AB. John George "Soapy" Hudson
Royal Navy HMS Nyasaland
from:Derby
After basic training at HMS Ganges and HMS Marlborough my dad, John Hudson, was posted to the USA in February 1944 to join a convoy escort Frigate, the Colony Class HMS Nyasaland. Construction seems to have been delayed, presumably by D-Day preparations, and the ship left Boston on 26th of September 1944 to spend 2 weeks working up in Bermuda, and then joined a convoy back to the UK. The Nyasland then spent the rest of the war on escort/support duty (Escort Group 23) around the West coast of the UK and was a frequent visitor to Londonderry. My dad met mum in Londonderry, so the experience was life changing. HMS Nyasaland was credited with 2 U-Boat sinkings, pretty good for a new ship.
After the end of the war in Europe HMS Nyasaland was quickly decommissioned, but dad was sent to the far East in Sept 1945 and spent a year on HMS Bonaventure repatriating troops and prisoners in the far east from Hong Kong, Singapore, Ceylon, Japan back to Australia where they were shipped back to England or their homes.
