all that. The majority of chaps over here are quite bucked about it all, but a lot depends on the mental attitude one has adopted towards this question of exchange and even though negotiations are not in progress at present, I see no reason why they should not be resumed at any time particularly as there appears to be quite a number of women and children from other camps too to be repatriated, and I feel pretty sure that should an exchange be arranged the women and children from this camp will be included. For my own part while always retaining a slight hope that an exchange might take place before the end of the war, for a long time now I have no concrete hopes in that direction and I had adopted a mental attitude accordingly and as far as I can see the end of the war is in sight “ so what the hell boys”, Excuse my French! I know it’s frightfully hard particularly for you women who are unattached and have children, the children themselves are such a serious problem, but it is not a bit of use worrying and making oneself ill. Women at home and all the world over are playing their part in this war, playing it nobly and splendidly so don’t you think it is up to us to play our part too? You’ve done it so well up until now, don’t give in, let us continue to play it, we can’t do very much I admit. But we can keep cheery in spite of the odds and help ourselves by helping each other and show these people here that we can take it with a grin, don’t you agree? If that is the part that we are fated to play, lets play it well. I too have a wife and two kiddies at home in England but I can’t do them a bit of good by worrying about them and making myself ill, and don’t forget they are everything in the world to me, but I can help them far more by doing my best to help others and by forgetting my own cares and worries. Life is a funny business but it seems to work out right in the long run. When I was Chief Officer on the East Coast of England in 1941 I was running between Hartlepool & London; it was just one continual nightmare at sea and in port and at that time it was the most dangerous stretch of coast in the world. Air raids in Hartlepool, our minds in London, mines torpedoes and air bombing at sea; home for a few days with my wife and kiddies in South Wales, more air raids and bombs. Very often when I came home in the middle of one I would find the two babes tucked away under the staircase sleeping soundly. We had no air raid shelter, guns would be blazing away, flames circling over head, bombs dropping, searchlights and flares lighting up the sky, things were pretty grim in those days. I was lucky to keep afloat for a good spell, until one night my ship caught one too. It was bound to get it sooner or later, law of averages; I was the only surviving officer, jolly lucky to be picked up on a pitch black night in the winter in the North Sea. I had a spell in hospital then home for a while and then back to sea again. It was hell for my wife, poor kid and I guess she’s been through a pretty tough time these past two years. To them and all our folks we have to keep smiling; the end’s in sight now and all this bloody courage will soon be over and so Mrs Charnaud it’s up to us to do our bit and keep smiling, the folks at home will do theirs and now I’m afraid I must leave you with my apologies for this rather long rambling letter and sincerely hope you will be your old cheery self again soon. Yours very sincerely, David Millar” So as the New Year of 1945 approached, we knew that we would be in for a hard time, with all the shortages in the country, but we felt happy that at least that we would get a steady supply of parcels, as we were not to know yet of the loss of the Red Cross ship. We knew that Germany following the D Day landings was almost finished with the Russians on the Eastern Front sweeping all before them, and the British and Americans crushing them in France which had now been liberated. In the Pacific the war was now being brought with Air and Sea Power directly to the Japanese Mainland with such a force and determination that we knew things would soon in 1945 come to a climax.
