Thomas Jacomb Hutton

Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Jacomb Hutton KCB, KCIE, MC & bar (1890–1981) was an officer in the British Army, who held a variety of vital staff appointments between World War I and World War II, ultimately commanding Burma Army during the early stages of the Japanese conquest of Burma.

Early career, and World War I
He was educated at Rossall School and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. In 1909, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Royal Artillery. He served on the Western Front throughout World War I, being promoted to Captain in 1915 and brevet Major in 1918. He became staff qualified, and served in 1918 as a General Staff Officer, Grade 3 (GSO3) and as a Brigade Major from 1918 to 1919.

Inter-war years
From 1919 to 1920 he served in the War Office as the Assistant Military Secretary and from 1923 to 1924 as the Deputy Assistant Adjutant General.

From 1924 to 1926, he was General Staff Officer, Grade 2 (GSO2) on the staff of Eastern Command, in the eastern counties of Britain. He was officially promoted to the full rank of Major in 1927, and from 1927 to 1930 he was the Military Assistant to Chief of the Imperial General Staff. He was "double jumped" to the rank of full Colonel in 1930 and served from 1933 to 1936 as General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO1) in the Directorate of Military Operations in the War Office.

In 1936 he served in the British forces in the British Mandate of Palestine. From 1936 to 1938 he was the GSO1 (i.e. Chief of Staff) in the 1st Infantry Division (United Kingdom). He was promoted to Major General and appointed General Officer Commanding Western Independent District, in India.

World War II
In 1940, after the outbreak of the Second World War, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff, GHQ India. The following year he was promoted Lieutenant General and appointed Chief of the General Staff in India.

Burma Army
In 1942, he was appointed General Officer Commanding Burma Command, which was facing imminent invasion by Japanese troops. Burma Army was subordinated to the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command, of which Wavell was Commander in Chief.

Hutton initially ordered his subordinates to fight as close to the borders as possible. Some of them thought that he was doing so on Wavell's orders, but Hutton actually wished to gain time for reinforcements to arrive. This resulted in the defeat of the ill-equipped and badly-trained Burmese and Indian formations which tried to fight close to the frontier.

Hutton now considered that Rangoon, the capital, could not be defended. He attempted to divert reinforcements to ports further north. Wavell considered this to be defeatism, and stormed at Hutton in front of witnesses at a meeting on 28 February. He did not argue back, feeling that a dignified silence was the best rebuke. Hutton had already been superseded by General Harold Alexander as GOC of Burma Army, and appointed Alexander's Chief of Staff, an embarrassing appointment he held until Burma Army was disbanded later in the year.

During the crisis in Burma in 1942, it was felt by some senior officers (such as General Sir Alan Hartley, the acting Commander in Chief in India), that Hutton made a good chief of staff but was not fitted for command in the field. In this respect, it was unfortunate that Hutton had held command of no major formation before being promoted to command an army.

Hutton subsequently served until 1944 as Secretary of the War Resources and Reconstruction Committees of Council, India. In 1944, he retired from the Army, although he retained the honorary post of Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery until 1952.

Later career
He held a variety of Civil Posts after his retirement: from 1944 to 1946, he was Officiating Secretary, Viceroy's Executive Council in India; from 1947 to 1949, he was a Regional Officer for the Ministry of Health; from 1949 to 1953, as General Manager of the Anglo-American Council on Productivity; from 1953 to 1957 as Director of the British Productivity Council, and from 1957 to 1964 as Chairman of Organisation and Methods Training Council.