8 Dec. 1941
December 8, 1941
What a morning! At dawn, half-asleep in my hotel room, I hear the voice of Mrs Smith, my neighbor, and make out the words “Japan”
Paul Esmérian
(1912-1969). Former French officer.
9 Dec. 1941
December 9, 1941
First night-time alert! Complete blackout. Hotel gloomy, you can’t see a thing, people bump into each other on the veranda and sit on chairs already
10 Dec. 1941
December 10, 1941
Yesterday evening in her garden with a Frenchwoman, Mademoiselle V., very nice. Calm evening, she gives me her impressions of the war in France, at
24 Dec. 1941
December 24, 1941
At six o’clock at the tailor’s, waiting for my new suit to be finished. The sirens sound a good five minutes after we hear the
26 Dec. 1941
December 26, 1941
The air raid alert yesterday morning — Christmas Day — took me by surprise as I was riding in a caramata [horse-drawn buggy] back from
29 Dec. 1941
December 29, 1941
Very nasty air raids on Saturday and Sunday — that’s to say, since Manila was declared an “open city”. On Saturday the alert lasted over
31 Dec. 1941
December 31, 1941
The year ends today. President Quezon has declared a three-day holiday. A number of shops have put up signs saying “Happy New Year”. Such wishes
1 Jan. 1942
January 1, 1942
Happy New Year, my friend! Our dear sick patient’s situation seems desperate. The lines held by the USAFFE have been broken to the north and
2 January 1942
January 2, 1942
Three weeks after that last peacetime Sunday, Manila is like a deserted city. Enormous black clouds, againstwhich even the tropical sun is powerless, fill part
3 Jan. 1942
January 3, 1942
Yesterday afternoon a Japanese plane looses off several bursts of machine-gun fire in the neighborhood. I make the children, who are playing in the garden,
4 Jan. 1942
January 4, 1942
Up early this morning. At seven o’clock it’s hardly light. Went to market. On the way, went past three Japanese checkpoints. I wasn’t stopped or
5 Jan. 1942
January 5, 1942
This morning, to market, on the other side of the river. Fish, pork, few vegetables, no rice. No Japanese soldiers.Calm day. The evenings are exquisite,
8 Jan. 1942
January 8, 1942
Still in Santa Ana. A little surprised still to be free. This morning L.R. [Le Roch, the French Consul] comes to seeAnne and is not
10 Jan. 1942
January 10, 1942
If it didn’t bode so threateningly for the future, the new situation would be highly comical. In front of the BayView Hotel, where “third parties”
12 Jan. 1942
January 12, 1942
Nothing new that concerns me. A simple life, a novelty for me, divided between the market, cleaning up of the garbage, and working in the
14 January 1942
January 14, 1942
An eventful day. Until ten o’clock nothing unusual. Market, breakfast, cleaning the house. At ten o’clock Betty [Lander] receives a telephone call from one of
16 Jan. 1942
January 16, 1942
Yesterday returned to Santo Tomas taking some provisions for Angela [Templer]. Very depressing. Queued endlessly among the Filipinos, in the heat and dust. Impossible to
17 Jan. 1942
January 17, 1942
Nothing to report. Yesterday afternoon, went to see our neighbor and landlord, Mr R. [Redfern, either RichardJames or Frederick Ralph]. He’s a British subject but
18 Jan. 1942
January 18, 1942
Yesterday afternoon, towards six o’clock, I’m coming back from a short walk with Colia [Nicholas Balfour] and as I approach the house I see Redfern,
7 July 1943
July 7, 1943
[Describing the UST Education Building:] The corridor benches … are mostly occupied by old men, holding forth on the latest gossip… [in the foyer] clouds