Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Title
Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Description
Great to receive cable with news of move to Laghouat. Six week since last letter and was feeling anxious. Hopes new camp will be clean and healthy. Some confusion over spelling of new location, awaiting letter to clear this up. Comments on weather. Is posting a calendar to him at the same time as letter. Catches up with news of friends. Mentions fathers cold and concludes with chat and gossip.
Creator
Date
1941-10-30
Spatial 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
EHudsonP-HEHudsonJD411030
Transcription
[inserted in pencil] 80 2-12-41. [/inserted in pencil]
191 Halifax Road
Nelson, Lancs.
England.
Thursday 30th Oct/41
My dear Douglas.
It was a great joy to have your cabled message this morning. “Delighted cable today, removed camp [indecipherable word] Laghouat, (LAGHOUAT) Algerie, writing always twice weekly, well, all love Hudson”. It will be six weeks on Saturday since we had a letter from you & I was beginning to feel anxious. When your cable arrived I got out the atlas, as usual, & found that your nearest camp appears to be in mountainous country, further in land. I do hope it will [inserted] be[/inserted] clean & healthy, as the last place appeared to be. In your old G. S. atlas the name is spelt LAGHAUT & according to the cable form, the place of origin is LAGOUAT. So until your longed for letters arrive I’m just wondering.
This week we seem to have come to winter-time & yesterday afternoon had a slight fall of snow. We all remember, don’t we, that seven years ago we had a heavy fall of snow & you & Dad came along snow-covered slippery roads to see me in the nursing home.
Yesterday I had a “perm” & on the way to the hair-dressing establishment I went through the Park – a very lovely natural park - & the effect yesterday was beautiful with brilliant sunshine & all lovely tints on trees & shrubs. But was it cold,
[page break]
Today we have another change & the rain has poured down & that outlook has been somewhat gloomy. Eight weeks today will be Christmas. At the same time as this letter I shall post a calendar to you & do hope it will be allowed to pass the censor. The picture will revive many happy memories.
A letter from Mrs Clayton on Tuesday tells that John is still at the same place, absolutely “fed up” & having a very unhappy time. I feel very sorry for John. It[?] must be a great disappointment that his eager expectations have not materialized. I have not heard anything of Peter Brothers[?] since he got his D.S.O., nor any news of Louis Murray[?] since you went away. We so often think of the happy days of boyhood. They leave very precious memories.
Now love it is time to say Goodnight again so I will leave this space until morning in the hope that I can acknowledge letters from you. Dad has had a wretched cold but I think he seems a little better tonight.
Friday morning & still no letter from you & I just keep on looking forward. It is a fine bright morning with white frost overnight, & marvellous visibility. Most of the trees have lost their leaves now but in this bright morning sunshine the fields look fresh & green.
Dad still seems poorly with his cold. You will remember in the old days [inserted] how [/inserted] stuffy & bad he was & he looks worse now he has gone so thin. I told you that last time he was weighed he & Auntie Gladys weighed each 8 stones 10lbs. I get a bit anxious sometimes, but he says I worry unnecessarily so it’s a good thing it is like that. Good bye now until Sunday. With all our love & thoughts & prayers. Mother & Dad
755052 Sgt. J[?] D. Hudson
Camp [indecipherable word]
Laghouat Algerie
Afrique du Nord.
191 Halifax Road
Nelson, Lancs.
England.
Thursday 30th Oct/41
My dear Douglas.
It was a great joy to have your cabled message this morning. “Delighted cable today, removed camp [indecipherable word] Laghouat, (LAGHOUAT) Algerie, writing always twice weekly, well, all love Hudson”. It will be six weeks on Saturday since we had a letter from you & I was beginning to feel anxious. When your cable arrived I got out the atlas, as usual, & found that your nearest camp appears to be in mountainous country, further in land. I do hope it will [inserted] be[/inserted] clean & healthy, as the last place appeared to be. In your old G. S. atlas the name is spelt LAGHAUT & according to the cable form, the place of origin is LAGOUAT. So until your longed for letters arrive I’m just wondering.
This week we seem to have come to winter-time & yesterday afternoon had a slight fall of snow. We all remember, don’t we, that seven years ago we had a heavy fall of snow & you & Dad came along snow-covered slippery roads to see me in the nursing home.
Yesterday I had a “perm” & on the way to the hair-dressing establishment I went through the Park – a very lovely natural park - & the effect yesterday was beautiful with brilliant sunshine & all lovely tints on trees & shrubs. But was it cold,
[page break]
Today we have another change & the rain has poured down & that outlook has been somewhat gloomy. Eight weeks today will be Christmas. At the same time as this letter I shall post a calendar to you & do hope it will be allowed to pass the censor. The picture will revive many happy memories.
A letter from Mrs Clayton on Tuesday tells that John is still at the same place, absolutely “fed up” & having a very unhappy time. I feel very sorry for John. It[?] must be a great disappointment that his eager expectations have not materialized. I have not heard anything of Peter Brothers[?] since he got his D.S.O., nor any news of Louis Murray[?] since you went away. We so often think of the happy days of boyhood. They leave very precious memories.
Now love it is time to say Goodnight again so I will leave this space until morning in the hope that I can acknowledge letters from you. Dad has had a wretched cold but I think he seems a little better tonight.
Friday morning & still no letter from you & I just keep on looking forward. It is a fine bright morning with white frost overnight, & marvellous visibility. Most of the trees have lost their leaves now but in this bright morning sunshine the fields look fresh & green.
Dad still seems poorly with his cold. You will remember in the old days [inserted] how [/inserted] stuffy & bad he was & he looks worse now he has gone so thin. I told you that last time he was weighed he & Auntie Gladys weighed each 8 stones 10lbs. I get a bit anxious sometimes, but he says I worry unnecessarily so it’s a good thing it is like that. Good bye now until Sunday. With all our love & thoughts & prayers. Mother & Dad
755052 Sgt. J[?] D. Hudson
Camp [indecipherable word]
Laghouat Algerie
Afrique du Nord.
Collection
Citation
P Hudson, “Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed July 22, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/23380.
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