Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents

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Title

Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents

Description

Catches up with mail and cables sent and received as well as being pleased that his letters had reached them in numbers. Discusses reason for two gaps in his letters in during moves between camps. Mentions forming and exclusive club and a celebration evening. Writes that freedom will be much valued after their experiences and tells story of being interviewed by a general while wearing underpants only. Mentions vaccinations and inoculations. Writes that he reads all their letters and they are in his thoughts all the time. Comments on cable just received and delighted that one of his letters only took sixteen days to arrive with them, Discusses reply cable.

Creator

Date

1942-10-05

Temporal Coverage

Language

Format

Two page handwritten letter

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-HE421005

Transcription

Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J. D. Hudson.
c/o. Consul Général des Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algérie.
Afrique du Nord.
5-10-42.
My Dear Mother & Dad,
I was very pleased to receive your letter No. 76 on Oct. 1st. & glad to learn that the cable I sent for Dad’s birthday arrived in good time, ie, on Sept. 1st. I was particularly glad to learn that my letters written in June & July are arriving and that in consequence you understood my messages. As you say there is very little comment that can be made. It is very gratifying to know that you received 66 letters from Laghouat, the first written Oct 22nd/41 & last one dated July 17th/42. Your most recent cable tells that since my letter of July 27th & p.c. July 31st ref. postman have reached you. I am glad you now understand the reason for the gap in my June letters. It can be presumed, I feel sure, that the gap between my late Aumale letters and the first from Laghouat, was due to very similar reasons. This also happened in Kef. if you remember about Christmas time. We have founded a small club amongst ourselves and last night was the occasion of our second celebration. It was quite a pleasant evening but had to break up at lights out, 10 pm. A very selected few of us continued silently underneath the stars until 1. am. Another of those occasions when internment worries took temporary flight. All these little happenings we shall look back upon at some future date, and say “I remember way back in Laghouat - - thank god for freedom now.” Such is the value of liberty. The joke about the underpants! Can you imagine me in a very small pair of underpants, soiled & torn, the underpants I mean, being interviewed by a General, in the confines of my (at that time) super fortified abode? The situation struck me as being funny to a degree, hence the remarks about sense of humour.
[page break]
No, my friend at that time was an Australian. You will hear a lot more about it one of these days. I was working it out a few nights ago & I estimate it will take a whole evening to outline my account when we meet again. Notice I say outline. Much water has flowed, much has been attempted, very little has been gained except bags of experience & the [inserted] understanding of the [/inserted] questionable value of patience. But I don’t want to make this one of those kind of letters. I was vaccinated eight days ago & recently my stab has been a pretty hefty wound. It certainly did take all right this time. Since arriving in A-du-N. I have had five inoculations & a vaccination. I wonder if you think I talk too much about myself in these letters & do not ask enough questions about those at home. You can rest assured I note everything you say in all your letters & my thoughts are with you always. In my own mind I can picture very vividly all your goings on, so I do hope you will not think I have the tendency to be self centred. The lifebuoy soap is proving to be very useful. It is nearly two months since the parcel arrived & so I am beginning to anticipate the arrival of the second. Thank you again so very much for your efforts in this respect, they really are appreciated. I am continuing this letter on Monday morning & I am delighted to have just received your cable of Oct. 3rd reading:- “Delighted registered letter October 2nd saw John Crumpsall yesterday happy all love”. This is splendid news. My letter written on Sept. 15th posted on the 16th therefore arrived in 16 days, the fastest journey yet. I believe this was an extra long letter as well & it is good news to think it was not delayed. I am not replying to your cable until tomorrow as it is a mail-day & I may be able to let you know if any more letters arrive. When your cable arrived this morning, there was a note inside saying “No doubt about our Post service!! Signed postman. He does appear to have put me onto something good. I hope I shall be able to use this system again. And now good-bye until next mail day. My thoughts are ever with you both as I so often assure you. All my love & best wishes. Douglas.

Collection

Citation

J D Hudson, “Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/22879.

Item Relations

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