Dudley left Kelly College at the age of 16 in 1914 and in 1915 passed the entrance exam for RMC Wellington as a King’s India Cadet. With excellent reports from Wellington, he was posted to India where he was awarded the Cavalry Saddle and Bridle with a special commendation by Major General Sir Arthur Phayre. He was then commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 31st Duke of Connaught’s Lancers on the North West frontier in the Mahsud campaign. This was followed by an attachment to the 25th Cavalry in East Africa in 1917. He went on to be posted to Palestine in April 1918 as a Squadron Commander in the Mysore Imperial Service Lancers as part of the advance by Allenby’s army from Egypt to attack the Turkish forces from the south. He was awarded the M.C. for gallantry and leadership, and showing exceptional bravery and coolness under fire in the Battle of Haifa in September 1918 when his squadron captured several guns and a number of prisoners. He was also mentioned in Dispatches.

Tragically, Dudley was killed aged 20 on 26 October 1918, just two weeks before the Armistice in an attack on Aleppo in modern day Syria, his death being marked by a glowing report from the Brigade Commander. He was buried in the Beirut War Cemetery in modern day Lebanon with the inscription on his headstone reading: “I was glad to die for my country and for my most beloved parents”. A bronze tablet was erected to his memory by his brother officers in the Parish Church of St Mary Bourne, Hants.