Sir (Arthur) Roden Cutler
(VC, AK, KCMG, KCVO, CBE)
NONE but the brave ... Sir Roden Cutler's medal collection is
presented to the Australian War Memorial by his wife, Lady Joan
Cutler, yesterday |
Sir (Arthur) Roden Cutler (VC, AK, KCMG,
KCVO, CBE) (May 24, 1916 - February 22, 2002) was an Australian recipient of
the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in
the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Following his military service he served in a number of Australian diplomatic
missions and became the longest serving Governor of New South Wales.
Early life
Arthur Roden Cutler was born on May 24,
1916. He grew up in the Sydney Harbour suburb of Manly. He attended Sydney
Boys High School and later read for an Economics Degree at the University of
Sydney, joining the Sydney University Regiment in 1936.
In April 1940, he transferred from the
citizen's militia to the Second Australian Imperial Force, receiving a
commission in the 2/5 Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, Australian
7th Division of the Australian Imperial Force.
Military service
Cutler was 25 years old, and a Lieutenant in
the 2 /5 Field Artillery, in the Second Australian Imperial Force during the
Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded
the VC.
During the period between 19 June - 6 July
1941 in the Merdjayoun-Damour area, Syria, Lieutenant Cutler's exploits
included repairing a telephone line under heavy fire, repulsing enemy tank
attacks, setting up an outpost to bring under fire a road used by the enemy
and, with a 25-pound field gun, demolishing a post threatening our advance.
Later, at Damour, he was seriously wounded and when rescued 26 hours later his
leg had to be amputated.
Later life
Following the war, Cutler began a long
career in the Australian diplomatic service. At the age of 29 he was appointed
High Commissioner to New Zealand (1946-1952). Other postings within the
Commonwealth followed, he served in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) (1952-1955) and was
the Australian Minister in Egypt during the Suez Crisis in 1956.
Cutler was appointed Commander of Order of
the British Empire (CBE) in 1957 and acted as Secretary-General of the
South-East Asia Council of Ministers meeting in Canberra in January 1957. He
was Australian High Commissioner in Pakistan, (1958-1961), and Australian
Consul-General in New York, (1961-1965), during which period he was the
Australian delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1962, 1963 and
1964.
His final diplomatic posting, in 1965, as
Ambassador to The Netherlands, was cut short in 1966 when he returned home as
Governor of New South Wales, an office that he served for a record 15 years,
through four Premiers, and a change of Government, after decades of
conservative rule. Such was his popularity that the Labor Premier, Neville
Wran, extended his last term until 1981.
For his diplomatic services to Australia, he
was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George
(KCMG) in December 1965. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal
Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1970, a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in
1980 and advanced to Knight of the Order of Australia (AK) in 1981. Throughout
the republican debate and referendum he remained a staunch royalist, believing
the monarchy brought stability, continuity and tradition to his country. In
recent years he co-operated with the popular Australian novelist Colleen
McCullough on a biography, Roden Cutler, VC, which appeared in 1998. Cutler
died on February 22, 2002 following a long illness. He was accorded a State
Funeral on Thursday February 28, 2002 by the New South Wales state government.
Medals find safe
resting place
Courier Mail 22 September 2002
MEDALS of one of Australia's most renowned
war heroes and dignitaries will belong to the nation after they were handed to
the Australian War Memorial yesterday.
Former NSW governor Sir Roden Cutler was
yesterday remembered as a fearless soldier, a popular diplomat and an ordinary
bloke who loved a good joke.
"They don't make them like that very
often," Lady Joan Cutler said of her late husband of nine years, who died
in February at the age of 85.
His starring role in Australia's history
began in June 1941, as a 25-year-old army lieutenant in Syria fighting the
Vichy French.
He earned the VC over two weeks, starting
when he and another gunner, Peter Gordon, engaged enemy tanks and forced them
to withdraw before evacuating the wounded.
At one stage he captured eight French troops
from three machine gun posts.
In his final action, he volunteered to carry
a field phone line forward but was shot and could not be rescued for 26 hours.
He later had to have one of his legs
amputated.
"He took on the enemy on his own and
not only that he brought out his wounded comrades," Mr Gordon said of his
section commander.
"He was just an ordinary fellow, a
lovable man, not a bit ostentatious, a bit of a character actually . . .
every time I saw him in later life he used to introduce me as the bastard who
tried to kill him."
A year after he was wounded, Sir Roden –
aided by crutches – accepted one of only 96 Victoria Crosses bestowed on
Australian soldiers for outstanding bravery in combat.
The economics graduate left the army after
the war and by the age of 30 was High Commissioner to New Zealand.
He had landed a posting to New York by 1961
and in 1965 was knighted and made governor of NSW.
His four sons with his first wife Helen
Morris were born overseas.
Lady Cutler yesterday breathed a sigh of
relief the medals were no longer her responsibility, after nine years of
carefully shipping them around the world in her handbag.
"You always had to look for a safe or
sleep with them under your pillow because they were very precious."
She said Sir Roden had stipulated before he
died that the War Memorial should have his medals.
His Victoria Cross joins 57 others in the
National Collection, the largest hold of VCs in the world.
National president of the RSL Peter
Phillips, who saw Sir Roden only a week before his death, thanked his family
for putting the valuable medals in public hands.
