Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
Reports arrival of latest letters, comments on life over the past three years and speculates on future. Notes his views on life, hope and faith which vary over time. Comments on weather and heat and daily routine. Assures them he is fit and well. Relates pulling their postman's leg over reading their mail but says that he does a great job. Catches up with news from home.
Creator
Date
1942-07-31
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-HE420731
Transcription
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J. D. Hudson.
c/o Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algerie.
Afrique du Nord.
31-7-42
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I wrote to you last three days ago and have since received your letter No. 60 dated July 10th. This has made a quick journey of less than three weeks and has reached me before letters 57, 58 & 59. As you say during the period of the last three years we have all travelled widely along the pathway of life. The going has been rough & uninteresting & the only fertile parts have been occasioned by the hope which springs from the reassurance of receiving letters and cables, our only link, but a strong link nevertheless. I know that the chain will not weaken until we are all pulled safely together again. The shore seems to be very distant but a wave bigger than the rest will leave us high and dry at some future date. Perhaps not quite as far distant as we are so often inclined to believe when the news does not sound too good. Sometimes I am quite undecided whether I should write a whole letter about hope & faith as I feel it; I may do one day. It will not really be a letter but an impression – my own impression – which has taken many months to form & which even today changes or varies slightly. But to be more practical – yes it has been hot recently
[page break]
the buildings withstand the heat during the day, but they also retain the heat caused by the sun in the late afternoon when the rays are slanting. The colonnades become deadly after 5 pm until [inserted] about [/inserted] midnight. I sleep outside at present and still find it warm wearing clothes, or no clothes. The back of the summer is broken and the end of August should see a difference. I am sending you a p.c. today, of Laghauot. My message is negligible beyond assuring you that I am fit & well. It is really a “knock” at our postman Sgt. Gibbins. We all pull his leg about reading our mail, & he replies saying he has only time to read the post cards & letters. I shall see if he reads my p.c. to-day. He is really a jolly little chap & does a good job of work collecting the mail & telegrams each day, & getting them in order for the French. Although you do not say so directly, I gather from your last letter that John has now a Commission. I wrote to him & Mrs. Clayton as soon as I learned of Mr. Clayton’s death – sometime in January. Pity you don’t get much summer weather. The sun just rises here and shines without any interruption until it sets. What a change to get back to a place where you wear coats & macs. in summer, & where there is rain & a sun that does not burn right through you during the middle of the day! I can scarcely imagine the weather experienced during my Scotch holidays in August past was real. What a shame you cannot buy films! I should have loved more snaps. Keep trying. All my love & thoughts as ever. Douglas.
c/o Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algerie.
Afrique du Nord.
31-7-42
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I wrote to you last three days ago and have since received your letter No. 60 dated July 10th. This has made a quick journey of less than three weeks and has reached me before letters 57, 58 & 59. As you say during the period of the last three years we have all travelled widely along the pathway of life. The going has been rough & uninteresting & the only fertile parts have been occasioned by the hope which springs from the reassurance of receiving letters and cables, our only link, but a strong link nevertheless. I know that the chain will not weaken until we are all pulled safely together again. The shore seems to be very distant but a wave bigger than the rest will leave us high and dry at some future date. Perhaps not quite as far distant as we are so often inclined to believe when the news does not sound too good. Sometimes I am quite undecided whether I should write a whole letter about hope & faith as I feel it; I may do one day. It will not really be a letter but an impression – my own impression – which has taken many months to form & which even today changes or varies slightly. But to be more practical – yes it has been hot recently
[page break]
the buildings withstand the heat during the day, but they also retain the heat caused by the sun in the late afternoon when the rays are slanting. The colonnades become deadly after 5 pm until [inserted] about [/inserted] midnight. I sleep outside at present and still find it warm wearing clothes, or no clothes. The back of the summer is broken and the end of August should see a difference. I am sending you a p.c. today, of Laghauot. My message is negligible beyond assuring you that I am fit & well. It is really a “knock” at our postman Sgt. Gibbins. We all pull his leg about reading our mail, & he replies saying he has only time to read the post cards & letters. I shall see if he reads my p.c. to-day. He is really a jolly little chap & does a good job of work collecting the mail & telegrams each day, & getting them in order for the French. Although you do not say so directly, I gather from your last letter that John has now a Commission. I wrote to him & Mrs. Clayton as soon as I learned of Mr. Clayton’s death – sometime in January. Pity you don’t get much summer weather. The sun just rises here and shines without any interruption until it sets. What a change to get back to a place where you wear coats & macs. in summer, & where there is rain & a sun that does not burn right through you during the middle of the day! I can scarcely imagine the weather experienced during my Scotch holidays in August past was real. What a shame you cannot buy films! I should have loved more snaps. Keep trying. All my love & thoughts as ever. Douglas.
Collection
Citation
J D Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 19, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/22738.
Item Relations
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