Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
Catches up with mail received and states he is writing to them twice a week. Glad that they received his cable with change of his location. Sorry to hear acquaintance was missing. Says that they should continue to sent him mail via the American consul in Algiers as this would always find him. Continues with gossip of friends and family. Mentions weather, too cold to sunbathe and wearing heavier clothing and again suggests they try and sent parcel via airmail.
Creator
Date
1941-11-07
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.
Contributor
Identifier
EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE411107
Transcription
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J. D. Hudson.
c/o Consul Général des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
Afrique du Nord.
7-11-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Since my letter written to you three days ago I have received two old ones from you dated September 15th and September 22nd. The one written on Sept. 15th was posted one day after Dad's which I received at Aumale about a month ago. It is strange why there should be this delay in these two letters, and also it is strange why you are not receiving my letters when I am writing regularly twice a week. I hope you will have received my cable sent in reply to yours which arrived on October 28th, informing you to this effect, and also informing you of my change of address to Laghouat Algérie. As I have stated in my last four letters Laghouat is approximately 300 miles out of Alger, is an oasis Arab town situated on the edge of the Sahara dessert, [sic] and is surrounded by date I keep repeating this in case in case my earlier letters get lost, and at present, as I have not received any reply to my last cable I am not sure whether you are acquainted yet with my latest move. I was sorry to hear that Fenton was missing. I never met him in the R.A.F. but of course I knew him at school and at the Swimming Club. You ask about sending letters via Tanger. No. I should continue sending these as you are, but [inserted] addressed [/inserted] to me c/o. The American Consul Alger. That address will always find me. It is a pity about Mrs. Bowers. I am afraid that if she was going to hear that Harry was safe she would have done so by now. Fifteen months is too long to be kept waiting. Perhaps you
[page break]
would send her my regards. I shall make a point of writing her whenever I get back again. God knows when that will be. Glad to learn that Grandad enjoyed his stay with you, & I hope that he benefited accordingly & that Mother did not get too tired. This afternoon I have had another walk around the town. I have gained a true conception of what the desert looks like. From one side I could see nothing but ridge upon ridge of rocky, sandy low mountain, and on the other sides stretches of sand & small boulders as far as eye could see. Towards the horizon it looked just as though the sand gave way to sea, in fact the whole sight reminded me of a vast expanse of beach with the tide well out. If I could get the effect of a mirage when I was neither hungry, thirsty or tired, and on an early winter afternoon, God help the poor traveller lost in the desert in mid summer. The nights have been very cold indeed, perfectly clear & starlight, & the days have been sunny & cloudless, but jolly chilly out of the sun. I can well imagine how hot it will get here in summer. The air has been far too cold for sunbathing & I am back to full clothing (including the blue pullover Mother knitted). This afternoon I noticed several piles of dates ripening in the sun, stacked on the Arab dwellings’ roofs. This place is very Eastern, a typical similar example was that town we saw in the film “Garden of Allah” I have made requests in past letters, asking if you could send a small parcel by air-mail containing a little tea if possible. Parcels have been received out here in 12 days by this means They are very small, probably weighing about 1 lb. postage 4s – 5d. Do not inconvenience yourselves unnecessarily. Well time & space is short so I must say good-bye once again until next letter. In case my other greetings have gone astray I wish you both all the very best for Christmas & 1942. As always, all my love & thoughts. Douglas.
c/o Consul Général des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
Afrique du Nord.
7-11-41
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Since my letter written to you three days ago I have received two old ones from you dated September 15th and September 22nd. The one written on Sept. 15th was posted one day after Dad's which I received at Aumale about a month ago. It is strange why there should be this delay in these two letters, and also it is strange why you are not receiving my letters when I am writing regularly twice a week. I hope you will have received my cable sent in reply to yours which arrived on October 28th, informing you to this effect, and also informing you of my change of address to Laghouat Algérie. As I have stated in my last four letters Laghouat is approximately 300 miles out of Alger, is an oasis Arab town situated on the edge of the Sahara dessert, [sic] and is surrounded by date I keep repeating this in case in case my earlier letters get lost, and at present, as I have not received any reply to my last cable I am not sure whether you are acquainted yet with my latest move. I was sorry to hear that Fenton was missing. I never met him in the R.A.F. but of course I knew him at school and at the Swimming Club. You ask about sending letters via Tanger. No. I should continue sending these as you are, but [inserted] addressed [/inserted] to me c/o. The American Consul Alger. That address will always find me. It is a pity about Mrs. Bowers. I am afraid that if she was going to hear that Harry was safe she would have done so by now. Fifteen months is too long to be kept waiting. Perhaps you
[page break]
would send her my regards. I shall make a point of writing her whenever I get back again. God knows when that will be. Glad to learn that Grandad enjoyed his stay with you, & I hope that he benefited accordingly & that Mother did not get too tired. This afternoon I have had another walk around the town. I have gained a true conception of what the desert looks like. From one side I could see nothing but ridge upon ridge of rocky, sandy low mountain, and on the other sides stretches of sand & small boulders as far as eye could see. Towards the horizon it looked just as though the sand gave way to sea, in fact the whole sight reminded me of a vast expanse of beach with the tide well out. If I could get the effect of a mirage when I was neither hungry, thirsty or tired, and on an early winter afternoon, God help the poor traveller lost in the desert in mid summer. The nights have been very cold indeed, perfectly clear & starlight, & the days have been sunny & cloudless, but jolly chilly out of the sun. I can well imagine how hot it will get here in summer. The air has been far too cold for sunbathing & I am back to full clothing (including the blue pullover Mother knitted). This afternoon I noticed several piles of dates ripening in the sun, stacked on the Arab dwellings’ roofs. This place is very Eastern, a typical similar example was that town we saw in the film “Garden of Allah” I have made requests in past letters, asking if you could send a small parcel by air-mail containing a little tea if possible. Parcels have been received out here in 12 days by this means They are very small, probably weighing about 1 lb. postage 4s – 5d. Do not inconvenience yourselves unnecessarily. Well time & space is short so I must say good-bye once again until next letter. In case my other greetings have gone astray I wish you both all the very best for Christmas & 1942. As always, all my love & thoughts. Douglas.
Collection
Citation
James Douglas Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents ,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed November 5, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/22567.
Item Relations
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