Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Title
Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents
Description
Relief to receive cable. Long discussion on problems with receiver to pay telegrams which they said they had sorted out with Cable and Wireless. Comments on the weather and working in the garden. Reports arrival of another letter from him and says she will write to a Mrs Randall as he requested but not sure if it is worth it. Philosophises about war's effect on spirit of cooperation and concludes with comment and her marrow and other vegetables.
Creator
Date
1942-08-03
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-HEHudsonJD420803
Transcription
[inserted] A registered letter from the Red X on Saturday told of the safe arrival there of your parcel, which was being despatched immediately. Hope you will soon receive it. [/inserted]
[inserted] 168 [/inserted]
[underlined] 67 [/underlined]
[inserted] 1-9-42 [/inserted]
191 Halifax Road
Nelson Lancs.
England.
Monday a.m. August 3rd/42
My dear Douglas.
It was a great joy & relief to have your cable (Laghouat 30th) on Saturday Aug 1st but we are very sorry you have had difficulty re “receiver to pay” Telegrams. As I have mentioned in several letters Dad & I signed the agreement at the Cable & Wireless Office in Manchester on June 29th & On July 3rd we had a letter from Head Office in London confirming the agreement as follows “In confirmation of the arrangements between our Manchester Representative & your good-self, we have pleasure in informing you that instructions have been issued, by Telegraph, for the acceptance of “Collect” Telegrams from Mr Hudson at Laghouat, addressed to you, the cost of such messages being payable by you. Our monthly accounts for telegrams accepted under the foregoing facilities will be submitted to you, for payment, in due course.” It seems strange that your cable should be returned, as we have previously received two messages from you since making the arrangements with Cable & Wireless, & we imagined that all was in order. I will write to London today & let you know the result. We are having remarkable weather for August. Yesterday morning we got up to what we fondly imagined would be a marvellous summer day. Warm & hazy. After a quick run round with a duster I joined Dad in the garden & we had a happy time tidying up.
[page break]
I had just finished transplanting when the first drops of rain came & from a nice steady downpour we have proceeded to a real Autumn gale which has kept on the good work until now (10-45 a.m. Monday) & is still going strong & we are thankful to see a bit of fine again. Last Thursday morning I was delighted to have another letter from you – a very dear letter which brought joy & comfort – in spite of its tedious journey. It is dated March 13th & arrived here on July 30th. In it you say “Do write to Mrs Randall” & I do intend to write to her, but she has not written to me either & I’m wondering if she doesn’t want to bother. I always think of Marjorie’s reference to “the ignorant & uncultured “north”” & have certainly no desire to display those qualifications if the effort would not be welcome. Perhaps the war has made a difference. We are so frequently assured that never before in our history has there been such a spirit of cooperation & good-will but I do not believe it. Did I tell you about my marrow plant. It is growing marvellously now & yesterday I was thrilled to bits to find four tiny marrows. My parsley has now got tiny curly leaves. These little discoveries give me a great deal of pleasure. I have already made 2 1/2 lbs of raspberry jam after gathering my own fruit. On Saturday I gave a basin-ful [sic] to Miss Chester & yesterday morning she passed ma a basket-ful [sic] of beautiful home grown peas. There’s no need to tell you just how we always wish we could share all our treasures with you, but we dare not dwell too much on the aspect. We are only too thankful that you are alive & safe. The goods things to be shared together will surely come. Always all our love & thoughts & prayers Mother & Dad
755052 Hudson
Camp Militaire
Laghouat Algerie.
[inserted] 168 [/inserted]
[underlined] 67 [/underlined]
[inserted] 1-9-42 [/inserted]
191 Halifax Road
Nelson Lancs.
England.
Monday a.m. August 3rd/42
My dear Douglas.
It was a great joy & relief to have your cable (Laghouat 30th) on Saturday Aug 1st but we are very sorry you have had difficulty re “receiver to pay” Telegrams. As I have mentioned in several letters Dad & I signed the agreement at the Cable & Wireless Office in Manchester on June 29th & On July 3rd we had a letter from Head Office in London confirming the agreement as follows “In confirmation of the arrangements between our Manchester Representative & your good-self, we have pleasure in informing you that instructions have been issued, by Telegraph, for the acceptance of “Collect” Telegrams from Mr Hudson at Laghouat, addressed to you, the cost of such messages being payable by you. Our monthly accounts for telegrams accepted under the foregoing facilities will be submitted to you, for payment, in due course.” It seems strange that your cable should be returned, as we have previously received two messages from you since making the arrangements with Cable & Wireless, & we imagined that all was in order. I will write to London today & let you know the result. We are having remarkable weather for August. Yesterday morning we got up to what we fondly imagined would be a marvellous summer day. Warm & hazy. After a quick run round with a duster I joined Dad in the garden & we had a happy time tidying up.
[page break]
I had just finished transplanting when the first drops of rain came & from a nice steady downpour we have proceeded to a real Autumn gale which has kept on the good work until now (10-45 a.m. Monday) & is still going strong & we are thankful to see a bit of fine again. Last Thursday morning I was delighted to have another letter from you – a very dear letter which brought joy & comfort – in spite of its tedious journey. It is dated March 13th & arrived here on July 30th. In it you say “Do write to Mrs Randall” & I do intend to write to her, but she has not written to me either & I’m wondering if she doesn’t want to bother. I always think of Marjorie’s reference to “the ignorant & uncultured “north”” & have certainly no desire to display those qualifications if the effort would not be welcome. Perhaps the war has made a difference. We are so frequently assured that never before in our history has there been such a spirit of cooperation & good-will but I do not believe it. Did I tell you about my marrow plant. It is growing marvellously now & yesterday I was thrilled to bits to find four tiny marrows. My parsley has now got tiny curly leaves. These little discoveries give me a great deal of pleasure. I have already made 2 1/2 lbs of raspberry jam after gathering my own fruit. On Saturday I gave a basin-ful [sic] to Miss Chester & yesterday morning she passed ma a basket-ful [sic] of beautiful home grown peas. There’s no need to tell you just how we always wish we could share all our treasures with you, but we dare not dwell too much on the aspect. We are only too thankful that you are alive & safe. The goods things to be shared together will surely come. Always all our love & thoughts & prayers Mother & Dad
755052 Hudson
Camp Militaire
Laghouat Algerie.
Collection
Citation
P Hudson, “Letter to Douglas Hudson from his parents,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 27, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/23766.
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