Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents

Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents

Reports arrival of recent mail and wishes his mail to them would be as quick as theirs to him. Writes about books being read and a little of his daily activity. Mentions that Red Cross parcels were still arriving regularly and recently contained tins of bacon which was the first he had. Goes on with considerable discussion of his cooking efforts and mentions including a photograph showing cooking facilities at previous camp. Says he has been looking at photographs he has to remind him of them and others.

1942-02-18

Two page handwritten letter and envelope

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EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE420218

[Front of envelope]
EXAMINER 4501 [postmark]
MR. & MRS. H. E. HUDSON
191 HALIFAX ROAD
NELSON.
LANCASHIRE
ANGLETERRE
[/Front of envelope]
(Back of envelope]

FROM. SGT. CHEF J. D. HUDSON. 755052
BRITISH INTERNED AIRMAN.
CAMP DES INTERNES BRITANNIQUES
LAGHOUAT.
ALGERIE
AFRIQUE DU NORD

[inserted] Group photo enclosed [/inserted]

OPENED BY

[/Back of envelope]
[page break]

Royal Air Force. Sgt. J. D. Hudson 755052
c/o Consul General des. Etats Unis
Rue Miichelet. Alger. Algerie.
Afrique Du Nord.

18-2-42.

My Dear Mother & Dad,

Yesterday I was very pleased to receive your letter No. 7. dated January 18th. So far I have received your letters Nos. 1: 3: 5: 6 & 7 written this year, and these I have acknowledged in my earlier letters. On Feb. 14th I was pleased to receive your cable of the 13th and I wired a reply immediately. Your letter of Jan. 19th was written just before my last batch of eight letters reached you so I am expecting a reply to them any day now. I do wish you could receive my mail as quickly as I receive yours. Each letter takes about three to four weeks to arrive. You mention reading a book by Warwick Deeping. It is rather strange because I have just finished one of his called “The Malice of Man[?]” and I am waiting to read another called “Exiles” I enjoyed the last one immensely. You say that the weather was very cold about mid-January. The past few days have been warmer here but yesterday there was a terribly cold wind and isolated flakes of snow appeared, but in the sun it was nearly warm enough to sun-bathe sheltered from the wind. I did about five hours reading in the sun the other day but I developed a headache as a result which is only just beginning to clear. I shall exercise a little more care in future. Red Cross parcels continue to arrive regularly and in the recent issues I acquired two tins of bacon which Jimmy & I shared. This is the first bacon I have had since my arrival in Africa eighteen months

[page break]

ago. We still continue with our amateurish cooking and the latest efforts have been puddings. I will quote the recipe of the last one, made yesterday. Contents were bread crumbs, ground[?] up dry Arab biscuits, dates, figs, home-made marmalade, saccharine and a glass of sweet aperitif. This mess was placed in an empty Red Cross tine and the whole affair boiled for one hour. Afterwards we dried the pudding by placing the tin on the embers of the fire for half an hour. We made a primitive sauce of milk powder, cocoa and saccharine. The result was a terribly rich rather stodgy affair which must have splashed as it went lower[?] I am sending a small photo showing our cooking arrangements at Auncale[?]. They show somebody cooking on a charcoal & wood fire in a bowl on the window sill. Here we cook in a fire place; the only fuel is wood which is very scarce. I am also sending a photo taken at Auncale[?] shortly before we left. I cannot remember whether this has been sent earlier, or not. However, I have duplicates of them all, so one day I expect we shall be able to go through them all together. I have just been looking through the photos you sent me taken in the garden last summer. They are very good ones and your garden does look splendid. I am ever so glad to have these with me because you both look very well and at the moment, they are very dear to me. I have quite a number of photos with me taken of John, myself, the motor bikes and the girls and it is good to be able to glance through them. I am just waiting for that day when we are together again, when I shall be able to tell you all that has happened. The little I could tell you from Hut 190 is nothing compared with my present inability. So good-bye until I write my next letter. Keep smiling and may everything go well. Until we meet again you will be always in my thoughts. All my love and best wishes to you both.
Douglas