30 Jul 1944, Diary of George Gerrard in Stanley Internment Camp Hong Kong

I have been very fortunate and lucky this week in receiving loving and glorious letters from you for on Monday 24th July I received your two letters from Montreal when you were on your way home dated 23rd August 1942 and 6th September 1942, both of which were splendid and I am very grateful for them even tho' they were nearly 2 years old. Then on Thursday 27th July I received three more letters from you of more recent dates namely 24th April 1943, 12th July 1943 and 1st August 1943, so five letters in one week is jolly good going and for all your goodness in writing to me every week is bearing fruit and I am reaping the benefits and so Dearest my grateful thanks to you. I am so glad you keep well and that you like your job in Inverness and I trust you will be very happy in it and so help to pass the days until we meet again.

The news continues to be good and our prospects are bright, both in the west and out east. Rumours of course are continuing to be wild but what we receive in the newspaper is good and then we are allowed to receive a Chinese paper which when translated gives us much more information as to what is going on. I give the finishing date about the end of this year, but nevertheless the collapse may come sooner.

Yesterday we received 12.50 Yen being our monthly allowance which owing to the high cost of things will hardly buy us cigarettes that is, four packets a week. This is the first allowance for nearly two months and only half of what we should get.

The weather has now improved being drier and warmer. There is to be a change in administration of the camp the old gang probably having made their pile not only in trading but in doing us out of our legitimate rations which have been fairly foul lately and we therefore hope that the new regime will effect a  considerable improvement in everything both food and conditions, we'll see. There is to be a full roll call of the camp tomorrow morning. The new commandant is said to be coming from Sham Shui Po and is named Col Takenada.