Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Title
Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents
Description
Reiterates new rule about being restricted to two letters a week. Reports arrival of recent mail. Glad to get news and that they are preparing third Red Cross parcel. His most essential requirement is footwear and soap. Comments on weather and that it was getting cooler. Mentions a navy form of Ludo being played as a change from bridge. Mentions his studies in commercial French and that they have started PT again. Red Cross supplies are exhausted and they hope further are on the way. Still have tea available and mentions navy cooks do all the cooking. Concludes with gossip.
Creator
Date
1942-09-10
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-HE420910
Transcription
Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J. D. Hudson.
c/o. Consul Général des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
Afrique du Nord.
10-9-42
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I wrote to you last on Tuesday, that is two days ago, and I then explained that as a result of a new order issued by the French, we are now restricted to writing two letters per week per man; whether this will be a permanent restriction, or not, I cannot say at the moment. Our people are doing what they can to alter it. It will not really affect my mail to you, but will mean I am unable to write to other people as well. My last letter acknowledged receipt of your letters 68, 69 & 70 and three from Dorothy & one from Mrs. Clayton. I am glad to receive all your news and especially pleased to note that you are already beginning to think about the preparation of the third Red Cross parcel. The first one, as you know, arrived intact on Aug. 12th together with other small items added presumably by the Red Cross themselves. I was delighted to know that the Red X. had notified you that the second parcel sent off end July was also on its way. The most essential future requirements as far as I can tell at present, are footwear (durability before daintiness) and soap. These are unobtainable here, although probably boots may be forthcoming from another source for winter. This is not reliable, however. The weather has changed considerably during the last week, and I imagine it is very similar from the temperature point of view to that experienced when we first arrived in Tunis over two years ago. At that time we thought it unbearably hot;
[page break]
after two years out here, we consider it pleasantly refreshing after the heat of the past three months. It now takes a heavy shirt about 40 minutes to dry when washed at mid-day instead of about 15 minutes. We have started a Ludo (service name “Uckers”) craze. This was introduced by the “Jaunty” – Naval Master at Arms – upon his recent arrival here. It sounds a childish pastime, but we have some quite exciting moments & it provides a pleasant refresher from the old inevitable “Bridge” How we have enjoyed the hours passed playing this latter game! My studies of commercial French have been interrupted for about two weeks but I have managed to start up again. I can write it passably but I cannot understand the French Radio & cannot get any practice speaking. Nevertheless the old Matric paper would prove to be a “choice vessel” now. I also started up on the P.T. three mornings ago with the advent of the fresher weather. It is possible to spend nearly all day out of doors again now the sun has lost its deadliness. The Red Cross food supply is practically exhausted and the rations of this organisation are negligible at the moment. We believe other supplies are on the way. Thank goodness our tea stock is still holding out. Our English naval cooks do all the French food for us now. It is better this way, but our diet is very soupy. I still recall the days when the juice used to run out of the beef when Dad’s carving knife was busy slicing. Remember the times I used to refuse the milk pudding? Your Problem child of the past will be your model offspring in the future, a product of a very unique overseas school. What a day! When it comes to pass you will have all the roses & gladioli you desire. I hope it will be possible to buy champagne, Terry’s Spartan & Players No. 3. We shall need things for our banquet. With all my love & thoughts as ever. Douglas.
c/o. Consul Général des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
Afrique du Nord.
10-9-42
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I wrote to you last on Tuesday, that is two days ago, and I then explained that as a result of a new order issued by the French, we are now restricted to writing two letters per week per man; whether this will be a permanent restriction, or not, I cannot say at the moment. Our people are doing what they can to alter it. It will not really affect my mail to you, but will mean I am unable to write to other people as well. My last letter acknowledged receipt of your letters 68, 69 & 70 and three from Dorothy & one from Mrs. Clayton. I am glad to receive all your news and especially pleased to note that you are already beginning to think about the preparation of the third Red Cross parcel. The first one, as you know, arrived intact on Aug. 12th together with other small items added presumably by the Red Cross themselves. I was delighted to know that the Red X. had notified you that the second parcel sent off end July was also on its way. The most essential future requirements as far as I can tell at present, are footwear (durability before daintiness) and soap. These are unobtainable here, although probably boots may be forthcoming from another source for winter. This is not reliable, however. The weather has changed considerably during the last week, and I imagine it is very similar from the temperature point of view to that experienced when we first arrived in Tunis over two years ago. At that time we thought it unbearably hot;
[page break]
after two years out here, we consider it pleasantly refreshing after the heat of the past three months. It now takes a heavy shirt about 40 minutes to dry when washed at mid-day instead of about 15 minutes. We have started a Ludo (service name “Uckers”) craze. This was introduced by the “Jaunty” – Naval Master at Arms – upon his recent arrival here. It sounds a childish pastime, but we have some quite exciting moments & it provides a pleasant refresher from the old inevitable “Bridge” How we have enjoyed the hours passed playing this latter game! My studies of commercial French have been interrupted for about two weeks but I have managed to start up again. I can write it passably but I cannot understand the French Radio & cannot get any practice speaking. Nevertheless the old Matric paper would prove to be a “choice vessel” now. I also started up on the P.T. three mornings ago with the advent of the fresher weather. It is possible to spend nearly all day out of doors again now the sun has lost its deadliness. The Red Cross food supply is practically exhausted and the rations of this organisation are negligible at the moment. We believe other supplies are on the way. Thank goodness our tea stock is still holding out. Our English naval cooks do all the French food for us now. It is better this way, but our diet is very soupy. I still recall the days when the juice used to run out of the beef when Dad’s carving knife was busy slicing. Remember the times I used to refuse the milk pudding? Your Problem child of the past will be your model offspring in the future, a product of a very unique overseas school. What a day! When it comes to pass you will have all the roses & gladioli you desire. I hope it will be possible to buy champagne, Terry’s Spartan & Players No. 3. We shall need things for our banquet. With 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/22861.
Item Relations
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