Charles John Strudwick
Place of birth: Farnham, Surrey, England
Previous occupation: Errand Boy
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Able Seaman
Service Number: J115305
Joined Hood: 12th May 1931 (Able Seaman)
Left Hood: 9th May 1932 (Able Seaman)
Biographical Information: Charles John Strudwick, known as 'Brud', was born at Blackdown Barracks, near Camberley, Surrey, in 1909. He joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Second Class on 23rd September 1925 and did his basic training in HMS Ganges in Essex. As a Surrey native, he was naturally base-ported at Portsmouth thereafter. In his early years in the Royal Navy, Charles served in battleships (HMS Iron Duke and HMS Barham) and cruisers.
Charles joined HMS Hood in May 1931 as she emerged from her major, two-year midlife refit. She became a Portsmouth ship at that time, having been Devonport-based for the first half of her career. He remained in Hood for almost exactly one year, which means that he would have been on board during the turbulent time of the Invergordon Mutiny later in 1931. It seems that Charles was not an active participant in that event: his service record is unblemished.
Charles remained in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and, his family recalls, participated in the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 as coxswain of the Aldeburgh lifeboat, RNLB Abdi Beauclerk - one of the 'little ships'.
Charles left the Royal Navy to pension on the day before his 40th birthday but maintained his connection to the Service by finding employment in Portsmouth dockyard: his family members still remember being taken afloat in dockyard tugs during Portsmouth Navy Days. He retired in 1974.
Charles was proud of his connection with HMS Hood and maintained his links with her by his membership of the HMS Hood Association, whose events he attended regularly. As well as being a member of the HMS Hood Association, he was also a member of the Portsmouth Burma Star Association, which helped raise funds for a new stained glass window to be installed in Portsmouth Cathedral in August 1982, in gratitude to all those who died or served in the Far East.
Charles John Strudwick was happily married to Gwen for 56 years. He passed away early in 1991, in Portsmouth. He had left his mark: at his funeral in Portchester there was a massive turnout, a piper and a guard of honour.
Additional Photos |
 Young Charles. |
 Charles John Strudwick - photo dated 1926. |
 A Formal Portrait. |
 Charles and Gwen |
 Charles as a Petty Officer. |
 Aldeburgh lifeboat RNLB Abdi Beauclerk, of which Charles was coxswain at Dunkirk. |
 Charles and Gwen in later life. |
No known memorials
Sources
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
'Register of Deaths of Naval Ratings' (data extracted by Director of Naval Personnel (Disclosure Cell), Navy Command HQ, 2009)
Service Record: ADM363/118(Ancestry)
Mike and Sheila Chalmers, family members, biographical information January 2022.