Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
Lists letters he has received but still missing one. Mentions that he had written about 50 letters to them so far and that many were still on the way. Glad that Easter was over as he hated holidays as they made him think of past times. Writes that they had a gym display and boxing tournament on Easter Monday but he did not take part as his gloves were getting rough and he believed he could not take chances in a place like that. Recalled his time at previous camps at El Kef and Médéa and some description of camp at Laghouat. Writes of expected arrival of more Red Cross food parcels and discusses drinks.
Creator
Date
1942-04-08
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-HE420408
Transcription
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J. D. Hudson
c/o Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algerie
Afrique du Nord.
8-4-42.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I wrote to you last on Sunday, April 5th, and since then have not heard from you. I will repeat that only your letter No. 11 has failed to arrive out of the first nineteen written. On Saturday I received yours of March 11th, No. 24 which made a quicker journey than most. I expect the others any time. To-day, I have very little to write about. I was pleased to receive your cable of Easter Greetings and I sent a reply immediately, that would be four or five days ago. It was good news to learn that you had received six letters dated from Dec. 9th to Jan 9th this makes twenty four since I arrived here, although some of those were written from [indecipherable word]. Since I arrived at Laghauat[?] I estimate that up to date I have written about fifty letters, so there are quite a number on the way at some place or other. The second[?] Easter spurt[?] in N. Africa is over – thank God. I hate holiday times – probably on account of their direct contrast to those spent in England before this wretched upheaval commenced. On Easter Monday there was a Gym Display & Boxing Tournament arranged. Both were excellent, but the weather was ridiculously hot in the early afternoon. It became considerably cooler for the boxing towards evening. I didn’t take part. I couldn’t make up my mind for some time but finally decided against. The gloves are getting very rough through usage and you cannot afford to take chances in this place. To-day we received our first typhus inoculation. Two more are to follow at intervals of about seven days. The French
[page break]
stick the needle into the left shoulder. I think this is less painful than the R.A.F. method of injecting into the arm. We had two inoculations at Kef.[?] fifteen months ago, and believe me you need them here. It is almost twelve months since we left Kef. For our very short time of freedom at Media.[?]
Little did we know then what we know now, could I kick[?] myself when I think back? It is considerably hotter here now, than it was at Media when we left. The sun just sits in the sky and shines. There are a few trees about the camp and by some miracle they have just burst into an extremely green foliage. It is remarkable because there isn’t a drop of water or [inserted] other [/inserted] vegetation anywhere, except outside where the ground has been irrigated. I guess that river you read about, and which I noticed was fairly full in November, must be getting a bit low now. There are, I believe, quite a number of Red Cross supplies just arrived. I hope they include plenty of tea & milk, because I still maintain that tea is the only real drink that will cure[?] all ills. When the war is over they can keep the red wine, provided the Japs don’t claim priority rights to [underlined] all [/underlined] the [indecipherable word] & [indecipherable word]. I wonder what the Russians drink to keep warm & buy[?] back the “Strength through Joy?[?] brigade? Perhaps Hitler wants his share of Vodka? I’d love to be back and listening to the views and opinions in England. You should hear some of the talk that goes on here. We wonder if they sing the Red Flag at home. By the way broad beans are in season again, although they are difficult to recognise as being the same as those we had before 1939. Even the vegetables change, or do they? Perhaps I am tending to be a little too [indecipherable word] so I will say good-bye. I send all my love, thoughts & best wishes to you both, as always. Keep smiling.
Douglas
c/o Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algerie
Afrique du Nord.
8-4-42.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I wrote to you last on Sunday, April 5th, and since then have not heard from you. I will repeat that only your letter No. 11 has failed to arrive out of the first nineteen written. On Saturday I received yours of March 11th, No. 24 which made a quicker journey than most. I expect the others any time. To-day, I have very little to write about. I was pleased to receive your cable of Easter Greetings and I sent a reply immediately, that would be four or five days ago. It was good news to learn that you had received six letters dated from Dec. 9th to Jan 9th this makes twenty four since I arrived here, although some of those were written from [indecipherable word]. Since I arrived at Laghauat[?] I estimate that up to date I have written about fifty letters, so there are quite a number on the way at some place or other. The second[?] Easter spurt[?] in N. Africa is over – thank God. I hate holiday times – probably on account of their direct contrast to those spent in England before this wretched upheaval commenced. On Easter Monday there was a Gym Display & Boxing Tournament arranged. Both were excellent, but the weather was ridiculously hot in the early afternoon. It became considerably cooler for the boxing towards evening. I didn’t take part. I couldn’t make up my mind for some time but finally decided against. The gloves are getting very rough through usage and you cannot afford to take chances in this place. To-day we received our first typhus inoculation. Two more are to follow at intervals of about seven days. The French
[page break]
stick the needle into the left shoulder. I think this is less painful than the R.A.F. method of injecting into the arm. We had two inoculations at Kef.[?] fifteen months ago, and believe me you need them here. It is almost twelve months since we left Kef. For our very short time of freedom at Media.[?]
Little did we know then what we know now, could I kick[?] myself when I think back? It is considerably hotter here now, than it was at Media when we left. The sun just sits in the sky and shines. There are a few trees about the camp and by some miracle they have just burst into an extremely green foliage. It is remarkable because there isn’t a drop of water or [inserted] other [/inserted] vegetation anywhere, except outside where the ground has been irrigated. I guess that river you read about, and which I noticed was fairly full in November, must be getting a bit low now. There are, I believe, quite a number of Red Cross supplies just arrived. I hope they include plenty of tea & milk, because I still maintain that tea is the only real drink that will cure[?] all ills. When the war is over they can keep the red wine, provided the Japs don’t claim priority rights to [underlined] all [/underlined] the [indecipherable word] & [indecipherable word]. I wonder what the Russians drink to keep warm & buy[?] back the “Strength through Joy?[?] brigade? Perhaps Hitler wants his share of Vodka? I’d love to be back and listening to the views and opinions in England. You should hear some of the talk that goes on here. We wonder if they sing the Red Flag at home. By the way broad beans are in season again, although they are difficult to recognise as being the same as those we had before 1939. Even the vegetables change, or do they? Perhaps I am tending to be a little too [indecipherable word] so I will say good-bye. I send all my love, thoughts & best wishes to you both, as always. Keep smiling.
Douglas
Collection
Citation
James Douglas Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 26, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/22667.
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