Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

03/11/1914

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

25/08/1894

Place of Birth

Wodonga, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

School(s) Attended

Launceston Grammar School

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Rev. Arthur E. Hutchinson (father), Hamilton-on-Clyde, Tasmania

Burial Place

No known burial place.

Final Rank

Major

Final Unit

58 Battalion AIF

Died (killed in action) on 19 July 1916 at Fromelles, France aged 21 years

AWM Roll of Honour Memorial Panel 165, Canberra ACT
VC Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles, France (panel 13)
Large stone tablet on outside of northern wall of St. John's Church, Reid ACT

Hutchinson entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon with the second intake of cadets on 7 March 1912. He was a member of the guard of honour at the Canberra naming ceremony on 12 March 1913. He graduated from RMC on 2 November 1914 and embarked as a Lieutenant with the 9th Light Horse Regiment Machine Gun Section in February 1915. He served on Gallipoli and after recovering from dysentery was promoted to Captain in October 1915. After the Gallipoli campaign he was transferred to the newly created 58th Battalion and promoted to Major.

The 58th Battalion was part of the 15th Brigade of the 5th Division and arrived in France in June 1916. A few weeks later they were ordered to attack a German position known as the Sugarloaf salient on Aubers Ridge near the French village of Fromelles as a feint to prevent the enemy from moving troops to the Somme. The 5th Division launched its attack on 19 July 1916. According to the Commanding Officer of the 15th Brigade, Brigadier General H.E. 'Pompey' Elliott, Hutchinson had courage of the highest order. When the attack on the Sugarloaf salient failed on 19 July, Hutchinson, with two companies of the 58th Battalion, was ordered to co-operate with the British Brigade on the right in a fresh attack at 9pm. He led his men to a position near the German wire, 200 yards beyond the previous attack. While his men took cover, Hutchinson reconnoitred the wire to find an opening. Despite continuous intense enfilading machine gun fire he persisted until he was killed. Elliott recommended an award of the Victoria Cross for Hutchinson but it was not granted.

Description - height 5 feet 10 inches, weight 165 pounds, chest 38½ inches, Church of England.

Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
AWM Honours & Awards
AWM Collections Records : 1DRL/0371, P11131.001
Charles Bean, 'Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18' (Vol. III)
Ross McMullin, 'Pompey Elliott', 2002
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'The Honour Guard at the Canberra Commencement Ceremony', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'Hell Opened at Fromelles', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial