Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Title
Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Description
Writes of father going out for fire watching duty on a snowy night. Comments on the days weather and that it had been a rough winter. Still waiting for letters the last came at the end of January. Writes there was no more news of loss of a friend. Mentions reading one of his letters and that it was good to learn that they were getting splendid parcels from the Red Cross. Mentions rationing at home. and the effect of the war in general. Concludes with catching up with family news.
Creator
Date
1942-03-08
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Two page handqwritten 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-HEHudsonJD420308
Transcription
[inserted] 123 [/inserted]
[underlined] 23 [/underlined]
[inserted] 14-4-42 [/inserted]
191 Halifax Rd.
Nelson Lancs.
England
Sunday night. March 8th/42
My dear Douglas.
I have just seen Dad go out to his fire watching duties, on one of the worst nights imaginable, with snow falling heavily. The bus stop is just across the road & I was waiting to see him get on the bus when a car stopped & took him along to town so I am hoping the journey would not prove too bad. The weather has been very disappointing today. We waked to see the sun shining & lots of blue sky, but by mid-day greyness was spreading all around – then about tea-time the snow began to come down in earnest. It really has been a very rough winter with more snow than we have seen for some time. But now we have got to the 8th of March we can reasonably hope for sunshine soon. Well love we are still awaiting more letters. The last ones arrived on Jan 31st (dated to Nov. 25th) & I am ever hoping the post man will bring the most precious of all our letters. Of course we do understand that their [sic] are so many dangers & difficulties to be surmounted before the letters can reach us, & are truly thankful indeed for all the dear messages which do reach us. I have felt very sad & troubled all this week since learning of Louis’s death. It does seem such a waste of bright youth & ability. I have not had any further news that that sent to you in my last two letters nor do I expect to hear much more. As you used to say “everything is so casual” but it is a great sorrow to us to know that another of your dear friend’s has made
[page break]
the greatest sacrifice. I have just been reading again your letter dated November 16th which also arrived on Jan 31st & it is good to learn that you were receiving such splendid parcels from the Red X. With all my heart I hope you keep on getting them. The food question becomes increasingly difficult & rationing continues but we still have enough to eat & are very thankful. It is really rather wonderful that we are able to get so much after so many months of war & tho’ we do grumble sometimes “at the powers that be” we feel they’ve tackled a very difficult job very efficiently. I wonder if I told you in my last letter that Uncle Jim was ill with asthma & that Dad was going to see him on Saturday. Well, Dad rang up & learned that the invalid was much better & as travelling in war time is not very pleasant & very wintry conditions do not improve matters he decided to postpone the visit, which was very wise. Auntie Maud wrote that Gordon is now in Burma & that little Rosemary has been very ill with appendicitis. Joan seems to have had more than her share of trials lately. We can all imagine her acute anxiety. Tomorrow (no Tuesday the 10th) will be Eileen’s birthday so I must send her a line. Did I tell you she was at Pudsey now, doing the same kind of work in a more important sphere with much better pay. We have no news from that branch of Calverley since my birthday so conclude there is nothing exciting to report from there. So now love Goodnight once again. We are thinking of you always & just looking forward all the time to peace & joyous reunion. All our love & thoughts & prayers from Mother & Dad.
755052 Hudson,
Camp Militaire
Laghouat Algerie Afrique du Nord.
[underlined] 23 [/underlined]
[inserted] 14-4-42 [/inserted]
191 Halifax Rd.
Nelson Lancs.
England
Sunday night. March 8th/42
My dear Douglas.
I have just seen Dad go out to his fire watching duties, on one of the worst nights imaginable, with snow falling heavily. The bus stop is just across the road & I was waiting to see him get on the bus when a car stopped & took him along to town so I am hoping the journey would not prove too bad. The weather has been very disappointing today. We waked to see the sun shining & lots of blue sky, but by mid-day greyness was spreading all around – then about tea-time the snow began to come down in earnest. It really has been a very rough winter with more snow than we have seen for some time. But now we have got to the 8th of March we can reasonably hope for sunshine soon. Well love we are still awaiting more letters. The last ones arrived on Jan 31st (dated to Nov. 25th) & I am ever hoping the post man will bring the most precious of all our letters. Of course we do understand that their [sic] are so many dangers & difficulties to be surmounted before the letters can reach us, & are truly thankful indeed for all the dear messages which do reach us. I have felt very sad & troubled all this week since learning of Louis’s death. It does seem such a waste of bright youth & ability. I have not had any further news that that sent to you in my last two letters nor do I expect to hear much more. As you used to say “everything is so casual” but it is a great sorrow to us to know that another of your dear friend’s has made
[page break]
the greatest sacrifice. I have just been reading again your letter dated November 16th which also arrived on Jan 31st & it is good to learn that you were receiving such splendid parcels from the Red X. With all my heart I hope you keep on getting them. The food question becomes increasingly difficult & rationing continues but we still have enough to eat & are very thankful. It is really rather wonderful that we are able to get so much after so many months of war & tho’ we do grumble sometimes “at the powers that be” we feel they’ve tackled a very difficult job very efficiently. I wonder if I told you in my last letter that Uncle Jim was ill with asthma & that Dad was going to see him on Saturday. Well, Dad rang up & learned that the invalid was much better & as travelling in war time is not very pleasant & very wintry conditions do not improve matters he decided to postpone the visit, which was very wise. Auntie Maud wrote that Gordon is now in Burma & that little Rosemary has been very ill with appendicitis. Joan seems to have had more than her share of trials lately. We can all imagine her acute anxiety. Tomorrow (no Tuesday the 10th) will be Eileen’s birthday so I must send her a line. Did I tell you she was at Pudsey now, doing the same kind of work in a more important sphere with much better pay. We have no news from that branch of Calverley since my birthday so conclude there is nothing exciting to report from there. So now love Goodnight once again. We are thinking of you always & just looking forward all the time to peace & joyous reunion. All our love & thoughts & prayers from Mother & Dad.
755052 Hudson,
Camp Militaire
Laghouat Algerie Afrique du Nord.
Collection
Citation
P Hudson, “Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed May 5, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/23583.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.