PRIVATE NORRIS ALEXANDER HUDSON 12/1212. Norris Alexander Hudson was born on the 4th March 1890, the fifth child of eight born to William Hudson (1855-1936) and Lucy Hudson (nee Alexander)(1854-1932). Norris’ birth was registered in Middlesbrough and the family lived at 17 Snowden Road in the parish of Linthorpe.
His father’s work as a shipyard labourer took him up and down the eastern coast of England from his birthplace at Neatishead, in Norfolk up to Middlesbrough then to Chiswick in London and finally settling in Hull. The extended Hudson family settled around, Lorne Street, Hull. A Labourer by trade Norris worked in an oil refinery and a factory on the River Hull, that processed fats to make candles. He married his childhood sweetheart, Mary McNally (1894-1981), at St. Charles’s Borromeo Roman Catholic church, on 22nd March 1913. The couple moved to 22 Caroline Street with their daughter Mary (his army Address). When war came, Norris enlisted at City Hall on 19th December 1914, joining the 12th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Sportsmen’, 3rd Hull Pals. The 12th Battalion proceeded to Egypt, around the December 11th 1914, to defend the Suez Canal. They travelled by train to Devonport and embarked on HMT Ausonia sailing at 12.30pm on December 16th 1915. They regiment then received orders to transfer to France. They arrived in Port Said by train on 29th February 1916 and embarked for France on the HT Simla. They sailed at 6.00am on March 1st, arriving in Marseilles at 11.50pm on March 8th after an ‘uneventful voyage’. Disembarking the following day they left Marseilles by train on March 10th bound for Pont Remy which is 7 miles south east of Abbeville in the Somme region of Northern France. They arrived early in the morning of March 12th. The battalion then undertook a series of route marches to arrive at Colincamps arriving on 6th April 1916. The battalion then settled into a routine of a few days in the trenches, including repairing them followed by a few days in billets were they trained in ‘bombing, signalling, (barbed) wiring and Lewis gun work’ Between April and June the battalion moved between Colincamps, Courcelles-Aux-Bois and Bus-Les-Artois. They came under heavy bombardment on several occasions during this period and the Battalion’s War Diary records that 38 men were killed and 74 wounded. On 12th June 1916, Norris was killed by a snipers bullet. He was one of two men to die that day, the other being Lance Corporal John William Hill. Both men are buried in adjacent graves at the Sucrerie Military Cemetery, Colincamps. On his last leave, Norris overstayed a pass to witness the birth of his son and was led away by the Military Police having held his second child just once. Nine months later he was dead, aged 26. After his death his widow, Mary was awarded an army pension of 18 shillings and six pence (92.5p) per week for the children. The pension was paid until the children were 16 years of age. She moved to 4, Louisa Terrace, St Paul Street, Hull (War Pension records).
(Many Thanks to Dave Richardson, of Hull, for his information and family research on Norris Alexander Hudson above)
