MacHutcheon, John C

Person

MacHutcheon, John C

John Chisholm MacHutcheon (also spelled McHutcheon) was born in Glasgow on March 2nd 1885, son of Agnes McHutcheon (née McDowall) and John McHutcheon, galvanizer. He attended day classes in drawing and painting at The Glasgow School of Art from 1903 to 1911. In the 1903 student register his occupation is listed as 'clerk'.

It is possible he emigrated to Canada after this time. In January 1915 he joined the territorial forces – Brighton is recorded as his place of attestation, although he is identified as Canadian. In June 1915 he joined the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Forces. His place of attestation is listed as 'Southwold', but it is unclear whether this is meant as Southwold in Ontario, Canada, or Southwold in Sussex, England. On MacHutcheon's army medal index card and the war office roll, he is recorded as a member of both the Canadian Cyclist Battalion and the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment, otherwise known as the Sherwood Forresters. In the 'Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion Association 1914 – 1918 Handbook' (1941) John E. Moran writes that at the beginning of the war, members of the Canadian Cyclist Battalion were being recruited faster than the casualty rate demanded. Thus many men, newly arrived from Canada to training camps in the south of England, were transferred to other units, much to their disappointment. This might account for MacHutcheon's allocation to the Sherwood Forresters, with whom he has no known connection. MacHutcheon died at Gallipoli on 2nd August 1916. He is commemorated on The Glasgow School of Art's First World War Roll of Honour.

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Sources: Moran, John E. Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion Association 1914 – 1918. Handbook, Toronto, Ontario, November, 1941: http://www.cefresearch.ca/matrix/Army%20Troops/2nd%20Echelon/Cyclist%20Battalion/cyclist_summary.doc

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