Ken Hutton, my father's cousin and hero, was born in Beaconsfield, Tasmania in 1921. He grew up into a tall, handsome, smart and extremely successful athlete who won Australia's most prestigious running race, the Stawell Gift, in 1941.
He joined the RAF soon after, at the age of 21. Once in England he piloted a Lancaster bomber of 5 Group with his crew including 3 other Australians - Geoff Breaden,Ron Walker and Alan McInnes. 2 Englishmen "Taffy" Lightfoot and Ron Easton and an Irishman, James "Paddy" Houston.
On 8th of January 1944 he married Gabrielle Savage, a WAAF, whom he had met when she drove the men out to their planes each night. After a brief honeymoon he returned to duty.
Less than two weeks after his wedding, on the night of 21st of January 1944, he was part of a huge mission to Magdeburg, Germany. During the flight the plane was shot at by a Focke Wulf 190 nightfighter. On the first burst the two left side engines were hit. The nightfighter then turned around and on the second turn the two gunners (Easton and Walker)were killed. Damage was massive and Ken ordered a bailout, staying at the controls to give the other men a chance to jump. All 4 jumped clear and were taken prisoner after being attacked and nearly killed by local Germans.
Ken is officially said to have died in the plane crash. However, one of his crew members believes that he landed safely in his parachute and died at the hands of the Germans.
His mother is said to have never recovered from the loss. He left behind many heart-broken aunts, uncles, cousins, brother and parents, as well as his new wife, Gay.
My father died 2 years ago. In my living memory, I never saw him speak of Ken without becoming emotional. As I write now, I can remember so clearly his lip trembling, and a tear forming in one eye. It was a bitter loss for a young boy. Remembering Ken is part of me honouring my father's grief. I am also so aware that many of these men died at such a young age that they didn't have their own children or grandchildren to carry on their memory, and so I do this in my father's name too.
An interesting aspect of this story is that after the war, Ken's widow Gay, came to Australia to meet her in-laws, staying for a couple of years. Dad was in awe of her. A few years later she re-married but she remained close to her Hutton in-laws, with visits between the families over the years. In the 90s her husband David researched and built a model of the ship that had brought the Hutton ancestors out to Australia in the 1850s which he gave to my father and I now have.
At my own wedding, David sent out to Australia, as gifts, two beautiful silver-plated dishes that had been handmade by Gay before she developed Alzheimers. She has passed away now.
