- Contributed by听
- Stockport Libraries
- People in story:听
- Harry Hudson
- Location of story:听
- Falconara, Italy; Stockport, Cheshire
- Background to story:听
- Army
- Article ID:听
- A4905632
- Contributed on:听
- 10 August 2005
This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War Website by Elizabeth Perez of Stockport Libraries on behalf of Harry Hudson and has been added to the site with his permission. He fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.
I was at a place in Italy called Falconara near Ancona with 384 GT Company RASC. We were with the Polish troops when they captured Falconara and afterwards we stayed there, working from the Docks at Ancona. One day news came that a Leave called LIAP was starting.
In 384 Company it was decided by the officers that if you had over 3 years abroad, your name would go into draw. There were over 360 sodliers with this amount of services, and the Company was allocated three places.
The great draw took place and I was one of the three picked out. When I went abroad I had got engaged, so as soon as I knew I was coming home in three weeks time, I wrote and told my wife-to-be to arrange for us to get married.
I came home by boat from Naples in convoy on "The Duchess of Bedford" and arrived at Liverpool, where we were met by military brass hats, a military band, tea and cakes and the Evening Paper. We were the first troops to come home this way. We spent the night in a Transit Camp, then caught an early morning train to Stockport. I arrived just as people were going to work. There was that famous greeting, "When are you back?" This was Wednesday, and we married on the Saturday, 28th April, at St. Mary's Church. Amongst our wedding gifts was an airmail envelope from some of my comrades in Italy and inside was 拢25.00 in postal orders. They must have sold some stuff to the civvies. We had our honeymoon in Scarborough and it showed.
We returned home and the war in Europe was over. VE Day arrived, and my wife and I took her younger brother with us to Belle Vue and eveyone was kissing and hugging, a great day to remember. Now that the fighting was over, I thought I would not be sent back, but I was sent back for another six months until December 1945. So I was one of the few returned from Italy who came home to spend a happy VE Day with my wife and family.
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