Hudson, Joseph Ernest
3218 Private Joseph Ernest Hudson - Imperial Camel Corps and 10th Light Horse Regiment
Joseph Ernest Hudson was born in St Augustine Streaky South Australia in 1894 to Edward and Emily Hudson. He had three siblings, Edward 1884, Cleve 1889 and Horace 1892.
The family moved to Western Australia in the 1900's and took up residence in Bay Road North Fremantle. He was working as a Motor Mechanic in the Fremantle region prior to the Great War, having served a seven year apprenticeship in the field.
While at school Joseph had served for five years in the Cadets.
Joseph was married in Cottesloe in 1915 to Mary Davenport and a son called Horace was born in 1916. The Hudson's had now moved from Bay Road to Fairlight Street Cottesloe Beach (Mosman Park).
On the 27th February 1917 in Fremantle, Joseph enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was found to be fit for enlistment, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 8 inches tall;
Weight - 135lbs;
Chest Measurement - 32-24 inches;
Complexion - Tanned;
Eyes - Blue;
Hair - Brown.
Upon his successful enlistment Joseph was sent to Claremont Camp where he was assigned to the infantry training depot. He had a few weeks there but then requested a transfer to the Light Horse. After passing his riding tests at No.6 Depot Squadron, Joseph was assigned to the WA reinforcements of the Imperial Camel Corps.
Joseph trained with the Camel Corps reinforcements in WA for the next months and on the 22nd May 1917 entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship Port Sydney and set sail for Egypt. The ship arrived at Suez on the 20th June 1917. Joseph and his group were disembarked and sent to the isolation camp at Moascar.
After a month here Joseph was sent to the Imperial Camel Corps reserve regiment. On the 5th September 1917 Joseph was sent to No.1 Company Imperial Camel Corps. He served with this unit through the latter few months of 1917 when the battle raged around Beersheba and Gaza. Joseph also took part in the successful capture of Jerusalem in November 1917 and then Jericho in January 1918.
The action then moved through to the Jordan Valley. On the 2nd April 1918 Joseph was wounded when his unit was in action at Amman, when a bullet hit his scalp. After treatment at the Field Ambulance and Casualty Clearing Station he was taken back by the Field Ambulance to Port Said where he was admitted to the 14th Australian General Hospital.
Joseph remained in hospital till the 27th June 1918. He was then transferred to the 5th Light Horse Brigade Camp at Moascar. While he was in hospital the Imperial Camel Corps had been disbanded and so Joseph would join a Light Horse Regiment.
On the 24th July 1918 he was transferred to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade Training Regiment and was then taken on strength of the 10th Light Horse Regiment on the 31st July 1918. He then served with the 10th LH for the next few months. On the 15th September 1918 he was then transferred to the 14th Australian General hospital at Port Said with defective vision.
Joseph would miss the last few months of the war and only rejoined the 10th Light Horse Regiment on the 30th November 1918, a few weeks after the Armistice.
On the 28th December 1919 Joseph dislocated his finger at a football match at Tripoli. He had the injury treated at the 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance and then returned to the Regiment. He served with the 10th Light Horse for the first six months of 1919. Most men of the 10th Light Horse Regiment, including Joseph, returned to Australia on the 10th July 1919 aboard the transport ship Oxfordshire.
The ship arrived in Fremantle on the 4th August 1919 and Joseph was then discharged from the AIF on the 3rd September 1919.
Further children, were born after Joe's return from the war, Charles in 1921, Marian in 1922 and Noel in 1924.
By the mid 1920's Joe had moved to 84 Richmond Street in North Perth but by 1930 had moved back to Buckland Hill/Mosman Park where he lived at 53 Fairlight Street.
In 1936 Joe then moved to 10 Albert St Buckland Hill before moving to 10 Smyth Road Subiaco in 1943. In 1954 the family then moved to Wembley, though after a few years moved to Glendalough in 1958.
Joseph died on the 18th September 1965 at Glendalough aged 71. He was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery.