SCUTT, Rufus James
| Service Number: | 26936 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 5th Divisional Ammunition Column |
| Born: | Boulton Street, North Adelaide, South Australia, 31 October 1892 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Butcher's Labourer |
| Died: | Daw Park Repatriation Hospital, 15 March 1965, aged 72 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Hindmarsh Cemetery, S.A. Section Upper F33 1 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Gilles Street Primary School WW1 Honour Roll (New), Enfield Methodist Church Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Gunner, 26936, 15th Field Artillery Brigade | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Sep 1916: | Involvement Driver, 26936, 15th Field Artillery Brigade , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Sydney embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 6 Sep 1916: | Embarked Driver, 26936, 15th Field Artillery Brigade , HMAT Port Sydney, Melbourne | |
| 26 Jul 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Gunner, 26936, 5th Divisional Ammunition Column |
Help us honour Rufus James Scutt's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Paul Lemar
Rufus was the son of Thomas SCUTT & Agnes HUNT and was born on the 31st of October 1892 in Boulton Street, North Adelaide, SA.
His parents were married in 1874 in Brighton, Sussex, England.
His father was the son of William & Anne SCUTT and was born on the 2nd of October in 1853 in Brighton, Sussex, England.
His mother was the daughter of Henry Harvey HUNT and was born in 1855 in Bury, Sussex, England.
Rufus was the ninth child born into the family of 10 children.
His father was a plumber and builder’s labourer and they lived at 61 Toronto Terrace, Brighton, Sussex.
His parents and 2 eldest siblings had immigrated to South Australia on board the Hesperus on the 24th of October 1878.
When Rufus was born in Boulton Street, North Adelaide in 1892 his father was a fish hawker & salesman and by 1899 they family had moved to Mary Street, Unley
They then moved to Collins Street, Enfield and after completing his schooling Rufus gained employment as a butcher’s labourer.
Rufus married Lavinia Irene GREEN on the 21st of November 1913 at the residence of Lavinia’s parents, West Hindmarsh, SA.
Lavinia was the daughter of William GREEN & Mary Ellen BRETT and was born on the 6th of November 1895 in West Hindmarsh, SA.
When they first married they lived with Rufus’s parents in Collins Street, Enfield and welcomed their first child; Irene, on the 28th of January 1914 (Irene may have died as an infant as a record of her anyway after her birth has not yet been found).
At the age of 23, Rufus enlisted into the AIF on the 8th of January 1916 in Adelaide and was allotted the service number 26936 and posted to E Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp.
He was then posted to the Artillery Reinforcements and transferred to the Field Artillery Brigade in the Maribyrnong training camp, Victoria on the 16th of May.
Rufus was transferred to the 15th Field Artillery Brigade, 5th Reinforcements and promoted to Driver.
Rufus embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT A15 Port Sydney on the 7th of September 1916, disembarked in Plymouth on the 29th of October and marched into the Artillery training camp on the edge of the Salisbury Plain.
He proceeding to France on the 18th of December and was transferred to the 5th Division Artillery.
Rufus served for more than 3 years in France and whilst he was overseas Lavinia moved in with her parents at 4 Cross Street, Hindmarsh.
Rufus finally embarked from England on board SS Leicestershire on the 3rd of May 1919 and disembarked in Adelaide on the 8th of June.
On the 15th of July a welcome home social was tendered to Rufus and 7 other returning soldiers by the Enfield Working Bee in the Enfield Institute.
The residence presented Rufus with a solid leather pocket book.
Rufus was discharged from the AIF on the 26th of July 1919 and the following year he was employed as a slaughterman for WHAITE Bros, of Hughes Street, Woodville, and Rufus and Lavinia were living in Welland Avenue, Welland.
William Robert WHAITE had married Rose Hannah COOPER on the 31st of March 1913 at his mother’s residence, Hughes Street, Woodville.
They had 2 daughters; Stella Constance, born on the 1st of December 1914 and Zoe Daphne, born on the 10th of February 1917.
Rose was a very ill lady and suffered from diabetes and William struggled to work and look after his 2 little daughters so Rufus and Lavinia took the little girls in as their foster children.
By now they had moved to Gladstone Road, Prospect and the girls attended the Nailsworth Infant School.
Their mother died on the 8th of January 1922 form diabetes and then their father died 7 years later, on the 10th of February 1929 from Carcinoma of Face.
In 1936 the Scutt family moved to Lavinia’s childhood home at 4 Cross Street, West Hindmarsh as her mother had died and her father was alone in the home.
Rufus gained employment as a labourer.
Rufus died on the 15th of March 1965 in the Daws Park Repatriation Hospital and was buried 2 days later in the Hindmarsh Cemetery; Section Upper F33 1.
Lavinia remained in the family home until her death on the 24th of October 1979 and was buried in the Hindmarsh Cemetery, close to Rufus; Section Upper F35 1.
Military
At the age of 23, Rufus enlisted into the AIF on the 8th of January 1916 in Adelaide and was allotted the service number 26936 and posted to E Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp.
He listed his wife, C/- Mrs William GREEN, of Cross Street, Hindmarsh, as his next of kin.
On the 1st of February he was transferred to D Company, 1st Depot Battalion at Morphettville Camp and 2 weeks later he was posted to the Artillery Reinforcements.
Rufus was then transferred to the Field Artillery Brigade in the Maribyrnong training camp, Victoria on the 16th of May.
On the 4th of August he was posted to the 15th Field Artillery Brigade, 5th Reinforcements and promoted to Driver.
Rufus embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT A15 Port Sydney on the 7th of September 1916, disembarked in Plymouth on the 29th of October and marched into the Artillery training camp on the edge of the Salisbury Plain.
He spent the next 6 weeks here in training before proceeding to France on the 18th of December and reported to the AGBD (Australian General Base Depot) in Etaples.
He spent Christmas 1916 here before he was transferred to the 5th Division Artillery on the 29th of December and was taken on strength with the 5th DAC (Divisional Ammunition Column) on the 2nd of January 1917 in the field, near Albert.
Each Division had an Ammunition Column to keep ammunition up to the guns by moving it from "Third line" storage up to the Front ("First Line"). It was a mammoth task involving motor and horse drawn transport, heavy and light rail and tramways. Ammunition dumps and transport near the Front Line were high priority targets of the enemy's guns, and later, aircraft.
Horse drawn transport laden with ammunition was a doubly risky business. Horses are vulnerable to all forms of small arms and artillery and the cargo is such that a hit was generally catastrophic.
Within 2 weeks Rufus was remustered back to gunner at own request.
They remained in this area until the 19th of March when they moved to Mametz and their next move was to Haplincourt on the 16th of April.
On the 28th of June they marched 12 miles to Acid Drop Camp, near Contalmaison and 5 days later they moved a further 16 miles to Frechencourt, towards Amiens.
On the 9th of July Rufus was promoted to Driver Vice and then they marched to Orville, Estree-Wamin and then onto Gauchin-Legal, a distance of 43 miles.
On the 14th of July they began a 4 day march to Poperinghe via Amens, Thiennes, Staples and Godewaersvelde
Six day later Rufus found himself beyond the limits set out by the commander without a pass and was forfeited 3 days pay.
August was spent at Brandhoek and on the 8th they attempted to deliver 3000 HE Shell rounds for the 4.5 inch Howitzers at the front but failed due to excessive hostile shell fire.
They did however successfully deliver 1460 rounds for the month before marching to the rest area at St Momelin on the 8th of September.
On the 28th they moved to the forward area near Dickenbusch to establish an ammunition dump. Here they delivered 33,900 rounds of ammunition before they moved to the Ypres area on the 5th of October and delivered 34,900 rounds of ammunition and 5,780 HE Shell rounds for the 4.5 inch Howitzers for the month.
On the 13th of November they moved to Steenwerck and 2 days later Rufus reverted back to Gunner at own request.
They spent the firs half of December at Dranoutre before moving to Doulieu, Renescue and then Thiembronne.
An attempt was made to reach Etaples on the 23rd of December but owing to the slippery condition of the roads on account of the heavy frosts and numerous hills, they were unable to proceed further than Wicquinghem, which was only 6 miles away.
Christmas Day 1917 was spent here and the following day they marched 18 miles to Tubersent in a driving blizzard, intense cold and snow drifts.
On the 26th of January 1918 Rufus was granted 2 weeks leave to England and when he rejoined his Column they were located at Dranoutre.
On the 19th of March Rufus failed to carry a box respirator, whilst in the danger zone, and made a false statement to the Military Police. He was awarded 7 days Field Punishment No.2.
At the end of March they entrained to Amplier and then marched to Allonville and onto Bussy-les-Daours where they received and delivered thousands upon thousand of rounds on ammunition.
May was spent at Querrieu where they were engaged in ammunition transfer before marching to Boudon and Bray-les-Mareuil at the end of June.
By mid July they had moved to Frechencourt and the entire time they had transferred ammunition.
In early August they had moved to Glisy and were engaged in filling the advanced Battery positions in front of Villers-Bretonneux.
They established an ammunitions dump south of Blangy-Tronville where they were engaged in dumping 600 shell rounds per Howitzer.
On the 5th they moved to a forward dump immediately behind the front line for 8 days and then moved to the main dump north of Caix.
There next move was to Cerisy where they relieved the 17th imperial DAC before moving to Assevillers at the end of August.
On the 7th of September they marched to Barleux and 5 days later they moved into the rest area at Feuilleres.
After a 5 day break they moved to Cartigny and by the end of September they were located at Templeux.
By mid October they were located at Bellicourt and then moved forward to the ammunitions dump at Butry Farm, near Memetz and then onto Longueau.
At Longueau they overhauled and cleaned the wagon harnesses and the general equipment and the vehicles were washed by German Prisoners of War and Chinese labourers.
On the 10th of November they moved 31 miles to Ennemain and the following day the Armistice was signed and the guns fell silent.
Three weeks later they moved to Mazinghiem and by late December they had marched to Semeries and Christmas Eve 1918 was snowed in, but Christmas Day was fine albeit very cold.
Since the Armistice their work had been very heavy and they had completed a great deal of transport work for the Infantry and Field Artillery Brigade.
They spent the early part of January 1919 beginning demobilisation and carting rations for the civilians and moving the refugees back to their old homes.
On the 16th of January Rufus was granted 2 weeks leave to England and whilst on leave he suffered with Laryngitis and was admitted into the 5th Southern General in Portsmouth before being transferred to the 1st Australian General Hospital in Sutton Veny on the 16th of March.
He spent a further 4 weeks here before being discharged to 1 week leave and then reported to No.5 Group in Weymouth on the 22nd of April.
Rufus embarked from England on board SS Leicestershire on the 3rd of May 1919 and disembarked in Adelaide on the 8th of June.
Rufus was discharged from the AIF on the 26th of July 1919 and awarded the British War & Victory Medals.
Biography contributed by Paul Lemar
Rufus was the son of Thomas SCUTT & Agnes HUNT and was born on the 31st of October 1892 in Boulton Street, North Adelaide, SA.
His parents were married in 1874 in Brighton, Sussex, England.
His father was the son of William & Anne SCUTT and was born on the 2nd of October in 1853 in Brighton, Sussex, England.
His mother was the daughter of Henry Harvey HUNT and was born in 1855 in Bury, Sussex, England.
Rufus was the ninth child born into the family of 10 children.
His father was a plumber and builder’s labourer and they lived at 61 Toronto Terrace, Brighton, Sussex.
His parents and 2 eldest siblings had immigrated to South Australia on board the Hesperus on the 24th of October 1878.
When Rufus was born in Boulton Street, North Adelaide in 1892 his father was a fish hawker & salesman and by 1899 they family had moved to Mary Street, Unley
They then moved to Collins Street, Enfield and after completing his schooling Rufus gained employment as a butcher’s labourer.
Rufus married Lavinia Irene GREEN on the 21st of November 1913 at the residence of Lavinia’s parents, West Hindmarsh, SA.
Lavinia was the daughter of William GREEN & Mary Ellen BRETT and was born on the 6th of November 1895 in West Hindmarsh, SA.
When they first married they lived with Rufus’s parents in Collins Street, Enfield and welcomed their first child; Irene, on the 28th of January 1914 (Irene may have died as an infant as a record of her anyway after her birth has not yet been found).
At the age of 23, Rufus enlisted into the AIF on the 8th of January 1916 in Adelaide and was allotted the service number 26936 and posted to E Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp.
He was then posted to the Artillery Reinforcements and transferred to the Field Artillery Brigade in the Maribyrnong training camp, Victoria on the 16th of May.
Rufus was transferred to the 15th Field Artillery Brigade, 5th Reinforcements and promoted to Driver.
Rufus embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT A15 Port Sydney on the 7th of September 1916, disembarked in Plymouth on the 29th of October and marched into the Artillery training camp on the edge of the Salisbury Plain.
He proceeding to France on the 18th of December and was transferred to the 5th Division Artillery.
Rufus served for more than 3 years in France and whilst he was overseas Lavinia moved in with her parents at 4 Cross Street, Hindmarsh.
Rufus finally embarked from England on board SS Leicestershire on the 3rd of May 1919 and disembarked in Adelaide on the 8th of June.
On the 15th of July a welcome home social was tendered to Rufus and 7 other returning soldiers by the Enfield Working Bee in the Enfield Institute.
The residence presented Rufus with a solid leather pocket book.
Rufus was discharged from the AIF on the 26th of July 1919 and the following year he was employed as a slaughterman for WHAITE Bros, of Hughes Street, Woodville, and Rufus and Lavinia were living in Welland Avenue, Welland.
William Robert WHAITE had married Rose Hannah COOPER on the 31st of March 1913 at his mother’s residence, Hughes Street, Woodville.
They had 2 daughters; Stella Constance, born on the 1st of December 1914 and Zoe Daphne, born on the 10th of February 1917.
Rose was a very ill lady and suffered from diabetes and William struggled to work and look after his 2 little daughters so Rufus and Lavinia took the little girls in as their foster children.
By now they had moved to Gladstone Road, Prospect and the girls attended the Nailsworth Infant School.
Their mother died on the 8th of January 1922 form diabetes and then their father died 7 years later, on the 10th of February 1929 from Carcinoma of Face.
In 1936 the Scutt family moved to Lavinia’s childhood home at 4 Cross Street, West Hindmarsh as her mother had died and her father was alone in the home.
Rufus gained employment as a labourer.
Rufus died on the 15th of March 1965 in the Daws Park Repatriation Hospital and was buried 2 days later in the Hindmarsh Cemetery; Section Upper F33 1.
Lavinia remained in the family home until her death on the 24th of October 1979 and was buried in the Hindmarsh Cemetery, close to Rufus; Section Upper F35 1.
Military
At the age of 23, Rufus enlisted into the AIF on the 8th of January 1916 in Adelaide and was allotted the service number 26936 and posted to E Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp.
He listed his wife, C/- Mrs William GREEN, of Cross Street, Hindmarsh, as his next of kin.
On the 1st of February he was transferred to D Company, 1st Depot Battalion at Morphettville Camp and 2 weeks later he was posted to the Artillery Reinforcements.
Rufus was then transferred to the Field Artillery Brigade in the Maribyrnong training camp, Victoria on the 16th of May.
On the 4th of August he was posted to the 15th Field Artillery Brigade, 5th Reinforcements and promoted to Driver.
Rufus embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT A15 Port Sydney on the 7th of September 1916, disembarked in Plymouth on the 29th of October and marched into the Artillery training camp on the edge of the Salisbury Plain.
He spent the next 6 weeks here in training before proceeding to France on the 18th of December and reported to the AGBD (Australian General Base Depot) in Etaples.
He spent Christmas 1916 here before he was transferred to the 5th Division Artillery on the 29th of December and was taken on strength with the 5th DAC (Divisional Ammunition Column) on the 2nd of January 1917 in the field, near Albert.
Each Division had an Ammunition Column to keep ammunition up to the guns by moving it from "Third line" storage up to the Front ("First Line"). It was a mammoth task involving motor and horse drawn transport, heavy and light rail and tramways. Ammunition dumps and transport near the Front Line were high priority targets of the enemy's guns, and later, aircraft.
Horse drawn transport laden with ammunition was a doubly risky business. Horses are vulnerable to all forms of small arms and artillery and the cargo is such that a hit was generally catastrophic.
Within 2 weeks Rufus was remustered back to gunner at own request.
They remained in this area until the 19th of March when they moved to Mametz and their next move was to Haplincourt on the 16th of April.
On the 28th of June they marched 12 miles to Acid Drop Camp, near Contalmaison and 5 days later they moved a further 16 miles to Frechencourt, towards Amiens.
On the 9th of July Rufus was promoted to Driver Vice and then they marched to Orville, Estree-Wamin and then onto Gauchin-Legal, a distance of 43 miles.
On the 14th of July they began a 4 day march to Poperinghe via Amens, Thiennes, Staples and Godewaersvelde
Six day later Rufus found himself beyond the limits set out by the commander without a pass and was forfeited 3 days pay.
August was spent at Brandhoek and on the 8th they attempted to deliver 3000 HE Shell rounds for the 4.5 inch Howitzers at the front but failed due to excessive hostile shell fire.
They did however successfully deliver 1460 rounds for the month before marching to the rest area at St Momelin on the 8th of September.
On the 28th they moved to the forward area near Dickenbusch to establish an ammunition dump. Here they delivered 33,900 rounds of ammunition before they moved to the Ypres area on the 5th of October and delivered 34,900 rounds of ammunition and 5,780 HE Shell rounds for the 4.5 inch Howitzers for the month.
On the 13th of November they moved to Steenwerck and 2 days later Rufus reverted back to Gunner at own request.
They spent the firs half of December at Dranoutre before moving to Doulieu, Renescue and then Thiembronne.
An attempt was made to reach Etaples on the 23rd of December but owing to the slippery condition of the roads on account of the heavy frosts and numerous hills, they were unable to proceed further than Wicquinghem, which was only 6 miles away.
Christmas Day 1917 was spent here and the following day they marched 18 miles to Tubersent in a driving blizzard, intense cold and snow drifts.
On the 26th of January 1918 Rufus was granted 2 weeks leave to England and when he rejoined his Column they were located at Dranoutre.
On the 19th of March Rufus failed to carry a box respirator, whilst in the danger zone, and made a false statement to the Military Police. He was awarded 7 days Field Punishment No.2.
At the end of March they entrained to Amplier and then marched to Allonville and onto Bussy-les-Daours where they received and delivered thousands upon thousand of rounds on ammunition.
May was spent at Querrieu where they were engaged in ammunition transfer before marching to Boudon and Bray-les-Mareuil at the end of June.
By mid July they had moved to Frechencourt and the entire time they had transferred ammunition.
In early August they had moved to Glisy and were engaged in filling the advanced Battery positions in front of Villers-Bretonneux.
They established an ammunitions dump south of Blangy-Tronville where they were engaged in dumping 600 shell rounds per Howitzer.
On the 5th they moved to a forward dump immediately behind the front line for 8 days and then moved to the main dump north of Caix.
There next move was to Cerisy where they relieved the 17th imperial DAC before moving to Assevillers at the end of August.
On the 7th of September they marched to Barleux and 5 days later they moved into the rest area at Feuilleres.
After a 5 day break they moved to Cartigny and by the end of September they were located at Templeux.
By mid October they were located at Bellicourt and then moved forward to the ammunitions dump at Butry Farm, near Memetz and then onto Longueau.
At Longueau they overhauled and cleaned the wagon harnesses and the general equipment and the vehicles were washed by German Prisoners of War and Chinese labourers.
On the 10th of November they moved 31 miles to Ennemain and the following day the Armistice was signed and the guns fell silent.
Three weeks later they moved to Mazinghiem and by late December they had marched to Semeries and Christmas Eve 1918 was snowed in, but Christmas Day was fine albeit very cold.
Since the Armistice their work had been very heavy and they had completed a great deal of transport work for the Infantry and Field Artillery Brigade.
They spent the early part of January 1919 beginning demobilisation and carting rations for the civilians and moving the refugees back to their old homes.
On the 16th of January Rufus was granted 2 weeks leave to England and whilst on leave he suffered with Laryngitis and was admitted into the 5th Southern General in Portsmouth before being transferred to the 1st Australian General Hospital in Sutton Veny on the 16th of March.
He spent a further 4 weeks here before being discharged to 1 week leave and then reported to No.5 Group in Weymouth on the 22nd of April.
Rufus embarked from England on board SS Leicestershire on the 3rd of May 1919 and disembarked in Adelaide on the 8th of June.
Rufus was discharged from the AIF on the 26th of July 1919 and awarded the British War & Victory Medals.