Letter from Douglas Hudson in Médéa to parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson in Médéa to parents
Description
Writes a lot about mail received and sent and options for post. States that air mail is best despite expense. Discusses weather, climate and the local countryside. Mentions his French language problems.
Creator
Date
1941-05-07
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)410507-010001, EHudsonJDHudson(Fam)410507-010002
Transcription
R.A.F. 755052. Sgt. Chef. J. D. Hudson.
Camp de Liberté Surveillé.
Hotel d’Orient.
MÉDÉA
Algerie. Afrique du Nord.
7-5-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Today I am very pleased to have received four letters from you dated Feb. 23rd. March 2nd. April 11th and April 14th. The latter two written during Easter week-end came via Air Mail for 4d, so you will see what a terrific difference the Air Mail service makes. For a long time now I have been writing to you via Air Mail but I am afraid that it takes much longer from Africa, than from England. I am hoping that letters will not take so long from here as from Kef. The day before yesterday I sent you a cable & asked you for a reply. Replies have been received here within 48 hours of [inserted] [indecipherable word] [/inserted] despatch [inserted] from here. [/inserted] This I hope will give you up to date news of me, but unfortunately on account of the terrific expense (perhaps I should say comparative terrific expense – for [underlined] air [/underlined] packets) I cannot manage to repeat this, at least for some time. However, I am all right, & quite safe here, & I know you now understand the uncertainty of deliveries of mail so you will not worry on my behalf. I shall write to you about every 5 days. I did not hear the Sandy Macpherson record because I have not been able to hear any broadcast since last October – what a pity I missed “a Brownbird”. However I have plenty of news from you now – your
[page break]
cables (two) have been received, & I know all about your changes of addresses. You do appear to have had a sever winter, but I think N. Africa has too. The weather now is typical English May. It has rained all day to-day. I believe up here in the mountains the really hot weather is during July – August & September. It was terrifically hot when we arrived here last year; there wasn’t a blade of grass anywhere & the flies, I have never seen anything like them. So far this year there are none at all, & the country here is beautifully green. You mention the Easters we have known in the past. Yes I shall not forget them & the memories. I hope I shall not spend any more Easters here. Yes I heard from you some time ago that you sold my bike. It was the best thing to do. You & E.W.T. are the only people from whom I receive letters nowadays. Just at first there was an inundation from “tout le monde” (everybody) but it was a nine days wonder. You know I can go anywhere with my French, but I cannot understand the French films at all, neither can I understand the wireless (Yes we have the wireless here, at Médéa) It is O.K. talking to the actual people, but mechanical voice reproduction leaves me cold. I expect when I get back to England I shall be automatically coming out with French phrases for a little while. We get so used to greeting people. Shake hands all round when we say “How do you do” & again when we say “good-bye”. Don’t know whether we are coming or going. Well here is the bottom of the page. Here is my usual wish – that the future may be a much happier one, & that everything will go more smoothly for you, re. everything. I send you all my love, & hope you will keep well & safe.
[underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
Camp de Liberté Surveillé.
Hotel d’Orient.
MÉDÉA
Algerie. Afrique du Nord.
7-5-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Today I am very pleased to have received four letters from you dated Feb. 23rd. March 2nd. April 11th and April 14th. The latter two written during Easter week-end came via Air Mail for 4d, so you will see what a terrific difference the Air Mail service makes. For a long time now I have been writing to you via Air Mail but I am afraid that it takes much longer from Africa, than from England. I am hoping that letters will not take so long from here as from Kef. The day before yesterday I sent you a cable & asked you for a reply. Replies have been received here within 48 hours of [inserted] [indecipherable word] [/inserted] despatch [inserted] from here. [/inserted] This I hope will give you up to date news of me, but unfortunately on account of the terrific expense (perhaps I should say comparative terrific expense – for [underlined] air [/underlined] packets) I cannot manage to repeat this, at least for some time. However, I am all right, & quite safe here, & I know you now understand the uncertainty of deliveries of mail so you will not worry on my behalf. I shall write to you about every 5 days. I did not hear the Sandy Macpherson record because I have not been able to hear any broadcast since last October – what a pity I missed “a Brownbird”. However I have plenty of news from you now – your
[page break]
cables (two) have been received, & I know all about your changes of addresses. You do appear to have had a sever winter, but I think N. Africa has too. The weather now is typical English May. It has rained all day to-day. I believe up here in the mountains the really hot weather is during July – August & September. It was terrifically hot when we arrived here last year; there wasn’t a blade of grass anywhere & the flies, I have never seen anything like them. So far this year there are none at all, & the country here is beautifully green. You mention the Easters we have known in the past. Yes I shall not forget them & the memories. I hope I shall not spend any more Easters here. Yes I heard from you some time ago that you sold my bike. It was the best thing to do. You & E.W.T. are the only people from whom I receive letters nowadays. Just at first there was an inundation from “tout le monde” (everybody) but it was a nine days wonder. You know I can go anywhere with my French, but I cannot understand the French films at all, neither can I understand the wireless (Yes we have the wireless here, at Médéa) It is O.K. talking to the actual people, but mechanical voice reproduction leaves me cold. I expect when I get back to England I shall be automatically coming out with French phrases for a little while. We get so used to greeting people. Shake hands all round when we say “How do you do” & again when we say “good-bye”. Don’t know whether we are coming or going. Well here is the bottom of the page. Here is my usual wish – that the future may be a much happier one, & that everything will go more smoothly for you, re. everything. I send you all my love, & hope you will keep well & safe.
[underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
Collection
Citation
James Douglas Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson in Médéa to parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 25, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/10881.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.