Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
Reports arrival of latest mail and glad to hear that eight of his letters have arrived which would let them know a little of conditions at Laghouat. Mentions he is now smoking a pipe but there is a lack of tobacco. Writes of difficult supply situation and only being able to get locally grown vegetables and fruit. Writes of receiving 24 English cigarettes each from Red Cross as well as chocolate and Christmas puddings. Mentions it is raining and weather in general. Mentions recent show and describes some aspects as well as production of weekly newspaper. Concludes with catching up with family news and gossip.
Creator
Date
1942-02-08
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-HE420208
Transcription
Your letter of Jan 1st.
Is numbered I
Royal Air Force 755052. Sgt J. D. Hudson
c/o. Consul Général des États Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
8-2-42 Afrique du Nord
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Since I wrote to you last I was pleased to receive two letters from you on Feb. 6th dated December 30th & January 1st. I was also glad to learn from your cable received exactly a week ago that eight of my letters reached you. Th latest dated November 21st. So by now you will know a little of the conditions prevailing at Laghouat. The pipes that dangle in the rack at home are Dad’s own & I did persevere with them at one time or another. The Briars I bought I gave away. I have started making a pipe here and am managing successfully. It is a very nice pipe but unfortunately there is not much tobacco to go with it. Cigarettes are practically non-existent, & we feel this because previously we have had an excellent supply. At the present rate of rationing it will be a problem getting anything at all before long, except perhaps fruit and vegetables which grow here. This afternoon each [indecipherable word] twenty four English cigarettes which have just arrived from the Red Cross, also a half slab of chocolate. There are two Christmas Puddings to be divided as well which will result in an eighth of a pudding per man. I believe there is more stuff in larger bulk en route. It is raining today for the second time this year, after a spell of two or three weeks fine weather. The last few days have been warmer and enable us to form an idea of what to expect in July and August. Your letter of Dec. 30th gives a list of the various people I knew who have been married this year. This list confirms the names mentioned previously in other letters. The
[page break]
biggest surprise to me was learning that Geoffrey Holmes had made such a “big mistake”. That one can go to Calverly if you wish. Strange world, but nothing has tempted me during the past eighteen months until last Saturday when the boys have presented another “show”. It was a success throughout and the fair chorus girls were life-like enough in their war paint. One especially – a young officer of nineteen was a better “girl” than we could find in half the choruses in Britain. We have some real theatrical talent in our [indecipherable word] and the very best was made of the few props available. An old borrowed piano is all we have in the way of musical instruments. I mentioned before that Tony & I publish a weekly paper called the “Camp Echo”. He is the editor & I do the typing. We have been producing 28 pages each week containing stories, cartoons etc. in future we intend to publish a bigger & better paper but to issue it fortnightly instead. This will give the staff and contributors more time. The photo taken of the staff was a washout so we will have to try again. Sorry to hear that Mildred got pushed out of house and firm, but I was relieved to hear that no one got hurt. I have received two letters from her since I came to this country, but have not heard from Anne. It is a long time since any of the other girls wrote. A letter arrived from Aunty Dorothy two days ago posted on December 18th in answer to mine written some three months before. I thank you for your wishes for New Year and I hope you will get the letter with my wishes. I hope besides, as you say, that the next New Year we shall be able to see in together. I am tired of this place believe me. Well I will say good-bye until next letter and, as always, I send you every best wish and all my love. My thoughts are ever with you both.
[underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
Is numbered I
Royal Air Force 755052. Sgt J. D. Hudson
c/o. Consul Général des États Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
8-2-42 Afrique du Nord
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Since I wrote to you last I was pleased to receive two letters from you on Feb. 6th dated December 30th & January 1st. I was also glad to learn from your cable received exactly a week ago that eight of my letters reached you. Th latest dated November 21st. So by now you will know a little of the conditions prevailing at Laghouat. The pipes that dangle in the rack at home are Dad’s own & I did persevere with them at one time or another. The Briars I bought I gave away. I have started making a pipe here and am managing successfully. It is a very nice pipe but unfortunately there is not much tobacco to go with it. Cigarettes are practically non-existent, & we feel this because previously we have had an excellent supply. At the present rate of rationing it will be a problem getting anything at all before long, except perhaps fruit and vegetables which grow here. This afternoon each [indecipherable word] twenty four English cigarettes which have just arrived from the Red Cross, also a half slab of chocolate. There are two Christmas Puddings to be divided as well which will result in an eighth of a pudding per man. I believe there is more stuff in larger bulk en route. It is raining today for the second time this year, after a spell of two or three weeks fine weather. The last few days have been warmer and enable us to form an idea of what to expect in July and August. Your letter of Dec. 30th gives a list of the various people I knew who have been married this year. This list confirms the names mentioned previously in other letters. The
[page break]
biggest surprise to me was learning that Geoffrey Holmes had made such a “big mistake”. That one can go to Calverly if you wish. Strange world, but nothing has tempted me during the past eighteen months until last Saturday when the boys have presented another “show”. It was a success throughout and the fair chorus girls were life-like enough in their war paint. One especially – a young officer of nineteen was a better “girl” than we could find in half the choruses in Britain. We have some real theatrical talent in our [indecipherable word] and the very best was made of the few props available. An old borrowed piano is all we have in the way of musical instruments. I mentioned before that Tony & I publish a weekly paper called the “Camp Echo”. He is the editor & I do the typing. We have been producing 28 pages each week containing stories, cartoons etc. in future we intend to publish a bigger & better paper but to issue it fortnightly instead. This will give the staff and contributors more time. The photo taken of the staff was a washout so we will have to try again. Sorry to hear that Mildred got pushed out of house and firm, but I was relieved to hear that no one got hurt. I have received two letters from her since I came to this country, but have not heard from Anne. It is a long time since any of the other girls wrote. A letter arrived from Aunty Dorothy two days ago posted on December 18th in answer to mine written some three months before. I thank you for your wishes for New Year and I hope you will get the letter with my wishes. I hope besides, as you say, that the next New Year we shall be able to see in together. I am tired of this place believe me. Well I will say good-bye until next letter and, as always, I send you every best wish and all my love. My thoughts are ever with you both.
[underlined] Douglas [/underlined]
Collection
Citation
James Douglas Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents ,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 24, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/22589.
Item Relations
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