Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents

Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents

Is very happy to have a letter from him after long weeks of waiting to hear any news. Tries to picture him in his surroundings and wonders how much he would miss the green of England. Mentions being informed by the air ministry that he was interned in Tunisia and relates activity on hearing this news. Mentions how kind people had been and hoped he would be able to tell them about how he was spending his time. Hoped he would have opportunity to learn Arabic. [Three lines blacked out]. Comments on weather.

1940-11-07

Two page handwritten letter and envelope

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EHudsonP-HEHudsonJD401107

[underlined] Prisoners of War Post [/underlined]
Kriegsgefangener Post
[postmark]
755052 J. D. HUDSON (Sgt. Chef.)
British Prisoner of War
Camp de Sejour Suirfeille
S/Courent. Commandant- D’armes
LE KEF
Tunisie
Nord Afrique.
[page break]
[inserted] 6-1-41 [/inserted]
From
Mrs Phyllis Hudson
10 Moorside Rd.
Kensal
Salford 7
Lancs.
England
[postmark]
[page break]
755052 J. D. Hudson (Sgt. Chef.)
Camp De Sejour Suirfeille
S/Courent Commandant D’armes
LE KEF
Tunisie
Nord Afrique.
My dear Douglas.
No words I could write could express the pleasure & happiness your letter of Sept. 1st. has given to us. We have read it again & again & will soon be able to repeat it, without the copy. It is so good to know that I can write to you again after the long weeks of anxious waiting. All day today I’ve been thinking of your new surroundings. You would miss the fresh green grass & the trees & shrubs that are so much a feature of our English countryside but the account of the luscious fruit growing so plentiful sounds good. After four weeks of anxiety we learnt from the Air ministry that you were interred & safe in Tunisia. You will understand just how much the message meant to us. It was certainly a new lease of life for me. Ken [indecipherable word] said I looked 20 years younger. They were just coming in at 10-30 p.m.
[page break]
when our telegram came so Dad went out to share the good news with them. They came back with Dad & stayed here rejoicing with us until 1-30. They were marvellously kind to us during the time that you were “lost” & we miss them very much now they are away. Ken expects to join the “Junior Service” very shortly & Mr S. is going to carry on the business & is at present living with an aunt & Uncle. The house is empty. Your case & parcel arrived safely shortly after you went away but they are still unopened. I just hadn’t the courage to unpack the things until I had your own letter telling that you were all right. Perhaps you will be allowed to tell us how you spend your time. We should like to know. No doubt much of it will be given up to learning the languages of your present domicile. I read somewhere that Arabic is a very valuable language to acquire & I do hope that you will have facilities to learn the pure language & not patois. As you feared [indecipherable word] might pick up in Jaffes. I am glad you can get a French newspaper each day. [censored sentence]
Today here has been a very beautiful day with a lot of precious sunshine & tho’ the trees have lost their leaves & the gardens look sad & “brackenish” Kensal really did look very nice. The sunset was marvellous & I wondered if it were beautiful for you too. Now love Goodbye until Sunday. All love from Mother & Dad.
10 Moorside Rd.
Kensal. Salford 7
Lancs. England.
The P.O. advised the unusual style of address in case the envelope got lost when the letter was being censored