| Summary: | This eighth volume deals with a different kind of diary than the first four volumes in the series, which together constituted a serialised version of Howard’s life story in four parts. The current volume is similar in some ways to volumes 5 to 7. The diaries those volumes transcribed were more of a traditional daily diary, with day by day observations on current events, the weather, the fishery, births, marriages and deaths, and normal and unusual occurrences. But they also included some reminiscences of Howard’s earlier life. In view of the timing of those diaries, they also covered in two parts the momentous days of WWII. Needless to say much of the information conveyed pertained to the progress of the war from the perspective of a Newfoundlander with two sons overseas, one in the Royal Navy and the other in the Royal Artillery. It goes without saying, therefore, that those accounts were not given from an unbiased perspective. Now in the eighth volume we see Howard following the same methodology, but his subject matter is now the lean period which immediately followed WWII. Each entry follows in strict chronological order the one previous, and it is not necessary to attempt to discern in which year the events of those entries unfolded. The diary of which this volume represents a strict transcript covered the days and months between August 1947 and January 1948, a much briefer period than previous diaries, but containing even more poignant personal events during this brief period. There was one period between the end of August and mid-September 1947 when Howard failed to record the events of the day. Howard implies that there was little of note to report in this fortnight. But in reality he was going through some personal emotional turmoil at this time concerning the impending departure of his son Reg, upon whom he had based his hopes for his and his wife’s “golden years”. My suspicion is that this had more to do with some omissions from the diary at this sensitive time. The reader can form their own opinion in ...
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