23 Feb 1945, John Charter's wartime journal

There has been a good deal of shipping activity of late: a convoy of five merchantmen and two destroyers crept out two or three evenings ago and early next morning two of the same ships (easily identified by peculiarities in their superstructure) came creeping back again. Later that day (evening) a third ship, which may or may not have been in the convoy, stole in and crept into Tytam Bay where she took shelter for the night. A most unusual procedure. She sailed out again the next morning. In spite of the very low clouds, which shroud the hill tops, there have been an unusual number of Jap planes about of late, so it seems as though something is afoot nearby. If only the weather would clear.

Well, the Americans have landed in the Bonines – Iwajima – only about 600 miles from Japan! The American fleet (or fleets) must be simply enormous if they can afford to cruise around like that in Japanese waters so far from their own bases and must, one surmises, consist, to a large extent, of aircraft carriers, for they seem to have complete air superiority. Does all this mean that they are going straight for the Japanese islands and are not going to bother invading the China continent? If so it probably means that the war out here will end sooner which will be a good thing, though it also means we shall probably be here much longer. Still, if some decent food arrives for us we shall be able to face longer internment with greater equanimity.

We hear, however, that 30,000 American troops with a tank corps have recently arrived at Kunming whence the Chinese chief-of-staff moved a little while ago from Chungking, so it looks as though full use is now being made of the re-opened Burma Road and the Chinese and Americans are preparing for a drive to the coast. If it is in our direction and if their attack coincides with a landing here and the two forces link up, the Japanese forces in the Malay Peninsula, Burma and Indo China will be completely cut off. If only I could wave the next two or three months by with a magic wand. Still, I remember thinking that when I first came here!