Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
Catches up with latest mail received and comments on content. Notes news from home of missing and killed friends is a succession of tragedies. Discusses a garbled cable. Says he is enclosing two photographs including one of a barbecue they held for which they got a local sheep. This would allow them to see how scraggy the local animals were. Mentions a pet dog was shot by the French causing bad feeling in camp. Describes some aspects of local area and philosophies.
Creator
Date
1942-04-27
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-HE420427
Transcription
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J. D. Hudson.
c/o Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet
Alger. Algerie
Afrique du Nord.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I was very glad to receive your letters Nos. 28 & 30 dated 22nd & 28th March, on Saturday, April 25th but the bad news came as a shock, concerning Ted Hole, following so closely on Loui’s[?] death. I do hope they will have[?] news that Ted is safe, and I know how Mr. & Mrs. Hole will be feeling about it all. We of all people realise this most forcibly after [inserted] our [/inserted] own experience nearly two years ago. I am very sorry indeed and hope you will express my sympathies to them all at Skipton if no good news is received. The news seems to be a succession of tragedies, and I was also sorry to learn of Mrs. Holme’s death, and here[?] also I send my sympathies to Shipton. You mention that my cable dated about March 18th was unintelligible and that you asked the P.O. to request a repetition from Laghauat. I will repeat the message here in case the correct version has not been received. “Delighted cable fourteenth (March) photo Andrew Letter eighteen written Mary Dorothy writing you always well all love thoughts”. I received at this time a letter from Mollie with a very good photo of her baby, also your latest letter was No. 18. I had just written to Mary & Dorothy to thank them for the many letters received, and it was roughly this information I tried
[page break]
to convey in my cable. Up to date all letters up to No. 30 have been received with the exception of Nos. 11, 22, 27 & 29. The last two are not overdue and may arrive any time. I am enclosing two photos with this letter, one, a time exposure taken indoors of Jimmy & myself, and another showing the barbecue when we bought a sheep[?] about January. This will give you an idea of the poorly nourished animals of this district, when you view its scragginess on the pole. Last[?] letter I enclosed a photo of myself typing the “camp echo” & one of Raf. This poor little dog has since been shot by the French, and it has caused no end of a bad feeling. You ask if we have spring flowers. I am afraid we have nothing beyond an expanse of sand and small stones. The world of greenery does not exist, except a little outside in the gardens which are behind high walls. I cannot write in these letters as I should like to. Expression – true expression is difficult when one visualises the channels through which these letters go before they finally reach their destination. The things and ideas we wish to discuss must wait. You know my views concerning National Prayer as urged by the King, and also my outlook towards the whole present day system of prayer or professed religion. Can you tell me what we should pray for these days? Who is right & who is the source of the troubles? That is the first problem, but I cannot discuss it here. Until we meet again let’s be thankful for what we have not lost, and possibly for a great deal we have gained. As ever I send you both all my love, thoughts and best wishes.
Douglas
c/o Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet
Alger. Algerie
Afrique du Nord.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I was very glad to receive your letters Nos. 28 & 30 dated 22nd & 28th March, on Saturday, April 25th but the bad news came as a shock, concerning Ted Hole, following so closely on Loui’s[?] death. I do hope they will have[?] news that Ted is safe, and I know how Mr. & Mrs. Hole will be feeling about it all. We of all people realise this most forcibly after [inserted] our [/inserted] own experience nearly two years ago. I am very sorry indeed and hope you will express my sympathies to them all at Skipton if no good news is received. The news seems to be a succession of tragedies, and I was also sorry to learn of Mrs. Holme’s death, and here[?] also I send my sympathies to Shipton. You mention that my cable dated about March 18th was unintelligible and that you asked the P.O. to request a repetition from Laghauat. I will repeat the message here in case the correct version has not been received. “Delighted cable fourteenth (March) photo Andrew Letter eighteen written Mary Dorothy writing you always well all love thoughts”. I received at this time a letter from Mollie with a very good photo of her baby, also your latest letter was No. 18. I had just written to Mary & Dorothy to thank them for the many letters received, and it was roughly this information I tried
[page break]
to convey in my cable. Up to date all letters up to No. 30 have been received with the exception of Nos. 11, 22, 27 & 29. The last two are not overdue and may arrive any time. I am enclosing two photos with this letter, one, a time exposure taken indoors of Jimmy & myself, and another showing the barbecue when we bought a sheep[?] about January. This will give you an idea of the poorly nourished animals of this district, when you view its scragginess on the pole. Last[?] letter I enclosed a photo of myself typing the “camp echo” & one of Raf. This poor little dog has since been shot by the French, and it has caused no end of a bad feeling. You ask if we have spring flowers. I am afraid we have nothing beyond an expanse of sand and small stones. The world of greenery does not exist, except a little outside in the gardens which are behind high walls. I cannot write in these letters as I should like to. Expression – true expression is difficult when one visualises the channels through which these letters go before they finally reach their destination. The things and ideas we wish to discuss must wait. You know my views concerning National Prayer as urged by the King, and also my outlook towards the whole present day system of prayer or professed religion. Can you tell me what we should pray for these days? Who is right & who is the source of the troubles? That is the first problem, but I cannot discuss it here. Until we meet again let’s be thankful for what we have not lost, and possibly for a great deal we have gained. As ever I send you both all my love, thoughts and best wishes.
Douglas
Collection
Citation
James Douglas Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 23, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/22671.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.