Page 103 - They Also Served

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Graham Seton Hutchison 1909.
Graham Seton Hutchison was born in Scotland in 1890. Originally enrolling into the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he transferred to Sandhurst and was commissioned in 1909 into the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. After serving with his regiment for four years he was seconded for service in Africa. Returning to the UK at the beginning of the war, he was attached to the 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, serving in France before transferring to the newly formed Machine Gun Corps in late 1915.
By 1917 Seton Hutchison was machine gun officer of the 33rd Division, overseeing the weapons, which were grouped in penny packets with the brigades. However, he persuaded the commander to group all the formation’s guns in one company to provide concentration of fire. This was soon adopted throughout the army and resulted in the MGC becoming an independent arm. He was also strongly opposed to giving ground to the enemy and is supposed to have shot several retreating soldiers fleeing the Germans during the March 1918 offensive. Widely known throughout the army, he was awarded both the DSO and MC. In 1921, the prolific composer of military music Kenneth Alford, who had earlier penned Colonel Bogey, wrote The Mad Major in his honour.
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