Richard Brown makes a typically perceptive observation in his diary:
I should have recorded last time that the submarine Oxley was destroyed by an internal explosion, they said. A big boat, 1,380/1,850 tons, and not much about it in the papers. We weren’t told how it happened either; perhaps we’ll know afterwards.”
See 10th September 1939, Sinking of HMS Oxley.
Earlier in the war: More losses to Mines, Increasing Russian-Finnish tension
Later in the war: Hitler rejects ‘infantile’ complaint about Polish repression
Old King Cole was hollow cheeked and was beginning to look drudged with weariness. His moustache was droopy and his eyes were red. He had two septic places on his face and, every now and then his right eye twitched uncontrollably. He was unshaven and gaunt. From his dusty boots to his battered hat he was taking on the colour of the desert.
What really worries me is the way my body’s in open revolt. For weeks past I’ve fought the increasing Dog pain, and, in the last few days, its utter lifelessness; but this morning I’ve been vomiting without success in the ruins of a stone house behind my Spitfire, vomiting into my oxygen mask while flying over the harbour, and repeatedly leaving this tent after coming down on the ground again.
A troop of heavy artillery pieces were attacked by German tanks which closed in under the range of the guns. The men stood to attention by their pieces after the guns were spiked and awaited capture. They were shot to a man. The only men who escaped were the ammunition files some distance behind the guns. Whether this deed was committed out of sheer savagery or because of the inability to take prisoners no one knows.
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