p.

4.

irritates me & infuriates me. I suppose most people
would do, anyway - but Hahn, Kalk & Arkin are the
pink limit. It is a pity about Kalk, because I made
him an officer myself - but he was a good steady
N.C.O. & did his duty & being a solicitor in S. Africa
is well educated. But he seems quite unable to carry
a commission & has just become silly & far
too pleased with himself. Perhaps he will improve. But,
in addition, he is extremely boring & just has not
a word to say for himself - just into there trying
to look important. Arkin is too darned clumsy &
does not seem able to help it. The complete little
Jew, & very shy. In addition, he cannot pronounce
'Th' & so talks about "dey told me to come
& do de ding anodder day" which is rather
infuriating. But Hahn is the queen of them all -
he's such a silly looking idiot & so damned wet. And
the trouble is, he has now reached the stage
where he is downright terrified of me. I have done
my best to help the man & be decent &
kind to him - & then he goes & does same damn
silly thing again & I lose my temper & shout at
him & there we are again. He is quite a problem.
The trouble with most of these people is that they
got their commissions far too easily - & no matter
how much I shit on them, they are still very
pleased with themselves to be officers - & no amount
of rocketing, & extra duties & stopping of leave
seems to make them come down to earth.