Medal Index Card
Henry (Harry) Hutchinson was born in 1896 in Washington Co. Durham, son of Joseph and Susanna (nee Taylor). The couple married on the 10th May 1892 at Monk-Hesledon and had a family of five children but sadly one infant did not survive.
Henry’s siblings were William Taylor, 1893-1908, Joseph, born 1895, Stephen, born 1899, and Mary Ann, born 1900.
In the 1901 Census return the family were living at Riding Farm Cottages, in Great Lumley, Chester-le-Street. Father Joseph was working as a farm hand.
In the 1911 Census return they are living at Dove Cote Farm, Elwick, in Hartlepool. Father Joseph was a farmer in his own right and both Henry and his elder brother Joseph are working on their father’s farm and both the younger children are at school at this time. Also in the household are Elizabeth Ann Taylor (sister in law), Ada Mary Hutchinson (niece) and Robert Brown Hutchinson (nephew) who was also employed as a farm worker. Thomas Edward Jackson makes the tenth member of the household and was working as a horseman on the farm.
The family would later reside at West Grange Farm, Sheraton, Co. Durham.
Agricultural fairs were heavily targeted for recruitment as men were encouraged to sign up and many farm workers answered that call. The Government were reluctant to apply any special status to agriculture as long as food supply was maintained, but as the war continued this changed and Britain was indeed faced with food shortages. After conscription was introduced in March 1916 exemptions from military duties were included, but while a farm owner may have been considered as essential to the war effort, surviving records show his sons were not necessarily always provided with the same status.
In the war years it has been reported that farms lost about 17.5% of their workforce, and to replace these men the War Office supplied farms with prisoners of war and British soldiers from 1917 onwards.
Henry enlisted into the 1st Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, with service number 40676. Unfortunately his army papers have not survived, but his number is close to that of a Private David Appleton (40627) of the same Regiment and Battalion, who enlisted on the 10th December 1915. It is therefore assumed the two men volunteered around the same time. Henry would have been 19 years old.
Henry was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his services in the Great War, but the absence of either the 1914 or 1914-15 Star indicates he did not serve in a theatre of war before 1916 as the men would have undergone training prior to embarking for France.
The 1st Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment was raised in 1914 in Blackdown near Aldershot and landed at Le Havre on the 13th August 1914 with 2nd Brigade, 1st Division. They were amongst the first to go overseas, although at this time Henry was not yet a soldier.
The 1st Division took part in most major actions on the Western Front, including;
1914: The Battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat, The Battle of the Marne, The Battle of the Aisne, First Battle of Ypres.
1914-1915: Winter Operations,
1915: The Battle of Aubers, The Battle of Loos.
1916: The Battles of the Somme including The Battle of Albert, The Battle of Bazentin, The Battle of Pozieres, The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, The Battle of Morval.
1917: The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, The Second Battle of Passchendaele (the final phase of the Third Battle of Ypres).
1918: The Battles of the Lys including The Battle of Estaires, the Battle of Hazebrouck, The Battle of Bethune. The Second Battle of Arras including The Battle of Drocourt-Queant. The Battles of the Hindenburg Line including The Battle of Epehy, The Battle of the St. Quentin Canal, The Battle of Beaurevoir. The Final Advance in Picardy including The Battle of the Selle, The Battle of the Sambre.
The Northamptonshire Regiment comprised of 13 Battalions. The 1st and also the 2nd Battalion suffered heavy casualties particularly at the start of the war and were reconstituted with new recruits. They lost heavily again at Aubers Ridge and on the Somme, and the 1st Battalion were almost destroyed at Nieuport where 20 Officers and 570 other ranks were killed, wounded or captured on July 10th 1917. During the course of the war the Regiment lost around 6,000 men.
The War Diary for the 1st Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment gives the following account for April 1918, which started with bayonet fighting and specialist training. However by the 9th they found themselves under heavy bombardment at Cuinchy as the enemy attacked north of the Labassee Canal.
By the 14th April they were at Cambrin, and on the morning of the 18th April about 4am a very heavy bombardment commenced north of the Canal and gradually spread to Battalion sector south of the Canal and to the Cambrin area, which was shelled with 8", 5.9" and gas. Companies all stood to from 5am. About 9am a strong attack was launched at Givenchy and Festubert front on the 1st & 3rd Brigade. At 10am 1 platoon [from], 'D' Company moved to Vauxhall Bridge to take up position and hold bridgehead if necessary. At 11.30am the remainder of details moved up and relieved 'A' Company of Cameron Highlanders at Pont Fixe North. At about the same time 3 platoons of 'A' Company went to Westminster Bridge. Enemy held up on both 1st & 3rd Brigade fronts on main line of resistance. During afternoon 1/5th Notts & Derby 46th Division came up and took over duties of support. Battalion at Cambrin. 'A' & 'C' Companies were withdrawn to Cambrin to rest prior to counter-attack north of Canal. At 8pm 'B' Company moved up to relieve 'A' Company of Cameron at Vauxhall and Westminster Bridges.
The War Diary reports during the period 18th-20th April 'D' Company had 38 O/R’s (other ranks) casualties at Pont Fixe N. Total casualties for April are given as; 5 Officers and 200 other ranks, some of these being cases of gas, the effects of which, in some cases, took about a week to become apparent.
Henry was killed on the 18th April 1918 when the Battalion were fighting in the Battle of Bethun, part of the Lys offensive. He was 21 years old. Originally buried in Pontfixe Cemetery, Henry was reburied at Woburn Abbey Cemetery in Cuinchy, France. The cemetery lies to the south-west of the village, towards the village of Cambrin. His parents had the words "Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ" added to his headstone.
Research: Jean Atkinson/James Pasby
Henry Hutchinson is remembered in Elwick on E63.01
