Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Title
Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Description
Writes describing visit of friend and passes on their news. Mentions feeling unwell and staying in bed. Says she sent him a cable on previous Saturday explaining that she had not been allowed to send him a small parcel. Still awaiting letters from him, the last one received was dated 25 November. Passes on more news and gossip. Two lines of letter have been blacked out.
Creator
Date
1942-03-02
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-HEHudsonJD420302
Transcription
[inserted] 120 [/inserted]
[underlined] 20 [/underlined]
[inserted] 191 [/inserted] [missing number] Halifax Road
Nelson Lancs.
England.
7-30 am Monday March 2nd/42
[inserted] 9-4-42 [/inserted]
[inserted] So sorry for this tear [/inserted]
My dear Douglas.
Here I am again tho’ not yet fully awake. You will know from previous letters that Mrs Clayton has been here for a day or two & in consequence my correspondence has been neglected. And what a time it has been!!! You used to say “we never know that they’re up to” & believe me truer words were never spoken. Since Mr Clayton died so suddenly on Dec. 2nd I’ve heard such fantastic stories & am still as far away from the truth as ever. But I understand that next week Mrs Clayton will have two guests living with her. Miss Hetty, (you remember her, she was 80 when you & John were boys together but now she’s 72) & a Dutch business man. But I’d better go back to Wednesday, the day of Mrs Claytons arrival. It was arranged that she should get the 2.20 from Manchester and I would meet her at Nelson. She didn’t turn up so I came along home & Dad & I were just finishing our meal when she arrived. Almost the first words were “whatever made you come to live at a place like this”! & that was the burden of her song until she went away on Saturday. As we stood waiting for the 12 am at Nelson she said again “I can’t understand you living at such a place” & I was so angry I was forced to retaliate with “I don’t suppose Cheetham Hill will look really beautiful today”!! From all of which you will gather that the visit was not an unqualified success & really I was never more thankful to say Goodbye to anyone.
[page break]
Yesterday, was poor day for me – think I have a touch of ‘flu with pains all over - & I stayed in bed until 12.30 & was away to bed early at night. I sent your cable on Saturday advising you as I have done in previous letters that the Censor refused permission to send your small parcel. It is still here, neatly packed, as I had hoped to send it to you. It would be common sense to open it & use the contents while they are fit to use but I haven’t much heart to do so yet. Well love we are still awaiting your letters since the one written Nov. 25th. It is the longest gap in your letters, over 3 months, & always I am thinking of you & praying for you, & all the dear boys with whom you spent your happy childhood. How thankful we have been that they were as full of joy as we could make them. I know you will feel a sense of almost personal loss, as I did to learn [censored sentence] Mrs Clayton told us that Louis’s extraordinary mathematical knowledge is being utilized by the R.A.F. & that Peter is “resting” after a very strenuous time. John is still at the same place awaiting some fantastic happening, as usual. What a life!!! A letter from Auntie Maud on Saturday told that Uncle Jim was very poorly suffering from asthma & his Dr has told him he must not go back to the works. So theres a good post for somebody. Now love Goodbye again & all our love & thoughts & prayers are with you always. Spring is on the way & daffodils in the shops 6d each. Your favourite carnations 2/6 each. Mother & Dad.
755052 Hudson
Camp Militaire
Laghouat
Algerie
[underlined] 20 [/underlined]
[inserted] 191 [/inserted] [missing number] Halifax Road
Nelson Lancs.
England.
7-30 am Monday March 2nd/42
[inserted] 9-4-42 [/inserted]
[inserted] So sorry for this tear [/inserted]
My dear Douglas.
Here I am again tho’ not yet fully awake. You will know from previous letters that Mrs Clayton has been here for a day or two & in consequence my correspondence has been neglected. And what a time it has been!!! You used to say “we never know that they’re up to” & believe me truer words were never spoken. Since Mr Clayton died so suddenly on Dec. 2nd I’ve heard such fantastic stories & am still as far away from the truth as ever. But I understand that next week Mrs Clayton will have two guests living with her. Miss Hetty, (you remember her, she was 80 when you & John were boys together but now she’s 72) & a Dutch business man. But I’d better go back to Wednesday, the day of Mrs Claytons arrival. It was arranged that she should get the 2.20 from Manchester and I would meet her at Nelson. She didn’t turn up so I came along home & Dad & I were just finishing our meal when she arrived. Almost the first words were “whatever made you come to live at a place like this”! & that was the burden of her song until she went away on Saturday. As we stood waiting for the 12 am at Nelson she said again “I can’t understand you living at such a place” & I was so angry I was forced to retaliate with “I don’t suppose Cheetham Hill will look really beautiful today”!! From all of which you will gather that the visit was not an unqualified success & really I was never more thankful to say Goodbye to anyone.
[page break]
Yesterday, was poor day for me – think I have a touch of ‘flu with pains all over - & I stayed in bed until 12.30 & was away to bed early at night. I sent your cable on Saturday advising you as I have done in previous letters that the Censor refused permission to send your small parcel. It is still here, neatly packed, as I had hoped to send it to you. It would be common sense to open it & use the contents while they are fit to use but I haven’t much heart to do so yet. Well love we are still awaiting your letters since the one written Nov. 25th. It is the longest gap in your letters, over 3 months, & always I am thinking of you & praying for you, & all the dear boys with whom you spent your happy childhood. How thankful we have been that they were as full of joy as we could make them. I know you will feel a sense of almost personal loss, as I did to learn [censored sentence] Mrs Clayton told us that Louis’s extraordinary mathematical knowledge is being utilized by the R.A.F. & that Peter is “resting” after a very strenuous time. John is still at the same place awaiting some fantastic happening, as usual. What a life!!! A letter from Auntie Maud on Saturday told that Uncle Jim was very poorly suffering from asthma & his Dr has told him he must not go back to the works. So theres a good post for somebody. Now love Goodbye again & all our love & thoughts & prayers are with you always. Spring is on the way & daffodils in the shops 6d each. Your favourite carnations 2/6 each. Mother & Dad.
755052 Hudson
Camp Militaire
Laghouat
Algerie
Collection
Citation
P Hudson, “Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 26, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/23580.
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