Notebook inscribed ‘T. J. Fairbank Gibraltar Nov. 1940-Aug. ‘43’ containing 131 pages of manuscript journal entries for the period 12 November 1940 to 15 August 1943.
Following his return to England in June 1940, TJF was reassigned to the 10th General Hospital. He spent a month in Leeds before moving to the London Orphanage School in Watford which had been turned into a military hospital. He sailed for Gibraltar on 15 November 1940 to commence work as a surgical specialist and arrived on 21 November. The journal records TJF’s impressions of Gibraltar and its fortifications, the organisation of the 10th General Hospital and descriptions of cases which were mainly casualties from Royal Navy ships which had been in action. Intense periods of activity are punctuated with descriptions of leisure time spent sailing, playing hockey, watching films and attending lunches and dinners. At the end of the volume are dates of birthdays.
Inserted in the journal is a typescript circular ‘Bomb Incident at Algeciras’ referring to an incident on 5 April 1941 and urging all personnel to be thorough in carrying out security checks.