Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents

Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents

Comments that he has received no new mail. Says he is enclosing three photographs taken some time ago and describes content. Says he is only sending a few photos at a time in case letters go missing. Writes that dramatic society are producing "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" the next night and comments on how good shows are but this is last before it gets too hot. Mentions taking some photographs for the camp paper and describes a little about its production. Concludes with description of what he has been reading.

1942-03-27

Two page handwritten letter

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EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE420327

Royal Air Force. Sgt. J. D. Hudson 755052.
c/o Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algerie.
27.3.42. Afrique du Nord.
My Dear Mother + Dad,
I have not received any more letters from you since I wrote last about three days ago. The latest to arrive was No. 19. and the only ones missing so far are Nos. 11 + 16 out of the first nineteen you have written. I mentioned in my last letter that I hoped the mail from here would now reach you sooner, in about six weeks, because the Consulor route is now open to us again. Today, I am sending brewith [sic] three photos, the one of myself I sent ages ago and I admitted at the time that I was looking a trifle surly and unshaven. This was taken about New Year when the weather was cold. Sending a duplicate may not be out of place because it is quite probable that the original will have gone astray. The other photos were taken indoors during our last pantomime. One is of the “Crazy Gang” and the other shows the sage. This was taken in our dining-room. In fact you can see some of our “dining” tables in the foreground. The chairs dont belong to this room, however, but are taking the place of the usual benches which have gone to make up the platform for the stage. In next letter I will send you a photo of the chorus & the “rocket machine”; others will follow. I think it better to send a few at a time in case they all go astray in one letter. I believe there is a shortage of printing paper in haghunal [sic] and this is holding up the prints of ‘photos taken earlier’ which I hoped to send to you of myself & Jeninget [sic]. Our Dramatic Society is producing “Snowhite & the seven Dwarfs” tomorrow night, Saturday, and this will be the last performance
[page break]
of the sesson [sic]. It will be too hot to produce before long. As I have said before there shows are excellent and a credit to the producer who has to work with so little material. We took several photos of the “Camp Echo” and I am very glad that they all came out splendidly. I have ordered three small & three enlargements of each, and I do hope that it will be possible to send these a to you at a later date. I am not quite sure whether the typed pages will pass the censors. It is possible that the enlargements will be legible, so maybe this will overcome the difficulty. I will repeat, just in case my earlier letters have not arrived, that the ‘Camp Echo’ is Edited by Tony & typed by myself. We produce it fortnightly and it contains about 10,000 words, drawings, cartoons & photos of camp life. After finishing “Gd [sic] Wine & New by Daying [sic], which I considered good – I like his books – I read “Vile Bodies” by Evelyn Waugh which did not appeal to me very greatly. At present I am reading “After Many a Summer Dies the Swan” by Aldous Huxley, which is different to either of the others. My fountain pen so laugd [sic] functions as a fountain pen because the inside rubber is broken. The nib is beautifully twixed [sic] and as many an upstroke it catches abmirably, have the spray of blots. It has been cooler again for three days but still quite bad enough to sunbathe. Incidentably [sic] we have been warned against too much sunbathing. Possibilities of sunstroke, and T.B. because it dries ones chd [sic]. I am going out in a few minutes. Must take advantage of these days before it gets too hot. Before I say good-bye I hope that all is going well with you both at home & that Dad’s late Feb. cold is better. As ever I send all my love, thoughtlets & best wishes.
[underlined] Douglas. [/underlined]