04 Feb 1943, John Charter's wartime journal

Our Second Wedding Anniversary! And both spent in prison camp! Oh well, it is somewhat unique, though not quite what we would choose. Not so unique, however, as being married in a prisoner of war camp – and people still go on getting themselves engaged and married here. I don’t know if I have recorded the fact that Robert Minute and Peggy Sharpe have become engaged: entirely a camp romance. Also, we have heard (from a letter someone received through the IRC) that John Theobald (one of the ushers at our wedding) has got himself either engaged or married to an Admiral’s daughter. Good old Theo, he would.

This morning Yvonne arose and fried some bacon for breakfast as it was a special occasion.  We now have one tin left. It was very good too. When I got up, I found at the end of my bed a beautiful pair of bedroom slippers that Y had made me, bless her. We have had our kahki IRC cardigans transformed into trousers, and the slippers were made from pieces left over and they are beautifully warm - just the thing for this cold weather. The soles have a piece of old blanket on the bottom, then a waterproof  layer from an old punctured hot water bottle, then 3 layers of this woollen kahki material.  I shall wear them a lot and am ever so pleased with them. Y rather stole a march on me and I had nothing to give her. However, I am in the middle of making an electric hot plate at the moment which will greatly add to our material comfort and convenience if it is a success. Y knows all about that, though.

Last night the Corra’s invited us to a wedding anniversary eve dinner. They are a kind pair – any excuse for a binge! We had some of this raisin wine with olives and gherkins (sent in from town), some lovely black mushroom soup, then a delicious stew made with corned beef, onions, peas, and other things of a spicy nature, and bread with it; followed by a blancmange with condensed milk and broken peanuts, rounded off with coffee and cigarettes. I felt so comfortably full after it. Then we played bridge until 10.00 p.m., at which hour we had to return to our own room – one of the camp regulations. Christine had painted a lovely wedding anniversary card.

This morning many people wished us ‘Many Happier Returns’. Mrs Pentreath came with a very nice anniversary card which shows Y and me in a yacht, Y at the tiller with me up the mast indicating land ahead with a large V sign erected. The past years and months are swirling behind in the sea with Feb 4th just ahead and underneath the caption ‘Land in Sight’. But I will stick it in.

Yvonne had made an excellent cake with a kind of caramel marshmallow icing. It was a cake with an exciting history – nearly ruined several times over, but it turned out a great success. So this morning we boiled some coffee and a few of our friends came along to cake and coffee at 10.00 a.m. They were Maudie, Mrs Johnston, Mrs Corra, Winnie Deane and Anne Muir. We had not asked many people, (Buckie for instance) as it is so difficult to arrange large parties, one simply has not the where with all to give them. Christine was teaching and could not come so we sent her a slice of cake. This evening Maudie has asked us to have dinner with her which is grand. I am taking a special bottle of wine with us.

Mrs Johnson has been most extremely kind to us. Yvonne had made herself a very smart pair of khaki slacks out of her four cardigans, and then completed the suit with a snappy little waist-coat from the fifth cardigan she had drawn in the block ‘lucky draw’ for the remaining 120 or so. She had then intended to embark upon a pair of trousers for me, with my four cardigans. These cardigans are all very wide and are made in one piece, seamed up one side only. Consequently when they are unpicked you can cut from them a rectangular piece measuring from about 20” x 40” to 24” x 48”, according to the size of the cardigan. So from 4 of these one can make excellent trousers. They are beautifully warm too. They have proved one of the most useful articles of clothing that came into the camps. It really is quite extraordinary, when one comes to think of it, how many women are wearing trousers – practically all, save the very fat ones, and even some of them! I suppose there aren’t really many fat ones at all. I should say 90% of the people in camp now wear trousers.

Well, Maudie asked Mrs Johnson, who is excellent at dressmaking, if she would help Yvonne to cut out my trousers and Mrs Johnson promptly said she would make them! Mine was the 9th pair she had made! And up till then she had refused to make any for men with wives in camp, so we felt very honoured. I hear she has now cut out her 18th pair! She said Maudie had been so kind to her that she was glad to do something in return, and as she couldn’t make them for her she would make them for me. So I cash in on this. Mrs Johnson finished them in about 4 days and they are awfully well done.