Roland Hudson

Roland Hudson was born on February 18, 1918 in Kirkham, England, into a middle-class family. His family’s fortunes changed dramatically during the Great Depression, and they had to rely on subsistence farming to get by. Roland entered agricultural college upon completion of his own schooling. He was an active athlete, and was also a member of the local Territorial Army, training once a month on anti-aircraft guns. When Hitler’s forces invaded Poland in Sept. 1939, they were called up and became part of the Loyal Regiment deployed around Liverpool and Manchester. In 1940 they were transferred to Scapa Flow, and were there when the German U-boat sunk the Royal Oak. During the Battle of Britain they moved all around central and southern Britain, and Rolly rose in rank to L/Corporal. 

In 1941 he was sent to Northern Ireland to train anti-aircraft crews. The following year he was posted to the Royal Sussex Regiment, in Kent. Later they were sent to Scotland to train for amphibious landings but never were deployed. Instead Troop Sergeant Major Hudson became an expert in demolitions in Dorsetshire. Prior to the D-Day landings his brigade guarded American embarkation points on the south coast. After D-Day they were tasked with protecting London from V1 buzz bombs from their posting in Kent, and Rolly was promoted to Battery Sergeant Major. He was badly injured while changing the barrel of one of the big guns, and spent 3 months in hospital recovering from surgery and muscle grafts. He rejoined his unit in France, now as a Sergeant, and was assigned to accompany a prisoner back to England for their court martial. Eventually he was sent to Holland with the 6th Heavy Battery and remained there for the duration of the war.  

After he was demobilized he returned to the UK and his wife Evaleen and attended teachers college, and he became a teacher in Bradford. However, they decided to emigrate to Canada in 1952, originally settling near Sudbury where Evaleen had family, but moving to Uxbridge the next year. Rolly taught at Uxbridge Public School until 1959, when he transferred to Scarborough and remained teaching there until he retired in 1977. He joined the Uxbridge Legion when he moved here, and was an active member there as well as with the Kinsmen and Masons.