Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
Catches up with mail and cables received and is sorry about them not receiving his mail despite him writing twice a week. Repeats that he has now moved to Laghouat and provides some description. Mention parcels that others have received by airmail and how long they took and requests that they try same method. Writes of the weather and catches up with family and friend gossip.
Creator
Date
1941-10-30
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.
Contributor
Identifier
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE411030
Transcription
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J. D. Hudson.
c/o. Consul Général des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
Afrique du Nord.
30-10-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Since I wrote my last letter to you four days ago, I have been pleased to receive your telegram on the 28th October reading:- Delighted cable fourteenth five weeks without letters August 28th last both well.” but I am very sorry and surprised to learn about the absence of mail from me. I wired back to you on the same day:- “Delighted cable to-day removed Camp Militaire Laghouat Algerie writing always twice weekly well all love” From this I hope you will understand that I have been writing to you all the time twice a week, and that I have moved down South to a Military Camp for the British at Laghouat on the border of the Sahara. I explained in my two earlier letters that Laghouat is an Oasis Arab town about 300 miles from Algiers and that although it is well out in the Blue our living quarters are actually better than at either of our previous Camps. I have gained at last the privacy of a room shared with Jimmy who is of same rank and profession militarily as myself. Tony shares a room adjoining. To-day I was very glad to receive a letter from you dated October 13th and one from Auntie Una dated October 16th. Not bad going. You should not have any difficulty in despatching books to me. Riddick has received already a parcel of eight books which took about six months to arrive. Did you receive any of my letters telling that one of our men received two parcels by Air Mail taking 12 days & 18 days respectively? Contents 50 Players Cigs. 3 Bars Rowntrees chocs. & boiled sweets, packed in an Oxo tin – postage of 4s – 5d. This is
[page break]
expensive I know, but the stuff does appear to get here. Many people have written asking me if there is anything I require sending out. Auntie Una, Mrs. Clayton. E.W.7. Mary etc. If you, or any of these people could send me tea in an Air Mail parcel like this I should very much appreciate it, because apart from the Red Cross supplies, we do not get anything to make hot drinks from, and I do not trust the water here very far. For the past week the weather has been fairly cool. The sun has shone practically all the time but it has not been very powerful. The nights are really cold, moonlight, starlight, clear nights and the sand looks like snow and might be for all the heat there is. For two or three weeks my tummy has not been too good and I have only just got over a loss of voice. I think I caught a chill at Aumale and it takes a lot of getting over here. So John is still at the same place! I thought he had his heart’s desire ages ago, and I am surprised to learn of his disappointment. Yes I knew Dorothy had married a B.B.C. man. Auntie Una says they have laid their car up and that she does not like walking as a recreation. She also asks me what it feels like to be an Uncle to nephew Andrew. Quite frankly this is the first time I have realised my responsibility and am wondering what is expected of me. So some people think it “splendid” that I am out of the terrible war. Well I suppose each one is entitled to his, or her own opinion, on this point. It is rather a sore point with me and requires a very philosophical outlook. I do endorse what [underlined] you [/underlined] say “life and hope does give us something to be thankful for” and for this I do thank God The jolly old space is nearly used again so I am called upon to say good-bye until next letter. As always I send you all my love, thoughts and best wishes. Douglas.
c/o. Consul Général des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
Afrique du Nord.
30-10-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Since I wrote my last letter to you four days ago, I have been pleased to receive your telegram on the 28th October reading:- Delighted cable fourteenth five weeks without letters August 28th last both well.” but I am very sorry and surprised to learn about the absence of mail from me. I wired back to you on the same day:- “Delighted cable to-day removed Camp Militaire Laghouat Algerie writing always twice weekly well all love” From this I hope you will understand that I have been writing to you all the time twice a week, and that I have moved down South to a Military Camp for the British at Laghouat on the border of the Sahara. I explained in my two earlier letters that Laghouat is an Oasis Arab town about 300 miles from Algiers and that although it is well out in the Blue our living quarters are actually better than at either of our previous Camps. I have gained at last the privacy of a room shared with Jimmy who is of same rank and profession militarily as myself. Tony shares a room adjoining. To-day I was very glad to receive a letter from you dated October 13th and one from Auntie Una dated October 16th. Not bad going. You should not have any difficulty in despatching books to me. Riddick has received already a parcel of eight books which took about six months to arrive. Did you receive any of my letters telling that one of our men received two parcels by Air Mail taking 12 days & 18 days respectively? Contents 50 Players Cigs. 3 Bars Rowntrees chocs. & boiled sweets, packed in an Oxo tin – postage of 4s – 5d. This is
[page break]
expensive I know, but the stuff does appear to get here. Many people have written asking me if there is anything I require sending out. Auntie Una, Mrs. Clayton. E.W.7. Mary etc. If you, or any of these people could send me tea in an Air Mail parcel like this I should very much appreciate it, because apart from the Red Cross supplies, we do not get anything to make hot drinks from, and I do not trust the water here very far. For the past week the weather has been fairly cool. The sun has shone practically all the time but it has not been very powerful. The nights are really cold, moonlight, starlight, clear nights and the sand looks like snow and might be for all the heat there is. For two or three weeks my tummy has not been too good and I have only just got over a loss of voice. I think I caught a chill at Aumale and it takes a lot of getting over here. So John is still at the same place! I thought he had his heart’s desire ages ago, and I am surprised to learn of his disappointment. Yes I knew Dorothy had married a B.B.C. man. Auntie Una says they have laid their car up and that she does not like walking as a recreation. She also asks me what it feels like to be an Uncle to nephew Andrew. Quite frankly this is the first time I have realised my responsibility and am wondering what is expected of me. So some people think it “splendid” that I am out of the terrible war. Well I suppose each one is entitled to his, or her own opinion, on this point. It is rather a sore point with me and requires a very philosophical outlook. I do endorse what [underlined] you [/underlined] say “life and hope does give us something to be thankful for” and for this I do thank God The jolly old space is nearly used again so I am called upon to say good-bye until next letter. As always I send you all my love, thoughts and best wishes. Douglas.
Collection
Citation
James Douglas Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 18, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/22565.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.