BISDEE, John Hutton
| Service Number: | 24 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 July 1915, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Last Unit: | Australian Provost Corps |
| Born: | Hutton Park, Tasmania, Australia, 28 September 1869 |
| Home Town: | Melton Mowbray, Southern Midlands, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | The Hutchins School, Hobart Tasmania, Australia |
| Occupation: | Pastoralist |
| Died: | Natural causes , Melton Mowbray, Tasmania, Australia, 14 January 1930, aged 60 years |
| Cemetery: |
St James' Anglican Church Cemetery, Jericho, Tasmania, Australia Buried in the family plot and name inscribed on the family memorial |
| Memorials: | Keith Payne VC Memorial Park, North Bondi War Memorial, Oatlands Trooper John Bisdee VC Memorial, Sandy Bay Trooper John Bisdee VC Memorial Plaque, Tasmania (Hobart) Garden of Remembrance |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Trooper, 24, 1st Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Nov 1900: | Honoured Victoria Cross | |
| 1 Jan 1901: | Involvement Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Lieutenant, 2nd Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Captain, Sydney, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Oct 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Major, 12th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Themistocles, Sydney | |
| 5 Oct 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Major, 12th Light Horse Regiment, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Themistocles embarkation_ship_number: A32 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Jun 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lieutenant Colonel, Australian Provost Corps |
Lieutenant Colonel John Hutton Bisdee
John Bisdee of the 1st Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen, was in an eight-man mounted patrol ambushed by the Boers near Warm Bad, Transvaal, on 1 September 1900. Almost all of the party were wounded, including an officer whose horse had bolted. Bisdee put the officer on his own horse and, despite having been wounded himself, ran alongside under fire until he too could mount up and get away.
Bisdee served as a light horse officer in the First World War. By 1918 he was a lieutenant colonel in the ANZAC Provost Corps. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1919. Bisdee eventually returned to farming in Tasmania, where he died. (AWM Profile)
Submitted 29 November 2016 by Tony Maple
Biography contributed by Tony Maple
Bisdee, John Hutton (1869–1930)
by L. A. Simpson
John Hutton Bisdee, soldier and pastoralist, was born on 28 September 1869 at Hutton Park, Melton Mowbray, Tasmania, eighth child of John Bisdee, pastoralist, and his wife Ellen Jane, née Butler. His grandfather, John Bisdee, had arrived in the colony in 1821. He was educated at The Hutchins School, Hobart, and then worked on his father's property until April 1900 when he enlisted for service in the South African War as a trooper in the 1st Tasmanian Imperial Bushmens' Contingent.
Bisdee sailed on 26 April and served in operations in Cape Colony, the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony. On 1 September, near Warmbad, Transvaal, he was with a scouting party ambushed by Boers in a rocky defile; six of its eight men were wounded, including an officer whose horse broke away and bolted. Bisdee dismounted, put the wounded man on his own horse and ran alongside, then mounted behind him and withdrew under heavy fire. For this action he received the Victoria Cross—the first awarded to a Tasmanian. Wounded during the ambush, he was invalided home but, on recovering, went back to South Africa as a lieutenant in No.1 Company, 2nd Tasmanian Imperial Bushmens' Contingent, and served from March 1901 until the end of the war.
After his return to Tasmania Bisdee resumed farming at Hutton Park. On 11 April 1904, at St John's Anglican Church, Hobart, he married Georgiana Theodosia, daughter of Bishop M. B. Hale. Two years later he joined the 12th Australian Light Horse Regiment, Tasmanian Mounted Infantry, as a temporary lieutenant and was promoted lieutenant in 1908 and captain in 1910; in that year he attended a course of instruction in India. In August 1913 he became commanding officer of his regiment, now the 26th Light Horse.
Bisdee joined the Australian Imperial Force as a captain in the 12th Light Horse on 26 July 1915. Accompanied by his wife, who was to do valuable work in the A.I.F. canteens, he sailed for Egypt in November. He served in operations against the Senussi at Mersa Matruh until a leg wound precluded him from active service; he was seconded as assistant provost marshal, first to A.I.F. Headquarters, Egypt, in March 1916, then two months later to the Anzac Mounted Division. Bisdee was promoted major in September, returned to regimental duty in December and served with the Light Horse throughout 1917. In January 1918 he became assistant provost marshal (Egypt section) of the Anzac Provost Corps; in June he was confirmed as lieutenant-colonel. He was mentioned in dispatches and appointed O.B.E. in June 1919.
Bisdee was discharged from the A.I.F. in May 1920. A major in the Australian Military Forces from 1915, he was placed on the reserve in 1921 and on the retired list, with the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel, in 1929. He had continued to farm at Ashburton, Bridgewater, in Tasmania, the property he had acquired in 1915. While travelling in France in 1926 his wife died. He returned to Tasmania and lived at Tranquility, Melton Mowbray, where he died of chronic nephritis on 14 January 1930; he and his sister (who died next day) were buried in St James's churchyard, Jericho, in the same grave. The Bisdee Memorial Cadet Efficiency Prize, awarded annually at St Virgil's College, Hobart, is named after him..."
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bisdee-john-hutton-5245 (adb.anu.edu.au)
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