To day the Admiralty definitely announce the loss of the Monmouth and Good Hope with all hands, but no official details are to hand, only an account by the Daily Mail supposed to come by New York, which is terrible reading.

In to days paper is also the debate in Parliament of last night in which Mr Mehenna was much heckled over the spy question, he seems to act very foolishly, says he knows all about the spies & yet lets them remain. Everywhere one goes one hears stories of spies. Dorothea writes from Salcombe of some people there who are Austrian. They bought 2 houses near S Sands some years ago, & pulled one down, Salcombe people say that where once stood is now a concrete bed.

Again, when I was at Buckfastleigh last week, everyone there was very worried over the monks of Buckfast who are with the exception of 3 Germans, & the Abbot is an Austrian. Yet when Jack Trelawney wrote to the Home Office & told them about it, he received a snub. What do German monks want to be in England for, but to spy.

Bunty Johnson came to stay here on Wednesday, & this aft. we went to Tavistock. I had to attend a drill, very rough stormy day.