Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents

Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents

Received letter from him dated November 1st. mentions his weather and gifts of clothing he had received. Tried to get in touch by cable, no luck as only allowed for urgent matters and must be sent through red cross. Red Cross had been kind in helping them to get in touch. Comments on activities including use of wool donated to Red Cross. Discusses contact with air ministry about their allotment. Asked how he got new strap for watch and about what he can do in El Kef. Concludes with gossip.

1941-01-27

Two page handwritten letter

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EHudsonP-HEHudsonJD410127

[inserted] 23 [/inserted]
[inserted] 5-4-41 [/inserted]
10 Moorside Rd.
Kensal
Salford 7
England.
Monday. Jan. 27th. 1941.
My dear Douglas.
It was a great joy to us to have your letter dated, Nov. 1st. today, & to learn that you were well & all right at that time & also that you were enjoying such beautiful weather. You are right about our weather. It has been, & still is, very severe & snow was falling again tonight when we drew the curtains at 6 p.m. We are interested to learn that you have had various gifts of clothing & imagine that the leather jacket would be more suitable for use in this country than in Tunisia but perhaps as the winter advances you may have need of its protection. I went to Manchester this morning to try once again to get in touch with you by cable but no luck. Cables are only allowed to prisoners of war, on very urgent matters, & one to be sent via the Red Cross at Geneva so I was told when I went to see the Red Cross people this morning. They have all been most kind in trying to help us get in touch with you & we do so much appreciate what they have done. I took 2 pairs of socks which I had knitted & a lot of silver paper. The lady in charge of the stores asked if I would do more knitting if they supplied the wool so
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tonight I have begun to make a Khaki helmet, quite a new effort for me. The Red Cross in Mcr have had 1600 lbs of wool given to them but it must all be used for one special pattern of helmet & I am very interested in my new task. We thought it a very strange coincidence that your letter this morning told that you were trying to increase your allotment & by the same post we had the letter from the Air Ministry telling that the supplementary allotment of 21/- would be paid from 23/1/41 & that the new order book had been lodged at the Head Office at Salford. The allotment now to be paid is 35/- weekly. I suppose that is what you wish.
I am so glad you have many little treasures with you that are links with home. How did you manage to get a new strap for your watch? Are you allowed to go shopping & where do you get money from. Are you paid by the R.A.F. as you were in England, or does the “country of your adoption” supply necessary funds? Am glad you have removed the beard. The ‘tache was always a bit of a joke wasn’t it? but the beard!!! Well love it is getting near bed-time now & there is no need to tell you how you are always in our thoughts last thing at night & first thing in the morning & always we are looking forward to the day of joyous reunion.
All our love to you from Mother & Dad.
What does Chef mean? Must we accept the literal translation?
755052 J. D. Hudson (Sgt. Chef.)
Camp de Sejour Surfeille
S/courert Commandant D’armes
Le Kef.
Tunisie
Nord Afrique.