| Admin/Biog History | Nicolson spent the first few months of the Second World War as a Private in the 83rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, led by Victor Cazalet. Aside from short periods of leave - which he spent in London, Oxford and Sissinghurst - the majority of his time was spent with the Battery. |
| Description | In which Nicolson is billetted in Kent with his anti-aircraft unit and charged with defending the local aerodrome; is given the job of typist; writes about his experience of being in the army and how difficult he finds it to adjust to the 'reality' of war. Also writes about the individuals he meets and about social class and privilege.
Most of the entries concern Nicolson's time on leave, rather than his day to day life in the army. He talks about socialising with friends including, in particular Philip Toynbee; Lawrence Gowing; Alfreda Huntington and Ivan Moffatt. Also expresses his, and their, reactions and emotions concerning the everyday experience of being at war.
Unlike other journals in this series, the entries in the volume are not written daily. On the opening page, Nicolson records that 'a certain monotony in the days, blurred repetitions have decided me to abandon the division by days and take up a continuous narrative written at the end of each week'. Also notes that he has to write his diary in secret or when he is on leave.
Of particular note:
October
-16th-21st: writes about the daily routine, food and his fellow soldiers [A digital copy of this entry can be found below]
-27th: writes about the behaviour and attitudes of the officers (Mildmay, Kinglsey and Wellband) and the men
November:
-16th: writes about how he has spent his leave, visiting Oxford and spending time with Isaiah Berlin and other friends including Maurice Bowra; his day to day experiences in the army including his interactions with his fellow men; makes comparisons between army and public school life; writes about the engagement of Philip Toynbee and Anne Powell
-29th: socialises with Ivan Moffatt; Philip Toynbee; Lawrence Gowing and Anne Powell whilst on leave; writes about the impending marriage of Toynbee and Powell; meets Jeremy Hutchinson
December
-15th: is promoted to the rank of Bombardier and writes about what this means to him; writes about how he is perceived by his fellow men - 'a feeble and hopeless person'
January
-21st: writes about his friendship with Roland Pym; Christmas celebrations in the army; staying with the Huntington family in Amberley. Returns to Edenhurst to help put the library and Battery Fund in order; describes the atmosphere of the Anti-Aircraft Battery and writes about the fact that James Pope-Hennessy has joined [A digital copy of some of this entry can be found below]
March
-18th: socialises with, amongst others, Euan Wallace & his wife; Clive Bell; Mary Hutchinson; Philip & Anne Toynbee; Alfreda Huntington & Lawrence Gowing. Writes about an incident where he got drunk 'to the point of losing consciousness' and repeatedly told Alfreda 'I adore you'. Meets his brother (Nigel Nicolson) and visits the private apartments at Windsor; looks at the pictures stored in the vault discovering that all the Buckingham Palace pictures had 'blue mould growing over them'; visits Kenneth Clark at his flat in Gray's Inn Square who talks about his work for the Ministry of Information; visits Stephen Spender at his rooms, now the 'Horizon' offices where he is visited by Lucien Freud; writes about his attempts to get Philip Toynbee to enlist in the Battery. [A digital copy of some of this entry can be found below]
April
-2nd: writes about Roland Pym's departure from the army to work on Michael McCarthy's farm; learns that Philip Toynbee cannot join the Battery; moves into new Headquarters; writes about a new friend, Jimmy Holgate
-17th: visits the 'Since Whistler' exhibition at the National Gallery; dines with Sybil Colefax and a party of guests from the Foriegn Office and Ministry of Information including Leslie Howard, Kenneth Clark and Victor Cazalet; records that 'The Clarks are sending Dylan Thomas to the Battery'. Socialises with Alfreda Huntington, Lawrence Gowing, Philip Toynbee and Ivan Moffatt; views Gowing's new portrait of Alfreda; spends the evening in a nightclub and writes about getting too drunk, his friendship with Toynbee and the music: 'what incentive but deep psychological unhappiness and dislocation can make man so ostensibly undignified as to dance in the Boogy Woogy'
May
-5th: writes that 'I find I need to read more poetry now. Is this chance or has some such specific meaning as: the drama of men's lives is sufficient for one no longer to search for it in fiction. Previously one filled one's life with the second hand adventures, spiritual and otherwise, called from novels to persuade one that one was living: now that one is in danger of dying all too violently at any moment, one turns to abstract beauty' |
| Image Caption | Journal entry for 16-21 October 1939 concerning Nicolson's life in the 83rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, 1939 (4pp) |
| Journal entry for 1940 concerning Nicolson's life in the 83rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, 1940 (3pp) |
| Journal entry for 18 March concerning a visit to Stephen Spender, 1940 (2pp) |