| Sydney Hudson | |
| Full Name: | Christopher Sydney Hudson |
| Nationality: | British |
| Sport: | Alpine skiing |
| Birth Date: | 1 August 1910 |
| Birth Place: | Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England |
| Death Place: | Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland |
Lieutenant Christopher Sydney Hudson (1 August 1910 - 7 April 2005)[1] was a British alpine skier.[2] He competed in the men's combined event at the 1936 Winter Olympics.[3] During World War II, Hudson was also part of the Special Operations Executive (SOE).[4] [5]
Hudson was born in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1910, but spent most of his early life in near Montreux, Switzerland.[6] As well as skiing, Hudson also played golf and tennis.[2] He would spend the winter skiing in Switzerland, while playing at the Royal Eastbourne Golf Club in England in the warmer months.[2] 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.[2] As a skier, he competed against Peter Lunn, who would also represent Great Britain at the Winter Olympics.[7] Lunn, like Hudson, was also a spy.[8]
In 1933, Hudson became the British champion, and was named the vice-captain of the British Olympic team.[2] At the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Hudson competed in the men's combined event, where he finished in 29th place.[9]
After the Olympics, Hudson joined the Royal Fusiliers.[10] From there, he joined the Special Operations Executive, and he began to work with the French Resistance.[2] While in France, he was arrested,[11] and spent 15 months in captivity.[12] He managed to escape, via Spain, and get back to England, before returning back to France.[12] He was honoured with a Distinguished Service Order and the Croix de Guerre.[12]
In the 1950s, Hudson worked for Shell International, before returning to Scotland at the end of the 1960s to work for the Bank of Scotland.[2] He also worked for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), and became a chairman of CBI Scotland.[2] He also helped to establish the Social Democratic Party in Scotland in the early 1980s.[4] In 2003, Hudson wrote the book Undercover Operator about his time in the SOE.[12] He died in Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland, in April 2005 at the age of 94.[4]