19 Nov 1944, Diary of George Gerrard in Stanley Internment Camp Hong Kong

Still in hospital and not doing as well as I had hoped. My waterworks have gone back on me with the passing of urine like red hot needles in other words there is a lot of albumen in my urine and so I have been put on to streptocide again every four hours night and day. This streptocide or sulphathiozole is the cure for many ills but leaving one very muzzy, palpitation, funny in the tummy and the head like as if trains were passing through' and shutters being pulled down. The Professor has not yet snipped the tag off my bottom, but I hope I'll be all right soon and get out of hospital by say the end of this month.

Nimitz and Fraser may be here very soon so I'll have to be ready, in any case I want to be back to my job in the Block. Conditions are very bad in the camp with the water supply being off for two days and only on for one day, no electric light, salt sprats, poor vegetables everyone undernourished and suffering from malnutrition, the place is swarming with flies and mosquitoes.

My weight last Friday was 142 lbs. The milk powder from the Canadian Red Cross parcels and egg yolk from the Canadians are life savers. Canteen prices are terribly high with egg yolk 5.50 Yen per 1/2lb, wong tong 6.35 Yen per 1/2lb, salt bran etc. also very high.

It is generally speaking a sad state of affairs and if Japan thinks they are still a first rate power the Lord help them, they are now losing their captured territory bit by bit and we hope it will be our turn to be relieved very soon.