Letter from Douglas Hudson in Médéa to parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson in Médéa to parents
Description
A repetition of previous letter but this one was sent via the American Consul in Algiers
Creator
Date
1941-04-27
Temporal Coverage
Language
Format
Two page handwritten letter
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
EHudsonJDHudson(Fam)410427-010001, EHudsonJDHudson(Fam)410427-010002
Transcription
755052 Sgt. Chef. J. D. Hudson.
Camp de Liberté Surveillé.
Hotel d’Orient
MÉDÉA.
Algerie.
Afrique du Nord.
27-4-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I wrote a letter to you yesterday by Air Mail & sent it independently. This letter is also going by Air Mail but through the American Consul in Algiers. In case my yesterday’s letter gets lot [sic] I will make this one practically a repetition. I am wondering if you will have received a wire informing you of my change of address. The Consul in Tunis was trying to telegraph for us, before we left Le Kef. I was very surprised indeed when this removal took place – it happened so very quickly. We came under an entirely new scheme, the results of enquiries by the American & British Govts. with cooperation of the French. The time spent at Kef was grim & the conditions were primitive. Here we are free to walk about the place & live at the above Hotel, & get a small allowance of about 2/- daily for running expenses. We get two meals provided each day. In fact life now will just not bear comparison with what some of us endured for 8 months behind the barbed wire.
I am still always thinking about you & hope you are well and safe. I would give all my possessions to be back in England to see this business through with you. It is no pleasure to me to be in a safe spot at such a time, but perhaps it wont [sic] be long before things
[page break]
are righted. The journey here from Kef took 28 hours continuous travelling and nearly all by train. The distance is about 450 miles & the country was very beautiful & green, because lately there has been much rain. Médéa is over 3000 feet high & there are neighbouring mountains 5000 feet with jackals & wild boar running around. The mountains are wooded & resemble North Wales to a very great extent. At this time of the year the peas & broad beans are ripe. I noticed lemons growing en route, & there were a few oranges in Tunis. The vines are green but will not be ripe until July – August likewise the figs & peaches. There are any amount of wild flowers & for the first time I noticed brambles. I am telling you about this to try & give you an idea of the country, but I have not much space & have to detract an awful lot. MÉDÉA is a Franco-Arabic town – the French part is beautiful & there are some lovely houses. I think Mother would like this place because so many flowers grow. The weather is cool, more so than Kef, because it is higher. The hot spell comes on about June until October. Last night I saw my first French film, but couldn’t understand much. It is far more difficult than listening to people speak ordinarily. I intend to write a letter every week by Air Mail independently & shall try & write another weekly through the Consul in Algiers. If you write by Air Mail it will be quicker, but mark your envelope accordingly. Could you wire me a short message on receipt of this, or my first letter, to let me know you know where I am?
Will say good-bye now, all my love
[underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
Camp de Liberté Surveillé.
Hotel d’Orient
MÉDÉA.
Algerie.
Afrique du Nord.
27-4-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I wrote a letter to you yesterday by Air Mail & sent it independently. This letter is also going by Air Mail but through the American Consul in Algiers. In case my yesterday’s letter gets lot [sic] I will make this one practically a repetition. I am wondering if you will have received a wire informing you of my change of address. The Consul in Tunis was trying to telegraph for us, before we left Le Kef. I was very surprised indeed when this removal took place – it happened so very quickly. We came under an entirely new scheme, the results of enquiries by the American & British Govts. with cooperation of the French. The time spent at Kef was grim & the conditions were primitive. Here we are free to walk about the place & live at the above Hotel, & get a small allowance of about 2/- daily for running expenses. We get two meals provided each day. In fact life now will just not bear comparison with what some of us endured for 8 months behind the barbed wire.
I am still always thinking about you & hope you are well and safe. I would give all my possessions to be back in England to see this business through with you. It is no pleasure to me to be in a safe spot at such a time, but perhaps it wont [sic] be long before things
[page break]
are righted. The journey here from Kef took 28 hours continuous travelling and nearly all by train. The distance is about 450 miles & the country was very beautiful & green, because lately there has been much rain. Médéa is over 3000 feet high & there are neighbouring mountains 5000 feet with jackals & wild boar running around. The mountains are wooded & resemble North Wales to a very great extent. At this time of the year the peas & broad beans are ripe. I noticed lemons growing en route, & there were a few oranges in Tunis. The vines are green but will not be ripe until July – August likewise the figs & peaches. There are any amount of wild flowers & for the first time I noticed brambles. I am telling you about this to try & give you an idea of the country, but I have not much space & have to detract an awful lot. MÉDÉA is a Franco-Arabic town – the French part is beautiful & there are some lovely houses. I think Mother would like this place because so many flowers grow. The weather is cool, more so than Kef, because it is higher. The hot spell comes on about June until October. Last night I saw my first French film, but couldn’t understand much. It is far more difficult than listening to people speak ordinarily. I intend to write a letter every week by Air Mail independently & shall try & write another weekly through the Consul in Algiers. If you write by Air Mail it will be quicker, but mark your envelope accordingly. Could you wire me a short message on receipt of this, or my first letter, to let me know you know where I am?
Will say good-bye now, all my love
[underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
Collection
Citation
James Douglas Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson in Médéa to parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed October 30, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/10878.
Item Relations
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