William Hudson

23155, Private. b. 1895, Clayton d. Mon. 15th October 1917 (aged 22).

The brother in law to Ernest Briggs (who lived next door), William was married to Lavinia and the couple lived at 6, Bright Street. William had enlisted voluntarily in January 1915 into the 12th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry in Newcastle and, after training, had served in France since the unit had arrived at Boulogne in late August 1915. He was wounded in April 1917 after surviving eighteen months unscathed.

Whilst in a base hospital in France recuperating, William performed a brave gesture which earned him much respect from his comrades. This was when he volunteered to give blood to an officer who was on the same ward as him and who desperately needed a donor as he was having his leg amputated. In the First World War this was a dangerous procedure, and in many cases was life threatening to the donor themselves, but William still volunteered knowing this. Fortunately, both William and the officer survived and the transfusion was successful. William received a heartfelt letter of thanks from the officer’s parents as well as a commendation from the hospital’s Commanding Officer.

William returned to the trenches for a matter of days at the beginning of April before being injured again, this time with a large piece of shrapnel becoming embedded in his head. He was quite ill for a time before he again returned to the front for what was to be his final tour of duty. Three months later, in mid-October 1917, he was killed near Passchendaele just three and a half weeks after his brother-in-law. Both wives received their sad news within a few days of each other and Lavinia moved away from Clayton soon afterwards.
However, the story does not finish there: within a few months William’s wife was remarried and known as Lavinia Arenz. Although it might appear callous now, this was not an uncommon occurrence during the Great War, as war widows soon found new loves and were quickly married before their new husbands were returned to the trenches, potentially to meet their deaths.

William is commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.