Friday February 12th 1943

At last I am able to write again.  Ever since last week we have been in trouble TROUBLE, tons of it. Now it is after eleven at night, I am tired, so I'm not writing much. Just enough to say that we have at last left here for Beaumont, for loading, after several attempts at it.  But I will say more about it tomorrow. Perhaps I will not be so tired then. I must say though that I think we are going somewhere other than home because we have four extra guns and the engine room is all nearly covered with shrapnel protection. It is a very remarkable thing but every time the ship leaves somewhere it is invariably on a Friday. Is that a sign of good luck? And also we have still got our dog, so he is going for a long trip, though the poor little devil does not know it. I hope he will be a good sailor going across the Atlantic.