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[Page 13]
-12-
On the 13th, when taking tea with Miss Marj. Beettee, who was a member of the Paddington Borough Council, Cecil came with the good news that he was appointed temporary Instructor, and would remain in England for some time yet. During that week there was a continuous fog. Ron came to town but we were unable to keep dinner engagements because of it.
On the 21st I revived acquaintance with Miss Doris Carter (of Melbourne) at her home in Maida Vale, and listened again to her delightful singing after her seven years in England.
On the 22nd Ron came home on Christmas leave. We had tea with Mrs Henriques (Mrs Eggleston's Mother) at the Craven Gardens Hotel, and met several Australians from whom we had a stirring account of experiences with the Light Horse in Egypt. These included the burning of an unsavoury portion of the town, which, though "agin the law" the men took upon themselves, and with considerable satisfaction claimed for the good of their comrades to have eradicated a pestilence.
PART 4.
It was a great joy to have Ron for Christmas week, and I felt then that whatever the future held, this was well worth while.
On Christmas morning, I visited the A.I.F. War Chest Club, and the Anzac Buffet, to see the preparations for our men's entertainment. Later in the day Colonel Reay at the latter was busily directing, and, in relays, the workers there entertained hundreds of men at mid-day dinner. At the Hotel Cecil, at one o'clock, 1,400 soldiers were the guests of our Government, our High Commissioner presiding. The tables were decorated with wattle that had come from the South of France, and Military rule that day did not prevent their wearing a decorative spray in their tunics. At 4 o'clock Ron and I accepted an invitation to tea at the Hon Mrs Henry