Well, it's "so long" everybody. I am off for the summer, leaving haldav in charge of my diary. I should be back by October and meanwhile it's "Adieu. tot siens, auf viedersehen, addio and a special 'adios amigo'"
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Wednesday, 26th July 1944

We now had to take our mid day meal on the move, unless the flying squad had caught up with the R.A.P. by then, in which case we took over from them while they moved on. This meant that some casualties were spared the discomfort of at least one stage of evacuation. Cooperation between RAP & CCP was now direct, or via Don R, as both were too mobile to communicate via an intermediary, such as Brigade or Division.

Thursday, 26th July 1945

We found we had been “reinforced” with troops of the Eighth Army from Italy. Why do we need reinforcements? I had an easy job and, apart from maintaining morale, which was now satisfactory, there was no work for the rest of the company to do.

Monday, 28th July 1941

In June, 1940, the University summer vacation had been abolished for the duration, so it was now the start of the second term of the academic year. My elder brother, now a practicing solicitor, had given up his practice to become a private (#3660881) in one of the local regiments. I was in a reserved occupation. He was not. Working in the Emergency Medical Service during air raids was not enough for me; I tried to enlist inthe R.A.F. but was turned down.

Friday, 28th July 1944

Much the same as yesterday, but this time there was a German among the casualties. He glared when I took the cigarette out of his mouth to light the “fuse” on a self heating tin of soup before returning the fag to his mouth. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when the soup started to boil but he calmed down while eating it.

Saturday, 28th July 1945

Now we had finished our job, both there and in Schloss Rohlstorf, the divisional strength was lower and most of the men replaced, rather than reinforced. Those who were not replaced were going nevertheless and the whole unit was now small enough to fit in Schloss Rohlstorf. I tidied up the office, retrieved my few personal possessions, including my mug, which “Tommy” Atkins had appropriated on leaving Schwerin with the main body, claiming to think I had left it behind. I accepted his apology and packed up. However, there was no way I could return the stein to its owners, so I kept it.

Sunday, 30th July 1944

The landings were now complete, except for the last few who would land the next day. The remainder of the last wave had come ashore in a civilized manner, at Cherbourg. One American commentator had said "Up those beaches came a million men and Dinah Shore". This day was the new start date of Operation “Bluecoat”, a manoeuvre to hold the junction between the two armies, keeping the enemy busy at the “hinge” while the door shut on the trap, so as to envelope the Germans. Because of rapid developments, the operation date had been advanced by two days. For a change, our armoured support was the 6th Guards Tank Brigade in their Churchill tanks, with which I was familiar, having spent one evening in Kent as a tank commander and a whole month in Scotland as troop commander with the newly mechanised East Lancashire Regiment. I had never been trained with Churchills before, but a comrade who had had added my name to his on a list of men with Churchill experience.

Monday, 30th July 1945

We all entrained here for Osnabruck barracks, where we had lunch, then again for Belgium, to take trucks to a transit camp, where we had nothing to do but count blankets. Nobody had any idea where we were to go from here, or why.

Tuesday, 30th July 1946

It must have been about this date that I returned to 27 General Hospital, Tel-el-Kebir, carrying with me the remains of a baby girl's first birthday cake. I had known Jack, the baby's father, for a long time; we had been at the same medical school and he had married one of a pair of twins with whom I had been friendly. Now he was an M.O. in this unit.

Thursday, 1st August,1940

On this day I had my first official session in surgical theatre. Like most medical students, I had sneaked a few unofficial sessions when there had ben no work for me in the dissecting room, but this time I was assisting Mr. Nuttall at a list of procedures which included that of excising all those enchondromata, with a separate incision for each involved knuckle joint.

Tuesday, 1st August 1944

Now we were moving southwards, and Operation Bluecoat was in full swing. There were plenty of incidents during the move, but B Coy itself suffered little of the resultant harassment apart from the extra work. This day was Minden Day and the K.O.S.B. men were wearing roses in their Tam O’Shanters as they marched into the attack.

Wednesday, 1st August 1945

There was still no move, but the cook had a radio set which brought us the latest news. In the Pacific, the Americans had captured some of the smaller Japanese home islands. The Japanese were using their last weapon - kamikaze - the final refuge of the physically and morally bankrupt military service.

Meanwhile, nobody seemed to know why we had left Germany, or we were not party to the secret !

The cat is scratching at the bag strings and it is time to let him out.
Until now, Bundi has been the British soldier and Haldav the Israeli doctor, but some folk have tumbled to it that Bundi is also a doctor.
Well, to clear up the confusion, I must now admit to being both, and give my alter ego a rest.

Wednesday, 2nd August 1944

XXX Corps commander, Gerard Bucknall was relieved of command. B Coy was still creeping forward, just behind, or level with, the R.A.P’s, and keeping busy, moving, setting up, working and repacking for the next move. There was certainly no time for reading or writing, and my Penguin library, destroyed during the retirement from Hill 112, had not been replaced.