Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
Reports arrival of two letters and discusses content including some financial matters. Catches up on other news from home. Writes of going through his photographs of home and comments on some. Says there was no sign of cigarette or book parcels that had been sent. List things that had been received by other internees by registered airmail and noted some parcels took 3 - 4 months to arrive. Compares English countryside to North Africa.
Creator
Date
1942-05-15
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-HE420515
Transcription
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J.D. Hudson.
c/o. Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algerie.
Aftique du Nord.
15th May 1942.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
It was a very great joy to me to receive three letters from you yesterday Nos. 31, 33 & 34; these were the first to arrive since April 25th with the exception of your letter No. 27. which came on May 12th. The absent ones up to date are Nos. 11, 22, 29 & 32. In all my letters I give you the state of the “mail” so that you can tell easily how your letters are faring. I think you will agree with me that the deliveries from England are fairly good. I misunderstood your telegram of March 31st, I thought the “Whitworth expect slight improvement” referred to delivery of letters to England from here. However, your letter 31 has made this clear that you were referring to my account. I understand the circumstances of the past eighteen months and ask you not to worry. I mentioned in a very much earlier letter that you had to use my allotment in the manner most satisfactory to yourselves. I am glad to hear that spring weather has reached you at last after the long spell of unusual wintery conditions, and I know just how much you will appreciate the return to life of the plants, and how you will be looking forward to the days ahead in the garden. Only yesterday I went through all my photographs and I was admiring the display of flowers in your garden last year. I, rather like you, have to visualise your living conditions, although in my case I have the advantage of having known previously the surrounding district, whereas you have to base your conceptions on the book, which, however, appears to have
[page break]
furnished you with reasonably accurate information. Good to know the local girls are attractive, but does this apply to their speech as well as make-up. Always the cynic, am I not? The book Mrs. Clayton sent has not yet arrived, neither have I any news of the cigarettes you despatched. People have received such things as fountain pens and wristlet watches by Registered Air Mail from England in a few weeks. Over thirty parcels of clothing have been received by different individuals, from home by the Red Cross, hence my recent telegraphed requests. These parcels vary from 3 to 4 months to arriving. I, like you, keep on hoping you will hear good news concerning Ted Hall. I send every sympathy to Mr. & Mrs. Hall. You ask about the blossom on the lemon & fig trees. I have not been out to look this year. I noticed them last year in Tunis and they don’t compare in any more favourable degree than the blossoms in any English orchard. What’s in a name? A rose by any other name, etc. etc. Because the blossom is fig, or lemon it sounds exciting, but believe me for kaleidoscope of colour you cannot beat the English countryside in spring. I must admit that Medea was exceptionally picturesque, but that is the most Anglified spot, I am sure, in North Africa. For us here, England is England; [deleted] and [/deleted] we tend to be prejudiced, which after all I suppose is only natural, being in this predicament, but even so the English countryside hold most of my pleasant memories, & the English countryside provides the settings of so much which I look back on a being beautiful, & clean. With this are all my associations of the past and hopes for the future. That we may recapture what is temporarily lost, together, is what I ask at present. The future beyond that doesn’t as yet enter into it. With all my love, thoughts & best wishes, as ever. Douglas
c/o. Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algerie.
Aftique du Nord.
15th May 1942.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
It was a very great joy to me to receive three letters from you yesterday Nos. 31, 33 & 34; these were the first to arrive since April 25th with the exception of your letter No. 27. which came on May 12th. The absent ones up to date are Nos. 11, 22, 29 & 32. In all my letters I give you the state of the “mail” so that you can tell easily how your letters are faring. I think you will agree with me that the deliveries from England are fairly good. I misunderstood your telegram of March 31st, I thought the “Whitworth expect slight improvement” referred to delivery of letters to England from here. However, your letter 31 has made this clear that you were referring to my account. I understand the circumstances of the past eighteen months and ask you not to worry. I mentioned in a very much earlier letter that you had to use my allotment in the manner most satisfactory to yourselves. I am glad to hear that spring weather has reached you at last after the long spell of unusual wintery conditions, and I know just how much you will appreciate the return to life of the plants, and how you will be looking forward to the days ahead in the garden. Only yesterday I went through all my photographs and I was admiring the display of flowers in your garden last year. I, rather like you, have to visualise your living conditions, although in my case I have the advantage of having known previously the surrounding district, whereas you have to base your conceptions on the book, which, however, appears to have
[page break]
furnished you with reasonably accurate information. Good to know the local girls are attractive, but does this apply to their speech as well as make-up. Always the cynic, am I not? The book Mrs. Clayton sent has not yet arrived, neither have I any news of the cigarettes you despatched. People have received such things as fountain pens and wristlet watches by Registered Air Mail from England in a few weeks. Over thirty parcels of clothing have been received by different individuals, from home by the Red Cross, hence my recent telegraphed requests. These parcels vary from 3 to 4 months to arriving. I, like you, keep on hoping you will hear good news concerning Ted Hall. I send every sympathy to Mr. & Mrs. Hall. You ask about the blossom on the lemon & fig trees. I have not been out to look this year. I noticed them last year in Tunis and they don’t compare in any more favourable degree than the blossoms in any English orchard. What’s in a name? A rose by any other name, etc. etc. Because the blossom is fig, or lemon it sounds exciting, but believe me for kaleidoscope of colour you cannot beat the English countryside in spring. I must admit that Medea was exceptionally picturesque, but that is the most Anglified spot, I am sure, in North Africa. For us here, England is England; [deleted] and [/deleted] we tend to be prejudiced, which after all I suppose is only natural, being in this predicament, but even so the English countryside hold most of my pleasant memories, & the English countryside provides the settings of so much which I look back on a being beautiful, & clean. With this are all my associations of the past and hopes for the future. That we may recapture what is temporarily lost, together, is what I ask at present. The future beyond that doesn’t as yet enter into it. With all my love, thoughts & best wishes, as ever. Douglas
Collection
Citation
James Douglas Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 16, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/22676.
Item Relations
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