[5][6] Having joined the Merchant Navy in 1888, Huddleston received his certificate as Second mate of a Foreign Going Ship on 30 May 1895.

[2] He took the Officer's course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich[5][6] and in 1897 was in the troopship, Warren Hastings, when she was wrecked at sea off the coast of Mauritius.

[6] For his role in the rescue of those on board, Huddleston was awarded the Royal Humane Society's silver medal for gallantry.

[2] Huddleston then served in the Indian Civil Service as shipping surveyor and adviser to the High Commissioner for India in London.

[12] On 4 August 1904, Huddleston married Elsie Barlow-Smith; they'd met in Bedford as school children.