Duane Hudson
Encyclopedia
Colonel Duane Tyrell Hudson DSO
OBE
(1910-1995) was a British
SOE
officer who fought in Yugoslavia
during World War II
.
Hudson, a mining engineer, was a rugby player, swimmer, rider, skier, boxer, and wrestler. He attended St. Andrew's College
in Grahamstown
, South Africa
. He spoke six foreign languages and had a reputation as a ladies' man. When Winston Churchill
created the Special Operations Executive
(SOE), Hudson was recruited to sabotage German ships in Split
harbour using limpet mine
s. He was commissioned on the British Army
General List in 1941.
His next mission was to fight alongside the Chetniks
, a royalist guerilla force, antagonistic to both the Nazi German invaders and to the Communist partisans
. He was caught twice, but escaped on both occasions.
One of Hudson's tasks was to distribute British funds in order to pay for anti-Nazi fighters. He was given more than £80,000 in sovereigns and diamond
s, worth over £1.75m in today currency, which he partially buried in peasant villages. He later confessed that after the war, parts of the treasure were buried, with the aim of retrieving it on his own account when the war ended.
Afterwards, while he was working for the army in Romania
, documents show that Hudson recruited Stephen Zollner, a Hungarian Jew buying timber for the British government around eastern Europe, to retrieve the treasure. Zollner managed to acquire three parts of the buried treasure, and sent them to Hudson in a diplomatic bag
. The Yugoslav authorities caught him, however, and Zollner confessed everything.
He later moved to South Africa
, where he died in 1995.
The swimming complex at St. Andrew's College was named in his honour when, upon his death, he left the school a considerable amount of money for new pool facilities.
, Ian Fleming
used Hudson as a model for his character James Bond
, although it has also been suggested that the character was modelled on his brother, Peter Fleming.
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(1910-1995) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
SOE
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
officer who fought in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Hudson, a mining engineer, was a rugby player, swimmer, rider, skier, boxer, and wrestler. He attended St. Andrew's College
St. Andrew's College (Grahamstown, South Africa)
St Andrew's College is a private senior school for boys located in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa, one of the 23 elite, influential and prestigious Milner Schools. It offers boarding and day options for its pupils. The premium Anglican boarding school caters for 450 pupils from across the...
in Grahamstown
Grahamstown
Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He spoke six foreign languages and had a reputation as a ladies' man. When Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
created the Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
(SOE), Hudson was recruited to sabotage German ships in Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
harbour using limpet mine
Limpet mine
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
s. He was commissioned on the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
General List in 1941.
His next mission was to fight alongside the Chetniks
Chetniks
Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
, a royalist guerilla force, antagonistic to both the Nazi German invaders and to the Communist partisans
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
. He was caught twice, but escaped on both occasions.
One of Hudson's tasks was to distribute British funds in order to pay for anti-Nazi fighters. He was given more than £80,000 in sovereigns and diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s, worth over £1.75m in today currency, which he partially buried in peasant villages. He later confessed that after the war, parts of the treasure were buried, with the aim of retrieving it on his own account when the war ended.
Afterwards, while he was working for the army in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, documents show that Hudson recruited Stephen Zollner, a Hungarian Jew buying timber for the British government around eastern Europe, to retrieve the treasure. Zollner managed to acquire three parts of the buried treasure, and sent them to Hudson in a diplomatic bag
Diplomatic bag
A diplomatic bag, also known as a diplomatic pouch is a kind of receptacle used by diplomatic missions. The physical concept of a "diplomatic bag" is flexible and therefore can take many forms e.g. an envelope, parcel, large suitcase or shipping container, etc...
. The Yugoslav authorities caught him, however, and Zollner confessed everything.
He later moved to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, where he died in 1995.
The swimming complex at St. Andrew's College was named in his honour when, upon his death, he left the school a considerable amount of money for new pool facilities.
Popular culture
According to The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
, Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
used Hudson as a model for his character James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
, although it has also been suggested that the character was modelled on his brother, Peter Fleming.