More about William Hutcheon

William Hutcheon   CZ/4217 Hawke Battalion Royal Naval Division

Mother, Ellen, 45 Nelson St., Dundee, later: Wife, Elizabeth, 35 North Ellen St., Dundee.

HUTCHEON^___Killed in action, on 25th August, A.B. William Hutcheon, CZ/4217, Royal Naval Division, beloved brother of Mrs Towns, 88 Strathmartine Road. –Inserted by his sister and brother in France.

Dundee People’s Journal 28th September 1918

HUTCHEON^___In loving memory of A.B. William Hutcheon, R.N.D., who was killed in action on August 25th, 1918, beloved husband of Elizabeth Gardiner, 35 North Ellen Street. – Inserted by his sorrowing widow.

Dundee People’s Journal 30th August 1919

William Hutcheon was the son of Mrs Ellen Hutcheon of 45 Nelson Street, Dundee and was married to Mrs Elizabeth Hutcheon of 35 North Ellen Street, Dundee. He was employed as an Oil Machinist when, in April 1915, he volunteered to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve onboard HMS Unicorn for service in the Royal Naval Division. After initial Naval Training at the Crystal Palace in South London he was sent to Blandford Camp in Dorset for advanced military training. After this he was drafted to the Nelson Battalion, serving in Gallipoli. In December he became ill with Jaundice being treated first on Mudros and then at Alexandria in Egypt. In June he returned to Mudros and embarked for France the same month and rejoined the Nelson here. In early November he was hospitalised with inflamed connective tissue and septic infections in both legs and later evacuated to Trent Bridge Military Hospital, crossing the Channel on the Hospital Ship Cambria. On discharge after treatment he was granted leave in December. He returned to Blandford Camp to get fit again for the Western Front. In May 1917 he rejoined the Hawke Battalion but was transferred to the 177th Tunnelling Company in June. In September he returned to the Hawke and served through the Passchendaele battles in October. However, he was hospitalised again with ICT leg problems in December. It is not clear what happened to him next but he completed treatment in March 1918. At some point he rejoined the Hawke Battalion and was killed in action in August. William Hutcheon was first buried near Bapaume and later re-interred in the Australian Imperial Force Burial Ground at Flers, France. A report of his death was made in the Peoples Journal 21 September 1918 which also mentions his sister, Mrs Towns, who lived at 88 Strathmartine Rd, Dundee.

Iain Stewart and Iain Birnie