Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
Reports arrival of letters and telegram to which he is sending reply. Outlines changes to telegram system. Notes they have dispatched another parcel but is still awaiting arrival of the first ones. Describes recent weather with thunderstorm and cooling temperatures. Hopes they can start PT again soon. Mentions cooking arrangements at availability of boiling water for tea. Asks them to enquire of air ministry about promotion of NCO flying personnel as officers there were receiving news of their promotions. If at home they would all be flight sergeants/warrant officers now. Mentions having photographs taken which he will send when available.
Creator
Date
1942-08-07
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-HE420807
Transcription
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J. D. Hudson.
c/o Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algerie.
Afrique du Nord
7-8-42.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Yesterday I was very pleased to receive your telegram dated August 4th as follows:- “Delighted message August first written London re cables special thoughts for you today August fourth parcel despatched July 28 all love” to which I am sending the following reply today “Delighted cable August fourth confirmation receiver to pay arrived shall send next telegram this way await parcels well all love keep smiling Douglas Hudson”. The confirmation was received two days ago from the Eastern Telegraph Co. at Bone but I cannot make use of this privilege until the Laghouat P.O. has been advised. This will probably be effected tomorrow so my future telegrams will be sent via Eastern for you to pay. I was glad to hear you finally received my telegram originally sent off on July 21st & delighted to know you had dispatched another parcel on July 28th I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first parcel which is due anytime, also the cigarettes. I do hope you received my short cabled message sent off on Aug. 4th for your Wedding Anniversary. My thoughts were very much with you on that day, but of course they always are. The last
[page break]
two days have been considerably cooler & consequently more pleasant. This followed a surprising short but to the point thunderstorm two evenings ago. It is now possible to lie on one’s bed without the perspiration simply pouring out. Before long we shall be able to start the P.T. again. I told you in my last letter that we have our own kitchens & cooks now. An improvement particularly as we can get boiling water three times a day for our Red X tea. Would you make this enquiry for me, of Air Ministry, London? Is the promotion of N.C.O. flying personnel automatic in the case of a person in my position? Officers here are receiving news of their promotion. If we N.C.Os were still in England, alive[?], we should be at least Flight Sgts. Or Warrant Officers. It is a point worth clearing up, & I should like to know whether promotion ceases when one becomes a prisoner. I had four ‘photos taken about ten days ago, so when the prints come out I hope to send them along to you. I doubt if I shall get many more opportunities in future & have photos taken because there is a big film shortage & it has [inserted] been [/inserted] with some difficulty that we have obtained our recent stock. Films or no films, we still jog along hoping that our stay here may not be too long. I am sure we have outstayed our welcome. We are not always the politest of guests. With all my love as ever. Douglas
c/o Consul General des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algerie.
Afrique du Nord
7-8-42.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
Yesterday I was very pleased to receive your telegram dated August 4th as follows:- “Delighted message August first written London re cables special thoughts for you today August fourth parcel despatched July 28 all love” to which I am sending the following reply today “Delighted cable August fourth confirmation receiver to pay arrived shall send next telegram this way await parcels well all love keep smiling Douglas Hudson”. The confirmation was received two days ago from the Eastern Telegraph Co. at Bone but I cannot make use of this privilege until the Laghouat P.O. has been advised. This will probably be effected tomorrow so my future telegrams will be sent via Eastern for you to pay. I was glad to hear you finally received my telegram originally sent off on July 21st & delighted to know you had dispatched another parcel on July 28th I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first parcel which is due anytime, also the cigarettes. I do hope you received my short cabled message sent off on Aug. 4th for your Wedding Anniversary. My thoughts were very much with you on that day, but of course they always are. The last
[page break]
two days have been considerably cooler & consequently more pleasant. This followed a surprising short but to the point thunderstorm two evenings ago. It is now possible to lie on one’s bed without the perspiration simply pouring out. Before long we shall be able to start the P.T. again. I told you in my last letter that we have our own kitchens & cooks now. An improvement particularly as we can get boiling water three times a day for our Red X tea. Would you make this enquiry for me, of Air Ministry, London? Is the promotion of N.C.O. flying personnel automatic in the case of a person in my position? Officers here are receiving news of their promotion. If we N.C.Os were still in England, alive[?], we should be at least Flight Sgts. Or Warrant Officers. It is a point worth clearing up, & I should like to know whether promotion ceases when one becomes a prisoner. I had four ‘photos taken about ten days ago, so when the prints come out I hope to send them along to you. I doubt if I shall get many more opportunities in future & have photos taken because there is a big film shortage & it has [inserted] been [/inserted] with some difficulty that we have obtained our recent stock. Films or no films, we still jog along hoping that our stay here may not be too long. I am sure we have outstayed our welcome. We are not always the politest of guests. With all my love as ever. Douglas
Collection
Citation
J D Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 23, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/22825.
Item Relations
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