Notebook inscribed ‘Oct. ’43, Normandy ’44, Belgium Jan. ‘45’ containing 28 pages of manuscript journal entries for the period 1 October 1943 to 1 February 1945.
Following a period of leave TJF joined No. 88 General Hospital on 1 October 1943 as a surgical specialist mobilizing at Kinmel Hall, Abergele in North Wales. TJF returned to France via the Normandy landings in June 1944 in charge of a field surgical unit, with which he remained for the rest of the war as it moved from Normandy to the Baltic. There are only three entries for the period October 1943 to May 1944. Detailed and regular entries resume on 16 June 1944 with TJF moving to a marshalling area in preparation for the journey to France. Subsequent entries include comments on the logistical difficulties of evacuating casualties from the front line when the allied advance was fast moving and the enthusiastic reception of the local populace.