On 4 October 1917, at Terrier Farm, south-east of Poelcapelle, during the advance on the villages of Poelcapelle and Passchendaele, Belgium, when all the officers and NCOs of No. 2 Platoon had become casualties, Private Hutt took command of and led the platoon. He was held up by a strong post but immediately ran forward alone and shot the officer and three men in the post; between 40 and 50 others surrendered. Later, having pushed too far, he withdrew his party, covering them by sniping the enemy, and then carried back a wounded man to shelter. After he had consolidated his position, he then went out and carried in four more wounded under heavy fire.
Following the award of his VC, the newly promoted Corporal Hutt returned home to Coventry to a hero’s welcome. He was awarded a cheque by the people of the city for £1000 and was instrumental in leading the city’s remarkable funding of more than 250 tanks for the war effort during ‘Tank Week’ in January 1918. Arthur Hutt died in Coventry in April 1954 aged 65. As a mark of the esteem in which Arthur was held by the people of Coventry, more than 350, including several fellow Victoria Cross recipients attended his funeral. A year after his death, a plaque commemorating Arthur’s achievements was erected in his memory in War Memorial Park, Earlsdon. ¹ ²
¹ General Ref: K.Brazier, The Complete Victoria Cross (2015); The London Gazette (Supplement) 23 Nov 1917 (Citation); http://www.warwickfusiliers.co.uk/pages/pg-60-private_arthur_hutt_vc/; http://www.earlsdon.org.uk/history/arthurhutt.html
² Image Ref: http://www.earlsdon.org.uk/history/arthurhutt.html (not copyright cleared - assumed public domain)