LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Gordon William HUTTON
Service No: 402856
Born: Liverpool NSW, 3 January 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 122 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Catterick, Yorkshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 122 Squadron Spitfire aircraft BL251), Yorkshire, 5 December 1941, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Sidney Gordon Marshall Hutton and Bessie Hutton, of Bulli, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Bulli NSW
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Woonona-Bulli RSL War Memorial, Woonona NSW
At 0845 hours on 5 December 1941 Sergeant Hutton in Spitfire BL251 took off from Catterick as Blue 2. Pilot Officer R E Hardy (RAF) who was flying as Blue 1 reported: “Upon arrival at Thornaby, I judge the cloud base to be at 1,000 feet. I considered the conditions to be unfit for operations by two aircraft and decided to return to Scorton as I had been told to do if I disliked the weather. I could not see Middlesbrough or its obstructions and accordingly turned to starboard height 1,000 feet and was forced to fly into some rather dense cloud at about 0900 hours. I commenced a rate one half turn by instruments at 200 mph. I looked up to see how Blue 2 was faring and saw him sliding into me from above. I avoided him and straightened up alongside. I commenced to turn again and after a few seconds saw his near port wing go up and Blue 2 again slid towards me. I avoided him by depressing my nose and he continued to slide to port. He disappeared in cloud and I saw him no more.” BL251 crashed at Upsall Mill Farm near Guisborough and Sergeant Hutton was killed. In a later Report of a Flying Accident the Commanding Officer of No. 122 Squadron stated “the pilot lost control in cloud, failed to transfer to instruments successfully and had insufficient height to recover”.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/124/96
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line