Bellenden Hutcheson

Bellenden Seymour Hutcheson (16 December 1883 – 9 April 1954), was an American (also considered Canadian) recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC) during the First World War. The VC is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Hutcheson was one of seven Canadians to be awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 2 September 1918. The other six Victoria Cross recipients were Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney, William Metcalf, John Francis Young, Walter Leigh Rayfield, Cyrus Wesley Peck and Arthur George Knight.

Biography
Hutcheson was a graduate of Northwestern University Medical School. In 1915, he renounced his United States citizenship in order to join the Canadian Army as a medical officer. He reclaimed his American citizenship after the war.

He was 34 years old, and a captain in the Canadian Army Medical Corps, Canadian Expeditionary Force, attached to 75th (Mississauga) Battalion, during the First World War.

On 2 September 1918 in France, Captain Hutcheson went through the Drocourt-Quéant Support Line with his battalion, remaining on the field until every wounded man had been attended to. He dressed the wounds of a seriously hurt officer under terrific machine-gun and shell fire, and with the help of prisoners and his own men, he succeeded in evacuating the officer to safety. Immediately afterwards, he rushed forward in full view of the enemy to attend a wounded sergeant, and having placed him in a shell-hole, dressed his wounds.

Legacy
The 75th Battalion's lineage is today continued by the Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's Own), a reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. In 2010 a new armoury was opened in Etobicoke for the regiment. This facility was named in honour of Captain Hutcheson.