p.

7.

shaky start with me, he has been working very well
indeed & is really a much better C.S.M. than Jack.
Finally, I gave Kiley a big rocket & made him apologize to
Arkin. I then had all the subalterns up & lectured them
in a firm but fatherly way, on the folly of very junior
officers getting bossy & tough with senior N.C.O.s with about
12 years service behind them - & that if they found such a
person in a bad temper, it is always better to keep out of
his way. It is ridiculous really, & I had the same thing once
before, when Moscovitz, having been commissioned about 3
weeks, tried to order Hemmings about. Hemmings told
him where to get off. Moscovitz [reviled?] him in
front of me & wanted to charge him, which I flatly
refused to do.

I went to a dance in the R.A.F. Mess on Thursday, much
against my will - but it was difficult to evade as I had
refused two previous invitations to concerts. This time
the squadron leader came to see me & ask me
himself. 25 sisters had been imported for the occasion,
from the various army hospitals. I had firmly decided
before going that I was not going to dance & when
I saw the sisters, my mind was doubly made up.
What a collection! God knows how they had the cheek
to come at all - dreadful bland looking creatures, with
powder & lipstick blotched all over their faces. I really
do think it is strange, the way these sisters rank
as officers. And they are now allowed to wear pips
& a matron w crowns. I spent 1-1/2 hours at the bar
& then came home to bed.

Having just come to the end of another quarter.
This has been a big account week. I have