., It turned out better than I expected. Made some shorts from underwear. We were issued two postcards for this weekend. Ran around the compound. Did some abdominal exercises and dips between the bunks.

Sat Apr 24, 1943:
A hot windy day. The Germans are checking up on the chains again. Since the pipe band couldn’t get into our compound they played for us in the Repat Compound, close to the separating wire fence. Extremely hot in the afternoon. Four of us crawled through the two barbed wire fences into the Repat Compound and from there we went down to the school to see the Art Exhibition. The exhibits are a very high standing. Watercolor, oil, pastel, pencil, pen and ink among the mediums used to depict camp Dieppe, Crete and Grecian scenes. The dreariness of prison life was ably depicted by Cyril Hamersma, the art instructor. The Lambsdorf Melody Makers provided music. Ours next stopping place was the soccer game in the Rockets compound. I caught the seat of my trousers on the wire when getting back into our compound. Our apple pudding was green with mold when we opened it. A thunder storm and a heavy downpour of rain this evening. The boys are swinging tonight on the saxophone, fiddle, guitar and accordion.

Sun Apr 25, 1943:
 Easter - sun shining but a cold wind blowing. I stayed inside and read a book. A good many fellows crawled through the barbed wire to see the rugby matches. A pipe band added color to the matches. A Munich Stalag friend of Eric’s came in and told us about the German people he’d met while on working parties. Apparently free love is the accepted custom among the Germans. An Unterofficer noticed a hole in the fence so he placed a guard by it. The fellows who where outside went to the other part of the wire and queued up to get in. We were notified at the 5 pm parade that anyone seen going through the fence would be shot at. This threat didn’t stop many.

Mon Apr 26, 1943:
It might be a warm day later on. The Germans are mending all the holes in the fence. Very windy in the afternoon. I stayed inside and read. The Fr-Canadian clown gave a boxing exhibition in our washroom. Raining tonight. What a super country!

Tue Apr 27, 1943:
This morning the gates were opened to allow us to visit the Art Exhibition. “The Diepper” by Cyril Hamersma sold for 1250 marks. Meat and vegetable at noon. Red Cross parcels in the afternoon. A tin of porridge in this week’s parcel, changed the bad apple pudding. Porridge from the cookhouse before the 5 pm parade and bread soup after. This was a rain and shine day, just what the Met-man ordered. Played poker in 15B ending up on top. The doors were locked when the game broke so I had to crawl out and in by the washroom windows.

Wed April 28, 1943:
Another rain and shine day. More poker this afternoon up on top again with regards to Red Cross parcels. Tossed the medicine ball round with some French Canadians. Played poker at night again.

Thur April 29, 1943:
The weather was a bit more reasonable today. No meat and vegetables, an issue of fish cheese. Jock Spiers (paratrooper) tried frying his fish cheese. Our new three and four hole stoves were in use tonight. Supper - fried spuds and German sausage. The Fr. Canucks amused every one with their horse and rider contests. Still exercising on my own.

Fri Apr 30, 1943:
Sunny but still not very hot. Apparently the Journalism class is to be altered so I’ll join when we’re free to leave the Compound. The spinach soup would have been better if the sand had been washed out. Red Cross brew at 3 pm and 6:30 pm. I played poker and won a little.