Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Title
Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Description
Writes about the weather. Says it was three weeks since his last batch of letters and looking forward to more. Mentions that putting stamps on does not seem to matter and suggests he keep his allowance for food. Relieved to hear that Red Cross parcels are arriving again. Tells of workman working on paths round the house. Writes of local businessman who has grocers shop and who had delivered goods every week. Mentions getting hold of father's tobacco and tomatoes. Quotes passage from the book she is reading (Fighter Pilot).
Creator
Date
1942-06-15
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-HEHudsonJD420615
Transcription
[inserted] Still await reply to my cable of June 6th. The replies seem to take about two weeks now. [/inserted]
[inserted] 152 [/inserted]
[underlined] 52 [/underlined]
[inserted] 18-7-42 [/inserted]
191 Halifax Road
Nelson Lancs.
England.
Monday June 15th/42
My dear Douglas.
When I wrote to you on Friday I told you how cold it was – not a bit like “flaming June”. On Saturday morning it begun to rain at 10 oclock [sic] & is only just beginning to clear up, Monday noon. Everything looks very fresh & green & as I stood watching the rain yesterday I wondered how long it was since you saw rain, & how I did wish you could see the pleasant fields & hedges. They did look grand in spite of, or perhaps because of, the heavy rain. Well love it is 3 weeks since we had your most welcome letters & always I am looking for more. The last one is dated March 11th so it is well over 3 months since [inserted] they were written [/inserted] & I don’t think it makes any difference whether you stamp them or not, so I should just keep your precious allowance for food etc. It is a relief to know that the Red X parcels have begun to arrive again. I still have the small parcel, which I hoped to send by Air Mail, packed up here, but perhaps next time I write I will tell you I’ve [deleted] oped [/deleted] [inserted] opened [/inserted] it. I am afraid the tea will have become well flavoured with cigarettes & the cigarettes will no doubt be very dry, as they have been in the dining room cupboard all this long time & you know how hot the room is kept. This morning workmen have been busy breaking up the path all round the house. They intended to lay tar-mac & complete
[page break]
the job this evening but the chief has just been to tell me that the stuff has not been delivered & they will have to wait until it does arrive. The career of the man who has the work in hand is quite a romance of business (in a small way). He begin [sic] work as a weaver in a cotton mill, married a girl who was also a weaver. They started a small grocery business which has become [inserted] one [/inserted] of the best in Nelson & added to grocery they have confectionery crockery drapery & greengrocery. Mrs Coles has charge of that now & Mr Coles has become a nurseryman & landscape gardener. We were fortunately advised to register at their shop when we came here. They have served us well & we have the advantage of having the goods delivered every other week. I go to the shop each week for the perishable goods. Dad was particularly fortunate in his cigarettes & tobacco. They let him have his “usual” when “smokes” were very precious indeed. Last week I got two tomatoes (5d) the first this season. Well love after this little story I will quote a passage from the book Fighter Pilot of which I wrote in my last letter. “One often lost sight of God in those days & nights, but one knew He [underlined] was [/underlined] there, & that was better than food & drink & sleep”. Mr Churchill said “Never before, in the field of human conflict, has so much been owed, by so many, to so few & we do thank God for the faith & courage that made those words possible. Now love we are a few more days nearer the greatest day & how we just long for it & live for it. Always all our love & thoughts & prayers from Mother & Dad
755052 Hudson
Camp Militaire
Laghouat. Algerie
Afrique du Nord.
[inserted] 152 [/inserted]
[underlined] 52 [/underlined]
[inserted] 18-7-42 [/inserted]
191 Halifax Road
Nelson Lancs.
England.
Monday June 15th/42
My dear Douglas.
When I wrote to you on Friday I told you how cold it was – not a bit like “flaming June”. On Saturday morning it begun to rain at 10 oclock [sic] & is only just beginning to clear up, Monday noon. Everything looks very fresh & green & as I stood watching the rain yesterday I wondered how long it was since you saw rain, & how I did wish you could see the pleasant fields & hedges. They did look grand in spite of, or perhaps because of, the heavy rain. Well love it is 3 weeks since we had your most welcome letters & always I am looking for more. The last one is dated March 11th so it is well over 3 months since [inserted] they were written [/inserted] & I don’t think it makes any difference whether you stamp them or not, so I should just keep your precious allowance for food etc. It is a relief to know that the Red X parcels have begun to arrive again. I still have the small parcel, which I hoped to send by Air Mail, packed up here, but perhaps next time I write I will tell you I’ve [deleted] oped [/deleted] [inserted] opened [/inserted] it. I am afraid the tea will have become well flavoured with cigarettes & the cigarettes will no doubt be very dry, as they have been in the dining room cupboard all this long time & you know how hot the room is kept. This morning workmen have been busy breaking up the path all round the house. They intended to lay tar-mac & complete
[page break]
the job this evening but the chief has just been to tell me that the stuff has not been delivered & they will have to wait until it does arrive. The career of the man who has the work in hand is quite a romance of business (in a small way). He begin [sic] work as a weaver in a cotton mill, married a girl who was also a weaver. They started a small grocery business which has become [inserted] one [/inserted] of the best in Nelson & added to grocery they have confectionery crockery drapery & greengrocery. Mrs Coles has charge of that now & Mr Coles has become a nurseryman & landscape gardener. We were fortunately advised to register at their shop when we came here. They have served us well & we have the advantage of having the goods delivered every other week. I go to the shop each week for the perishable goods. Dad was particularly fortunate in his cigarettes & tobacco. They let him have his “usual” when “smokes” were very precious indeed. Last week I got two tomatoes (5d) the first this season. Well love after this little story I will quote a passage from the book Fighter Pilot of which I wrote in my last letter. “One often lost sight of God in those days & nights, but one knew He [underlined] was [/underlined] there, & that was better than food & drink & sleep”. Mr Churchill said “Never before, in the field of human conflict, has so much been owed, by so many, to so few & we do thank God for the faith & courage that made those words possible. Now love we are a few more days nearer the greatest day & how we just long for it & live for it. Always 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 4, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/23697.
Item Relations
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