Letter from Douglas Hudson in Aumale to parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson in Aumale to parents
Description
Notes that he has been moved to a new location , camp at Aumale, which is under previous harsher regime. It is better that El Kef but was a surprise after the freedom of Médéa. Has received cable but cannot cable new address as American consul has used allowance up. Mentions that district around them is not as attractive as in Médéa. Encourages them to keep sending mail by usual means but is worried what to write due to censor. Mentions weather , food and sport.
Creator
Date
1941-06-02
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)410602-010001, EHudsonJDHudson(Fam)410602-010002
Transcription
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. Chef J. D. Hudson.
Camp de Séjour Surveillé.
AUMALE.
Algérie.
2-6-41 Afrique du Nord.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
The past has been a succession of changes of addresses for all of us. The last letter I wrote to you was from Médéa a few days ago, & now on Whit Monday I am at the above place, back under the old regime. I came here on Saturday night with the others & it was a big surprise to us all, especially after the freedom of Médéa. The conditions I suppose are better than Kef but there are a lot more of us & we are only allowed one organised walk a day, & 1 hrs sport in the afternoon. The morning I left Médéa I received your cable of May 30th reading “Cable received May 22nd. both well chins up all our love letters on way”. I was very glad to receive this & glad to know you are keeping your chins up. That is the spirit. I am afraid I cannot afford to cable you my new address. If the American Consul can send an allowance up I shall try later on. However, it will not affect the delivery of your letters very much because we are only 75 miles east of Medea, & not very much farther from Algiers. The district around here is a disappointment after Médéa, it being not half as cultivated, & much warmer. Médéa really was a pretty little town & it was a blow to have to leave it. I still hope it will be possible to send letters to you by Air Mail via the American Consul in Algiers, provided we pay the postage. Please continue to send yours via Air Mail because it is much
[page break]
quicker. I also hope I shall be able to continue writing to you regularly, say perhaps twice a week. I am wondering if any of my Air Mail letters sent to you from Médéa have arrived yet. It is rather difficult to know what to say in these letters, in order not to tread on the Censor’s corns. You remember you said it was not possible to send the Overseas Daily Mail to me in Tunisia. We have several this year’s copies here, as late as March 8th which somebody received in Algeria. In the March 8th copy there was also included a large special Textile Supplement. This was more than interesting & I learned a little about Manchester & how the cotton trade was continuing after the December efforts. I know the names of several firms who had suffered. It is very hot here to-day and I expect in a month’s time things will be getting more than dry. Our food quotient is not too bad, but naturally the luxuries of tea, butter, milk & sugar are not included in the rations. I shall miss the tea in the hot weather, & we could get it at Médéa. Médéa as a small town was the nicest I have been in in Africa, & the surrounding country was exceptionally fertile, & pleasing. Am going to play football at 5 pm to 6 pm. suitably “chaperoned”. This morning we had 30 minutes “P.T.” in the camp. Ted Hart used to be an R.A.F. physical trainer and know a lot about it. Before long we shall have to get our exercises done early in the morning. I told you in my last letter I bought a sun-helmet on my trip [inserted] to [/inserted] Algiers in search if clothing just over a week ago. And now I will say “au revoir” until next letter. As usual I send all my love to you both & hope you will continue to keep safe & well.
Very best of luck.
[underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
Camp de Séjour Surveillé.
AUMALE.
Algérie.
2-6-41 Afrique du Nord.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
The past has been a succession of changes of addresses for all of us. The last letter I wrote to you was from Médéa a few days ago, & now on Whit Monday I am at the above place, back under the old regime. I came here on Saturday night with the others & it was a big surprise to us all, especially after the freedom of Médéa. The conditions I suppose are better than Kef but there are a lot more of us & we are only allowed one organised walk a day, & 1 hrs sport in the afternoon. The morning I left Médéa I received your cable of May 30th reading “Cable received May 22nd. both well chins up all our love letters on way”. I was very glad to receive this & glad to know you are keeping your chins up. That is the spirit. I am afraid I cannot afford to cable you my new address. If the American Consul can send an allowance up I shall try later on. However, it will not affect the delivery of your letters very much because we are only 75 miles east of Medea, & not very much farther from Algiers. The district around here is a disappointment after Médéa, it being not half as cultivated, & much warmer. Médéa really was a pretty little town & it was a blow to have to leave it. I still hope it will be possible to send letters to you by Air Mail via the American Consul in Algiers, provided we pay the postage. Please continue to send yours via Air Mail because it is much
[page break]
quicker. I also hope I shall be able to continue writing to you regularly, say perhaps twice a week. I am wondering if any of my Air Mail letters sent to you from Médéa have arrived yet. It is rather difficult to know what to say in these letters, in order not to tread on the Censor’s corns. You remember you said it was not possible to send the Overseas Daily Mail to me in Tunisia. We have several this year’s copies here, as late as March 8th which somebody received in Algeria. In the March 8th copy there was also included a large special Textile Supplement. This was more than interesting & I learned a little about Manchester & how the cotton trade was continuing after the December efforts. I know the names of several firms who had suffered. It is very hot here to-day and I expect in a month’s time things will be getting more than dry. Our food quotient is not too bad, but naturally the luxuries of tea, butter, milk & sugar are not included in the rations. I shall miss the tea in the hot weather, & we could get it at Médéa. Médéa as a small town was the nicest I have been in in Africa, & the surrounding country was exceptionally fertile, & pleasing. Am going to play football at 5 pm to 6 pm. suitably “chaperoned”. This morning we had 30 minutes “P.T.” in the camp. Ted Hart used to be an R.A.F. physical trainer and know a lot about it. Before long we shall have to get our exercises done early in the morning. I told you in my last letter I bought a sun-helmet on my trip [inserted] to [/inserted] Algiers in search if clothing just over a week ago. And now I will say “au revoir” until next letter. As usual I send all my love to you both & hope you will continue to keep safe & well.
Very best of luck.
[underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
Collection
Citation
James Douglas Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson in Aumale to parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 20, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/10887.
Item Relations
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