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Hudson, Harry, Brookdale, Manitoba, B.S.A. (1915). Military Service: Sapper, Reg. No. 541925, 9th Field Engineers, Attestation Papers. Diary Reference: “Met Harry Hudson the other day.,” 2:30 May ’16.
Additional Biographical Information:
1917
Graduate and Member of Staff, Harry Hudson, 541925, Canadian Engineers, 3rd Div. 9th.
University of Manitoba, Archives and Special Collections, Managra, v. XI, No. 1 (Nov 1917), 6.
1918
H. Hudson
“Somewhere in France”
17 February 1918
Thank you for your interesting letter of December 19th, 1917, which you filled full of local news. It brings back memories of times gone by, and maintains the hope of reunion in the future. I received the November issue of the Managra last month and was pleased to note the progress of things. Possibly you have heard that my old chum, Jack Dryden, has gone over to Blighty [England] to take out a commission in the C.E.’s, so I’m the only representative of the M.A.C. left in our company now. Jack is one of the best and we were all sorry to lose him, but glad that such men as he are getting recommended as leaders in our army.
I notice with regret that some of our old boys have paid the great price for “The Cause” which reminds me of Washington Irving’s lines: “Thus man passeth away,” etc. However they will live in our memory as men who were not found wanting when the call came. I presume we are three and a half years nearer the end than we were at the beginning, but so far as the present outlook is concerned, no reflective mirage has as yet shown us how much longer we must plot along our war-weary way. With the spring comes the dawn of new hope; hope for something, we hardly know what, as long as it brings us safely home in as short a time as possible.
We are having real spring weather now, although it is yet early in February. The weather has a great deal to do with our feelings, more, I believe, than we realized in civil life.
I have not seen many of the old M.A.C. boys lately. The last I saw was Scotty Gordon, with his two star uniform on, when he walked into our orderly room to discuss with our O.C. something about a working party; and here was your humble seated at the table drawing plans of the trenches, quite a difference in position now, but each doing his bit.
J. F. Higham has now a job lecturing on agriculture; he is an instructor in the University of Vimy Ridge. I notice that Andy Muir’s name is missing on the Honor Roll in the Managra. This, I think should be remedied, as he is doing his share and perhaps more than some of the rest of us. He commenced college life the same year as I did, but quit at the end of two years. I met him just before Christmas at a training school, and we spent several pleasant hours together. He holds down one stripe, and he knows the Science of the Lewis Gun pretty pat, so I consider he is a worthy representative of Deloraine.
I am sorry to hear that my old class-mate, Bill Stone, had been killed in action, but he died on duty, which is the best kind of death here he could have wished for. “C’est la Guerre” as the French would say, and even the best and bravest depart in peace.
With kind regards to all my old friends.
Your sincerely
H. Hudson, 541925
University of Manitoba, Archives and Special Collections, Managra, v. XI, No. 5, (Mar. 1918), 65.