Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJanuary 5, 1894
Place of BirthKenora, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMrs. Stella Hudson (mother), Suite J, Lee Court, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Trade / CallingAccountant
ReligionMethodist
Service Details
Regimental Number2381616
Service RecordLink to Service Record
Battalion85th Battery
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Field Artillery
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Address at EnlistmentSuite J, Lee Court, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentApril 3, 1918
Age at Enlistment24
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJuly 10, 1959
Age at Death65
Buried AtSt. James Cemetery, Winnipeg

Hudson, Gordon Milford

Bombardier Gordon Milford Hudson was called up in April 1918 and served in Canada for a year. After the war he had a long and successful career in curling and he was inducted into both the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

Gordon was the older of two sons of Frederick Albert Hudson and Estella May Fleming of Kenora, Ontario. Fred and Estella were both living in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) by 1891. Fred was born in Ontario and worked as a carpenter and contractor. Estella was born in the U.S. but her parents were from Ontario and they returned to Canada when she was a child. Fred and Estella were married in Rat Portage in March 1893 and Gordon was born on 5 January 1894. His brother Clifford Ross followed on 15 July 1895.

Fred was the manager of the Kenora Thistles hockey team for several years, including in 1907 when they won the Stanley Cup. Gordon and Clifford both took up curling when they were in their teens. In 1914 the Hudson ‘kid’ rink from Kenora, with Gordon as skip, caused a sensation when they tied for the Grand Aggregate in the Manitoba Bonspiel. By 1916 Gordon’s parents had moved to Winnipeg but he may lived in Kenora for another year or so.

Clifford Hudson enlisted in Winnipeg in March 1916 and went overseas the following spring. Conscription started in Canada in 1917 and single men age 20 to 34 were required to register by November. Gordon had his medical exam in Kenora on 5 November and he was found fit for overseas service. He was called up on 3 April 1918 in Winnipeg. He was assigned to the 1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment, but on 20 April he transferred to the 76th Depot Battery, Canadian Field Artillery. A month later he was on his way to Camp Petawawa in Ontario and the recruits had a warm sendoff during their short stop at the Kenora train station.

Gordon trained in Petawawa for four months. In September he was transferred to an ammunition column and his intention was to go to Siberia with the Canadian Expeditionary Force (Siberia). He passed through Kenora again in early October and after a short visit at home in Winnipeg he headed to the west coast, where the units for Siberia were being mobilized. Gordon boarded HMT War Charger as a Bombardier with the 85th Battery, but for unstated reasons he disembarked before the ship left the Vancouver port. He served for another four months at New Westminster in British Columbia. In January 1919 he sprained his ankle and he was treated at Shaughnessy Military Hospital. He was back on duty at the end of February and he was discharged on demobilization on 17 April.

Gordon settled in Winnipeg after the war and when the 1921 census was taken he was living with his parents and working as a bookkeeper at a confectionery. He became a partner in the candy manufacturing firm McBride, Cannem and Hudson and he was with them until he retired. He was married in Winnipeg on 8 September 1926 to Annie Flora MacLean. Annie was born in 1899, the daughter of Daniel and Margaret MacLean of Winnipeg. Her father had died when she was a child. Gordon and Annie Flora had two children, Bruce and Margaret.

Both Gordon and Clifford joined the Strathcona Curling Club and had very successful curling careers. In 1923 they won 27 straight games in the Manitoba bonspiel, taking home five trophies. Gordon’s team won the national Brier championship in 1928 and again in 1929. Gordon won three more Manitoba Aggregate titles and many other trophies during his career. He served as the president of the Strathcona club (1927-29), the Manitoba Curling Association (1934-35) and the Dominion Curling Association (1949-50). He was an honorary life member of all three as well as the Kenora curling club.

Gordon passed away at home on 10 July 1959, at age 65, and his funeral was held three days later. His wife Annie Flora died in 1986, at age 87. They are both buried in St. James Cemetery in Winnipeg.

Gordon was inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 1974 and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.

Memorable Manitobans: Gordon Hudson

By Becky Johnson

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Grave marker photo courtesy of Jim Hicks, findagrave.com.


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