Hudson, Horace
1361 Corporal Horace Hudson - 51st Battalion AIF
Horace Hudson was born in St Augustine Streaky South Australia in 1892 to Edward and Emily Hudson. He had three siblings, Edward 1884, Cleve 1889 and Joseph 1894.
The family moved to Western Australia in the 1900's and took up residence in Bay Road North Fremantle. He was working as a Labourer in the Fremantle region prior to the Great War.
On the 4th November 1914 Horace enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was passed as fit for service, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 7 inches tall;
Weight - 125lbs;
Chest Measurement - 33-35 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Brown;
hair - Dark.
Upon his successful enlistment, Horace was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and was assigned to a Depot Training unit. From the 4th November 1914 to 1st January 1915 Horace was being taken through the basics of infantry work. He was then transferred into the 2nd Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion AIF.
Horace did further training with this group in WA for the next seven weeks. On the 22nd February 1915 Horace and his group entrained to Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship HMAT Itonus and set sail for Egypt. After arriving there in March 1915, they did not have much time in Egypt but were sent on to join up with the 11th Battalion on Lemnos Island. Some men of the 2nd Reinforcements were sent to the 11th battalion prior to the landing at Anzac so it can't be ruled out that Horace was one of these, but according to official records he was taken on strength of the 11th battalion on Gallipoli on the 7th May 1915.
The 11th Battalion were then in the southern sector of the Anzac Battlefield near Bolton’s Ridge and Tasmania Post and they were to remain here for the rest of the campaign. As well as undergoing the regular shell fire and sniper fire from the Turks the 11th Battalion also faced a few major actions on their front. On the 19th May 1915 they withstood the massive Turkish assault and their fire absolutely mowed down the Turks in their sector.
In late June the 11th Battalion conducted a costly demonstration against the Turkish trenches but Horace came through unscathed. As a prelude to the August offensive, the 11th Battalion were ordered to capture a Turkish position which would be later known as “Leanes Post”. This position was vital to capture as it overlooked the Turkish trenches at Lone Pine which were an objective of a further attack by the 1st Brigade on August 6th.
On the 1st August 1915 the 11th Battalion assaulted the Turkish position and captured it under very heavy fire. They then held it for the next week against constant Turkish counter attacks. Though casualties were very heavy Horace came through the action safely.
Horace served with the 11th battalion for the remainder of the Gallipoli campaign, never once being evacuated with wounds or sickness. He returned to Egypt with the 11th Battalion after Gallipoli had been evacuated.
In January 1916 the 11th battalion were sent to Tel-el-Kebir camp to take on reinforcements and begin training. Horace went absent without leave for a day and as a punishment was detained in camp for a day. Apart from this indiscretion Horace remained training with the 11th Battalion till the end of February 1916.
On the 3rd March 1916 Horace was transferred to the newly forming 51st Battalion. Half of the 11th Battalion had been split in half to provide the 51st Battalion with experienced soldiers and Horace was in the half that had to leave the 11th battalion.
He was promoted to Lance Corporal in March and then to Corporal in April 1916. He trained with the 51st Battalion in the next few months in the Egyptian desert as the men were taken through some hard training. They finally received their departure orders and on the 5th June 1916 the 51st battalion boarded the transport ship Ivernia and set sail for France, reaching Marseilles on the 12th June 1916.
After reaching Marseilles the men were disembarked and sent north to the Armentieres sector. They would have their first experience in the trenches on the Western Front in this sector. In early July 1916 in trenches near Estaires the 51st Battalion was on the end of a severe German bombardment which caused many casualties but it was just a taste of things that were to come.
In late July 1916 Horace and the 51st Battalion were sent to the Somme battlefield where they would take part in the actions around Pozieres and Mouquet Farm. On the 16th August 1916 the 51st Battalion took part in an attack on the German lines near Mouquet Farm. Despite some men making it to the trenches, the attack did not succeed and the men had to withdraw. Horace came through his first action in France safely though his best mate Andrew Karlsen was killed. Andrew, originally from Norway, had lived with the Hudson's in North Fremantle for a few years and the boys had enlisted together serving at Gallipoli with the 11th Battalion.
Two weeks after their first action in France, the 51st Battalion attacked and captured the German positions at Mouquet Farm. However with unsecured flanks, the Germans were able to surround the men and the survivors were either killed in the fight, taken prisoner or had to fight their way back to their original positions. Horace came through physically unscathed though casualties to the Battalion had been very heavy.
After this action the 51st Battalion had around six weeks in Ypres in Belgium. At Reninghelst on the 10th October 1916 he got into trouble for 'Neglect of Duty' and was reprimanded by the CO. On the 23rd October Horace got into serious trouble for being drunk while on active duty. On the 30th October he was court martialed and was reduced in rank and given 6 months hard labour. For a man who had served through Gallipoli and survived the two main actions the 51st Battalion underwent in France in 1916 this seems a very severe punishment.
Horace was then sent to Military Prison at Rouen to serve his six months. In March 1917 his sentence was reduced in half and Horace was released and returned to his unit. He joined in time for their next action. On the 2nd April 1917, the 51st Battalion took part in the attack on the village of Noreuil. He came through this and the subsequent action at Bullecourt.
From June to August 1917, Hoarce and the 51st Battalion were in action on the Messines front. Horace came through this time safely. He was then given a two week furlough to England. Horace had married in Bloomsbury London England during his leave to Daphne Irene Knibbs on the 14th July 1917. While he returned to France to rejoin his unit she resided at 19 Nelson Street Greenwich London.
In September and October 1917, the 51st Battalion took part in the Third Battle of Ypres, with Horace seeing action at Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke, Broodseinde Ridge and Passchendaele. Horace had been living a charmed life and again came through unscathed.
In December 1917 the 51st Battalion was sent to Peronne on the Somme but returned Belgium in January 1918. The 51st Battalion helped to hold the front line in Belgium between Ypres and Messines through to March 1918.
On the 20th March 1918 Horace was granted a fortnight's leave to England, returning on the 8th April 1918. In his absence on the 21st March 1918, the Germans had launched a massive assault which had broken through the British lines further south. The Australian Divisions in Belgium where then sent south to the Somme to help stop this German advance. The 51st Battalion were sent to an area between the French towns of Albert and Dernancourt and they came into contact with the Germans in late March.
The Australians, including Horace's unit, helped stop the Germans at Dernancourt. This was where he rejoined the 51st Battalion when he returned from leave.
However in April the Germans launched another large attack which captured Villers-Bretonneux. A counter attack was immediately ordered and the 51st Battalion played a large role in this attack. The 51st Battalion succeeded in capturing their objectives, however casualties were very heavy. Horace again came through this attack unscathed.
The 51st Battalion remained around Villers-Bretonneux for the next few months. In June 1918 Horace was promoted to Temporary Corporal.
On August 8th 1918 the advance from Villers-Bretonneux commenced which put the Germans on retreat. The Australians, British and Canadian divisions pushed the Germans back along the front and for the next few months kept advancing.
The 51st Battalion fought their last action on September 18th 1918 and Horace came through safely again. He had led a charmed life with the 11th & 51st Battalion's, getting through some major battles without being wounded. On the 19th September 1918 Horace was promoted to Corporal and the 51st Battalion was given a well deserved rest period.
On the 10th November 1918 Horace was evacuated to the 10th General Hospital at Rouen with influenza. Fortunately it was not a severe case and Horace soon returned to his unit.
When the Armistice was signed on the 11th November 1918 the 51st Battalion were still out of the line. The Germans now withdrew to within their own borders and the Australian units went into what had been German occupied parts of Belgium and France. From December 1918 to May 1919 the Australians remained in these areas.
However being an early enlistee, Horace qualified for an early return to Australia, so on the 8th December 1918 he returned to England. On the 14th December 1918 he boarded the troopship Burma and set sail for home, reaching Fremantle on the 22nd January 1919. Hoarce was discharged from the AIF on the 23rd March 1919.
Horace went to work for the Fremantle Tramways and they were living at 30 price Street South Fremantle (1925)
Horace died on the 1st January 1929 at the Grosvenor Hospital Fremantle aged 35. He was buried in Fremantle Cemetery plot Anglican MON A3 0758.
The Daily News had the report;