March 25, 2011 2.37 pm This story is over 156 months old

Pilot recalls World War 2 experiences

Stories: World War 2 veteran speaks to The Lincolnite about his new book and his captivity as a Prisoner of War.

A former World War 2 pilot held a book signing on Friday at the Lincoln Visitor Information Centre for his latest book.

Ninety-five-year old James Douglas Hudson, who has already written seven books on his experiences, was a navigator during World War 2 for Blenheims and Lancasters.

Hudson explains the book is about his experiences as a navigator during the war:

“It’s about my experiences primarily during World War 2 in three prisoner of war camps including on in the Sahara desert and also about my experiences as a navigator in two squadrons one based in Norfolk and the other in Grimsby.”

Talking about his inspiration for the book, Hudson mentioned “I want to capture ongoing generations and I want them to become aware of the sacrifice of the fifty-six thousand or so of mostly bomber crew and air command.”

His experiences from the book were mostly memory: “I didn’t have diary and it was mostly memory and photographs.

“When we were in desert we were close to an oasis town which had a lot of photographic equipment because it was close to a hotel called Hotel Saharem, where before the war people with money went and would take photos as proof of going to the desert.”

Hudson also touched on the censorship of the photos: “Our captain used to censor which photos we were allowed to take back, we could only send ones back which showed us having a good time.”

“My next book is a make-believe one called St Bernard and Puppies; it’s completely different and has nothing to do with the war.

“It’s based on some dogs that I know. Also there will be a smaller version of the current book called the Best of Douglas; both are out for Easter.”

— Listen to Douglas speaking to Josh Francis