A Wartime Log kept by Lt Douglas at Oflag VA

“A Wartime Log” (No. 2) – book of Lt Ian Douglas when POW

Hard cover book in khaki cloth, 18 cm by 24.2 cm and 2 cm thick. Cover has red maple leaf in centre and below “A WARTIME LOG”. Inside a Frontispiece page with “A Wartime Log, A remembrance from home though the Canadian Y.M.C.A.” in green type surrounded by a red border. This is the second Wartime Log book kept by Lt. Douglas and has few entries, relating mostly to 1945.

On the pages in the book:

  1. Frontispiece: A red maple leaf above “This book belongs to” in red type and on dotted lines below, in ink “Lieut J.I. Douglas. Canadian Army Overseas.” with the YMCA triangle and letters below in red and green.
  2. Following page is Contents. Left blank
  3. Following page has 8 red maple leaves across the top with the page number 1 in their centre. Below in blue ink is a poem written by Douglas to his wife, entitled “”A Note from You”. Pages 2 and 3, written in blue ink is “Lincoln Speaks at Gettysburg” with the entire speech.
  4. Page 6 in black ink “”Tuck” 21 with four names of the cooks (Herbert Haroud Tucker, Binn Cook, Casey Corbett, Ian Douglas) for a menu, on 21 January1945 (marking the 21st birthday of Herbert Haroud Tucker and below naming Casey Corbett (of the 48th Highlanders) as chief cook. Loose between pages is the Happy Birthday Menu on a rectangular card.
  5. Pages 20 to 33 is a treatise on Heraldry in pencil with drawings of heraldic symbols and their meaning. The last two pages have their drawings in watercolour. Between the pages is a shield form cut our from a Sweet Corporal cigarette package, used as a template for drawing heraldry shields.
  6. Pages 73 to 76 (the first beige pages following the central pages in olive/brown) in ink “Drinks” heading and an alphabetical listing of Liqueurs with definitions, then Cups, Fixes, Fizzes, Etc… and their definitions.
  7. Pages 142 to 148, in ink, are recipes and meal menus.
  8. On last page, unnumbered, are body fitness measurements in pencil of Lt Douglas for the dates 26.2.45 and 20.1.46
  9. At the back cover are: 2 loose rectangular pieces of blotting paper and a brown paper sleeve affixed to the inside of the cover with a loose, cut-out red cross inside the sleeve.
    1. Originally with the book and placed now in a separate envelope:
      1. Three Postkarte, blank; 2. One Kriegsgefangenenpost letter, blank; 3. Two Form letters from War Prisoners’ Aid of the YMCA that came with the War Time Log book with suggestions re use; 4. Three letters written by Douglas (2 drafts and one final) to The Officer Commanding Bungalow 35 re Orderly Officer Duties; 5. Three B&W snapshots of Phyllis skiing in 42/43; 6. Two Red Cross stickers, one torn in half)

The log and its contents are available only to Museum staff for research re Lt Douglas’ location or activities. Other researchers require the Curator’s permission and exclude any publication or article about POW experiences. These are only available with permission of Lt Douglas’ daughters and the Museum curator’s concurrence. 

Classification
Memorabilia
Era
1939 – 1945 (WW 2)
Location of artifact
Box, Research Room Shelf

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