Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

THOMAS ASHLEY McCUTCHAN

Service Number VX24404

D Company 2/22nd AIF


Thomas Ashley McCutchan was born in Richmond 18/05/1905. The family soon
relocated to Sandringham where Thomas spent his formative years. Aged 28 Thomas joined the local volunteer Citizen Force known as The Brighton Rifle, being the re-raised 46th Battalion. Having trained with the Militia for 7 years, when the Compulsory Training Scheme was reintroduced in early 1940 Thomas chose to enlist with the AIF despite being aged 35 and married with 2 young girls, attesting at Brighton end of May 1940 before joining the ranks of the 2/22nd Battalion, whereby he eventually arrived at Rabaul in April 1941.
Surviving post-cards and letters from Rabaul reveal Thomas to have been a devoted husband and father who liked to see the lighter side, such as during a Japanese air raid.
”The Jap's up to date are lousy shots and are not doing much damage. I am quite a champion slit-trench diver now. The other night when they come over it had been raining. We dived for our holes and they were half full of water. Of course no one said a word”.
Xmas 1941 was particularly hard with the constantly increasing threat of battle although he was glad to know the dresses he sent home were delivered in time.
“I missed them at home I think more than ever if that is possible” he wrote to his Aunt Lil.
January 7th 1942 Thomas wrote one of his last letters, to Aunt Lil... “ we had our last feed of proper meat yesterday although we have been having all canned stuff for the past few weeks, but they found enough for once yesterday. I tried my hand at cooking a chicken yesterday. One of the cooks gave it to me. I bunged it in a tin with some onions and rice and split peas. It was going alright till it rained. I forgot to put the lid back on the tin so the broth was pretty watery. Still it was better than lately”.
Although events after the Japanese invasion of Rabaul on 23rd January are purely
speculative Thomas was presumed to be one of those Allied prisoners lost in the tragedy of July 1st 1942. This presumption confirmed by recent official Japanese documentation regards the Montevideo Maru manifest for July 1st 1942.
One can only imagine the grief endured by his wife Jessie-May struggling to maintain some sense of normality and hope for the children with Thomas listed as missing for 3 years until after the war had ended and she then learnt her husband's final fate.
Loris Worley (nee McCutchan), her sister Beverly and their mother Jessie-May were supported throughout the years after WW2 by the 2/22nd Welfare Auxiliary and Legacy plus both sisters regularly attended dances together for over 20 years in and around Melbourne as part of the Legacy Dance Group, which they both particularly enjoyed.
Unfortunately neither Jessie-May nor Beverly lived to see Thomas Ashley McCutchan and his 2/22nd Battalion mates commemorated so it is with much love, gratitude and pride that his daughter Loris plus grandchildren Steven, Suzanne and Samantha will be in Canberra for the Montevideo Maru 75th Anniversary Commemoration, July 1st 2017.