Lieutenant Christopher Sydney Hudson (1 August 1910 – 7 April 2005) was a British

alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

. He competed in the men's combined event at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Hudson was also part of the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

(SOE).

Biography

Hudson was born in

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...

, Kent, in 1910, but spent most of his early life in near

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approximat ...

, Switzerland. As well as skiing, Hudson also played golf and tennis. He would spend the winter skiing in Switzerland, while playing at the Royal Eastbourne Golf Club in England in the warmer months. As a golfer, he was a three-time runner-up in the Sussex Amateur Championship during the 1930s, and in 1932, he reached the fifth round of the British Open Amateur Championship. As a skier, he competed against

Peter Lunn Peter Northcote Lunn (15 November 1914 – 30 November 2011) was a British alpine skier who competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics. As a spymaster in the early Cold War, he was noted for his resourceful use of telephone tapping. Biography The ...

, who would also represent Great Britain at the Winter Olympics. Lunn, like Hudson, was also a spy. In 1933, Hudson became the British champion, and was named the vice-captain of the British Olympic team. At the

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

, Germany, Hudson competed in the men's combined event, where he finished in 29th place. After the Olympics, Hudson joined the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

. From there, he joined the

, and he began to work with the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. While in France, he was arrested, and spent 15 months in captivity. He managed to escape, via Spain, and get back to England, before returning back to France. He was honoured with a

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

and the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. In the 1950s, Hudson worked for

Shell International Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

, before returning to Scotland at the end of the 1960s to work for the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...

. He also worked for the

Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a UK business organisation, which in total claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, this is made up of around 1,500 direct members and 188,500 non-members. The non members are represented through the 1 ...

(CBI), and became a chairman of CBI Scotland. He also helped to establish the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

in Scotland in the early 1980s. In 2003, Hudson wrote the book ''Undercover Operator'' about his time in the SOE. He died in

Livingston, West Lothian Livingston ( sco, Leivinstoun, gd, Baile Dhunlèibhe) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from a village of the same name incorporated ...

, Scotland, in April 2005 at the age of 94.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Sydney 1910 births 2005 deaths British male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Great Britain Alpine skiers at the 1936 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Royal Tunbridge Wells