Born in
Ōpōtiki in the
Bay of Plenty, where he attended Ōpōtiki College, Hudson enlisted in the
New Zealand Army on 24 May 1961. He served in
Malaya,
Borneo and
Vietnam, serving with the
New Zealand Special Air Service. Sergeant Hudson was a drill instructor at Waiouru supervising a training exercise when a
non-commissioned officer (NCO) accidentally armed a grenade he was about to throw. Hudson saw the soldier freeze, and immediately ordered him to throw it. The NCO was still unable to react so Hudson grasped his hand and tried to release the grenade, which exploded, killing both men. ==Notes==