Description
Physical description
medal and ribbon
(See) MODEL OMD 174
Label
Colonel Duane Tyrrel Hudson DSO OBE (11 Aug 1910- 1 Nov 1995) Special Operations Executive.
Duane Tyrrel Hudson, always known as 'Bill', was born of an established South African family, at Bromley, Kent on 11 August 1910. Educated at St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, he later returned to England to attend the Royal School of Mines, University of London. In 1935, Hudson took a job in Yugoslavia as manager of an antimony mine travelling widely in the region on prospecting expeditions and becoming fluent in Serbo-Croat. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Hudson joined Section 'D' of the Secret Service and was posted to Zagreb where he recruited a network of agents to carry out sabotage against Axis shipping in Dalmatian ports. In February 1941, the group successfully blew up an Italian cargo ship. Formally recruited into Special Operations Executive (SOE), Hudson served in Force 399 in Yugoslavia where he acted as a liaison officer, attempting to co-ordinate anti-German resistance amongst the warring groups of Tito's Partisans and Mihailovic's Chetniks (1941-44). Hudson later served with Force 139 in Poland (1944-1945) and was involved with the British Military Mission to Rumania between 1945-1946. For his wartime services with SOE, Hudson was awarded the DSO; appointed OBE (Military Division) and mentioned in despatches. Hudson considered returning to Yugoslavia after the war but his association with the Chetniks made this impossible. He returned to South Africa where he mined very successfully for tungsten. Colonel Hudson died at Durban on 1 November 1995 aged 85. The Dept of Exhibits & Firearms holds Hudson's medals (Ref: OMD 4076-4082), a watch (EPH 1701) and an ALCO Portable Steam Generator used by him while in Yugoslavia in 1944 (Ref: 59/83). The Documents Archive has a collection of Hudson's papers relating to his service with SOE in Yugoslavia and Poland. This includes papers relating to Force 399 and Force 139; ts copies of correspondence (3pp) relating to his relationships with the Partisans and with HQ in London (ca 1943), ms letter (1p) written during his service in Poland (December 1944), post war correspondence including a letter giving a detailed account of his involvement with the British Military Mission to Romania between 1945 and 1946 (1963 - 1996), 7 photographs (ca 1935 - ca 1994) and copies of his newspaper obituaries (1995). (Ref: 03/20/1)
History note
Colonel Duane Tyrrel Hudson DSO OBE (11 Aug 1910- 1 Nov 1995) Special Operations Executive.
Duane Tyrrel Hudson, always known as 'Bill', was born of an established South African family, at Bromley, Kent on 11 August 1910. Educated at St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, he later returned to England to attend the Royal School of Mines, University of London. In 1935, Hudson took a job in Yugoslavia as manager of an antimony mine travelling widely in the region on prospecting expeditions and becoming fluent in Serbo-Croat. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Hudson joined Section 'D' of the Secret Service and was posted to Zagreb where he recruited a network of agents to carry out sabotage against Axis shipping in Dalmatian ports. In February 1941, the group successfully blew up an Italian cargo ship. Formally recruited into Special Operations Executive (SOE), Hudson served in Force 399 in Yugoslavia where he acted as a liaison officer, attempting to co-ordinate anti-German resistance amongst the warring groups of Tito's Partisans and Mihailovic's Chetniks (1941-44). Hudson later served with Force 139 in Poland (1944-1945) and was involved with the British Military Mission to Rumania between 1945-1946. For his wartime services with SOE, Hudson was awarded the DSO; appointed OBE (Military Division) and mentioned in despatches. Hudson considered returning to Yugoslavia after the war but his association with the Chetniks made this impossible. He returned to South Africa where he mined very successfully for tungsten. Colonel Hudson died at Durban on 1 November 1995 aged 85. The Dept of Exhibits & Firearms holds Hudson's medals (Ref: OMD 4076-4082), a watch (EPH 1701) and an ALCO Portable Steam Generator used by him while in Yugoslavia in 1944 (Ref: 59/83). The Documents Archive has a collection of Hudson's papers relating to his service with SOE in Yugoslavia and Poland. This includes papers relating to Force 399 and Force 139; ts copies of correspondence (3pp) relating to his relationships with the Partisans and with HQ in London (ca 1943), ms letter (1p) written during his service in Poland (December 1944), post war correspondence including a letter giving a detailed account of his involvement with the British Military Mission to Romania between 1945 and 1946 (1963 - 1996), 7 photographs (ca 1935 - ca 1994) and copies of his newspaper obituaries (1995). (Ref: 03/20/1)