Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents

Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents

Catches up with letters sent and received and is pleased at how quickly some arrived. Notes that one letter was censored and was trying to work out what might have caused this but is at a loss. He writes that he always is careful with content as he wants letters to get through intact. Goes on to mention the weather and that the water was not as good as his last camp and he drinks as little as possible. Discusses cables and being able to send replies if the enclose prepaid returns. Asks them to pass on his regards and is glad they seem happy and comfortable in new home. Notes that a friend had received a parcel from which include England - the first which included chocolate, soap, toothbrushes and handkerchiefs but cigarettes did not get through.

1941-06-24

Two page handwritten letter

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EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE410624

Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J.D. Hudson.
Camp de Séjour Surveillé.
Aumale.
Algérie. Afrique du Nord.
24-6-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Yesterday I was very pleased to receive your two Air Mail letters dated June 1st & June 8th. The latter is the quickest to arrive so far, & you say you received 4 letters & 5 p.cs. in a week, the latest dated 4/4/41. This is by far the quickest piece of replying we have had so far. Let’s hope this speedier interchange of mail may continue. It would appear that a lot of my letters have gone astray between January 17th & early April. I wrote to you fortnightly by letter and as far as possible, sent a pc. Weekly until April 25th. From April 25th onwards I have been writing letters twice weekly & sending them stamped by Air Mail. You go on to mention that my letter was badly cut – the one I wrote on April 4th - & I have since been trying to remember what I put in it that might be censorable & can think of nothing at all. I can re-call this letter fairly well because I do remember the p.s. I wrote acknowledging 4 of your letters which arrived together after I had written mine. Strange – because in all my letters to you I write as little that is likely to be censored as possible because I am so anxious that you should receive them all right. As I am writing this letter at 9 pm. the first breeze of the day is blowing in. The weather for over a week has been very hot & the last two days exceptionally oppressive, and we have had that extremely lethargic feeling. The water is not as
[page break]
good here as Kef & whilst it is not really dangerous I drink as little as possible, & as much coffee as I can. The milk is not too safe so it has to be black coffee. Well I think the cables you have sent have all been received. I sent a long one to you four days ago taking advantage of the pre-paid reply you sent. This was most useful & I do thank you for it. I wonder If you will have informed E.W.7 I could send him a cable as well if he wired me a pre-paid reply first. I am only too sorry I cannot manage to do it all myself. You say you do not think the pc. I sent to him from Kef would arrive. Perhaps you would send him my love & best wishes when this reaches you. From the tone of your letters you both seem very happy & comfortable in your new home and I am ever so glad to hear this & to know you have a nice garden & view. I realise just what this will mean to you. Talking about reservoir sounds invitingly cool just at the moment when everything here is beginning to get dried up. One of my friends received a parcel two days ago sent from England last October, & most of the things arrived safely. This is the first parcel to arrive from home. The cigarettes did not get through however. Why they are not allowed beats me. The other items to arrive included chocolate, soap, toothbrushes handkerchiefs etc, but in my opinion it is not worth the expense, time & possibility of loss. I will say good-bye to you now. I hope that Dad is getting on well at his new place, & that all will go smoothly in days to come. Best wishes & all my love. You know where my thoughts are always.
Douglas.