New Japanese troops keep arriving daily. They are easily distinguished by the way they fan themselves and shuffle along in ill-fitting uniforms. This morning, one hailed a Filipino and asked him a question. The Filipino hailed a friend to translate. "Ah," said the friend, "he just wants to know if this is Australia"!

Two doors down from us, Florentino Garriz recently died. He had been pressured to move out because the house belonged to Fleming, an enemy national. After the funeral, Carlos Preysler, Florentino's business partner, went to see the Japanese chief of the Enemy Property section. Finding him a timid man, Carlos, his Latin blood boiling, accused him of killing Garriz by pressuring him to move despite the lack of suitable housing for his very large family.

"No, no — that cannot be so," said the official. "It was my duty. So sorry, so sorry.... You go back and tell the Garriz family they will not have to move. Please, you go; I fix everything."

News: The Germans admitted an Allied landing "in force" southwest of Rome.