False alarms

Monday, February 7th., Comarques, Thorpe-le-Soken.

I was out walking for four hours this morning and into the afternoon. An absolutely glorious day. Very cold but clear pale-blue sky, not much wind, and enough warmth in the sun on my back to make me remember summer. I am so glad that January is over. I feel able to make a start on planning out my year ahead. The ground was frozen when I set off walking but got softer as the day warmed and I ended up with a great burden of mud on my boots. Got home tired but happy and settled down more or less straight away for a nap. Legs aching when I woke up but I felt at peace with the world. It won't last.

Thorpe-le-Soken station

Great excitement last Saturday night about two men who, challenged by the sentry of the ammunition park near the station at 7.15 pm, had run away. Ammunition of all the district is kept there, including 300,000 rounds of rifle, etc. The 'marauders' vanished, though pursued. Clacton was called up by telephone and kept up most of the night. Officers were called from dinner. The missing men were supposed to correspond with two escaped Germans interned from Dorset. The one best seen apparently had a rope and walked noiselessly - hence rubber shoes! Why? etc. etc. No capture yesterday either. The funniest thing is that one of the guard, or perhaps it was the sentry himself, says that they must be German because when challenged one of them distinctly called out "VON"!


This is indicative of the prevailing atmosphere of low-level hysteria and for my money has little or no basis in fact. The German 'invasion' seems to have gripped the public imagination. If I were of German extraction, or had a German sounding name, I would worry about  my safety. Strange business this war. For most of us it seems nearly unreal, and yet crucially important. Out in the countryside as I was this morning it is easy to forget that it is happening at all.