My grandpa, Col. Douglas Victory Hutchinson M.B.E., was born soon after the end of World War I. To commemorate what would have been his 100th Birthday, I recently completed his memoirs in a short booklet which can now be found in the Royal Engineers Museum (collection number 201911.4). It tells the story of a young man, bought up on a farm near Warwick and follows his story as he joined the 7th Field Company R.E. in May 1939. When war broke out he embarked from Liverpool to Egypt as an officer in the 12th Field Squadron R.E.
At the beginning of 1941, the Squadron was assigned to 6th Infantry Division, which fought against the Italian 10th Army during Operation Compass. It was re-designated as the XIII Corps alongside the 7th Armoured Division, Australian 6th Division, and 4th Indian Infantry Division. During Operation Battleaxe, the Squadron supported the 22nd Guards Brigade as General Rommel countered the Allied attack. The Division was then sent to Syria to help capture Damascus from the Vichy French. Re-created as the 70th Infantry Division in October 1941, they were transported by the Royal Navy to relieve the Australian garrison in Tobruk.
From September 1941, the 12th Field Squadron, as part of the 70th Infantry Division, were cut off from the rest of the British forces for several months. Along with the rest of the XIII Corps, they finally broke out of Tobruk by early December. After a brief spell of rest and refitting in Egypt, the Squadron found themselves back in Syria to help build the Homs-Tripoli defence line. But before the work was complete they were given orders to return to Egypt to depart for India. During transit, they heard that Rangoon had fallen to the Japanese, and they reached Bombay in March 1942.
By mid-1943, the 12th Field Company served with the 23rd Infantry Brigade. In those early years time was spent on endless recon missions, jungle bridging, and improvised rafting amongst other things. They were in and around the Arakan during the same period as Wingate's earlier offensives to the North. By October 1943, the 70th Division was absorbed into Wingate's Chindit force, where the Division found themselves back in central India for an intensive period of training. Operations included further sorties into the Arakan as part of the newly formed 23rd Long-Range Penetration Brigade in the 34th Column of 4th Battalion, Border Regiment.
In March 1944, the 12th Field Company found themselves diverted from the main Chindit campaign and dispatched to Kohima, where they endured some of the most inhospitable conditions in WWII. The harassing operations by the 23rd Brigade made a major impact on the Japanese to bring about a withdrawal from Imphal/Kohima, and they did not again attempt an invasion on India.
From the end of 1944, Douglas made his way back toward England for the first time in over four years. But he soon found himself back in Rawalpindi as second-in-command with 268th Field Company, assigned to 44th Indian Airbourne Division, for training and to form the 12th Parachute Squadron R.E.
As the war ended, Douglas found himself in the Schleswig-Holstein region of Germany as second-in-command of 147th Field Park Squadron, joining the 11th Armoured Division as part of the 8th Corps. A year later the Squadron joined the 7th Armoured Division. At this time Douglas was promoted to Commanding Officer of 211 Field Park Squadron R.E. for the B.O.A.R. By August 1947, it was re-designated as 145 Field Park Squadron.
Some years later in 1956, Major Hutchinson was posted to Cyprus with the 42 Survey Engineer Regiment where he was appointed Officer Commanding to the 19th Topographic Squadron. From here he oversaw operations in Iraq as well as supervising 3 Field Topographic Squadron in Aden, Oman, and Bahrain. It was during July 1958 when he was caught up in the Iraqi coup d'etat. From 1960 onwards, Colonel Hutchinson served at JHQ B.O.A.R. as Chief of Survey Branch, and was later posted to AFCENT in Fontainebleau, France, as part of NATO.
Colonel Hutchinson assumed his final posting in 1968 as Deputy Director of Field Surveys for Ordnance Survey, and he officially retired in April 1972.
