- Author
- Wilson, Maury
- Subjects
- History - general
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- September 1994 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
After the departure of General Hutton for England on the 21st November, 1904 no further interest in the badge appeared to have been taken until 1919. In that year, a newspaper, probably the Adelaide “Advertiser”, requested some information about the badge. The actual trophy from which it had been designed was not located, but some of the story of the origins of the badge was made available.
A minute by General Legge, who was Chief of General Staff in 1919, was typical:
“As far as I can ascertain here, the Australian Military Badge was based on a design prepared for the Australian Commonwealth Horse at the end of the South African War. This was prepared by adding a crown and the word `Australia’ to a design copied at General Hutton’s suggestion, from a trophy of arms on his office wall. The Rising Sun was not suggested at the time“. This report and description was, to say the least, somewhat confused, as the crown had been part of the original trophy.
A minute by Brigadier-General Forsyth, the Quartermaster-General in 1919 and dated the 19th of February, would appear to be in answer to the same question:
“Although the badge has come to be known as the `Rising Sun’, to which it may be said to bear a resemblance, the available evidence seems to indicate that the badge was not conceived with the idea of embodying the rising sun as a symbol.
The points forming the outer portions of the badge are intended to represent bayonets and sword bayonets surrounding the Crown, to indicate rather, in a purely military sense, the support of the Crown (by bayonets and swords, symbolical of military weapons) by the armed forces of the Commonwealth. The design was originated by Major-General Hutton, who got the idea from a semi-circle of bayonets arranged for decorative purposes, which hung in his office during his period as Commander of the Australian Armed Forces“. A search for the original trophy was then undertaken without success by many people interested in the history of the “Rising Sun” badge. One person who was well to the fore was Mr R.K. Peacock, (Department of Defence Librarian). In a letter to the Department of the Army dated 26th February, 1936 he wrote:
“At present there are only two people in the Barracks (Victoria Barracks, Melbourne) that were members of General Hutton’s original staff in 1902 – Colonel A.J. Wilson and myself. The other two persons, still living, who know anything of the badge, are Major J.C. Ormiston and Brigadier T. Griffiths. The latter agrees with my version, except he is of the opinion that General Hutton designed the badge himself. This may well be so, as I know that he was an artist of some talent and frequently relied on myself to mount and border a number of his paintings. As regards the badge in its present form, this was made by Gaunt and Sons, Birmingham, England. Sir Edward Hutton did not leave Australia until 21st November, 1904, and would have had ample time to approve the designs brought back from England by General Williams“. In spite of all the searching being carried out, the whereabouts of General Hutton’s trophy remained unknown until 1968. In that year, the writer, whose occupation was with telephones (he joined the PMG after leaving the RAN) was given the task of maintaining the telephonic systems at Albert Park Barracks, Melbourne.
In the normal course of duty, a visit was made to the office of the Military Artist, Mr E. Garrett. At the completion of the telephone repairs, a discussion took place concerning the number of different types of “Rising Sun” badges on the office walls. Mr Garrett explained the origins of the badges and also stated that the original trophy had been lost. The writer’s knowledge of the whereabouts of the trophy was imparted to Mr Garrett and the search started again.
After all the previous travelling and searching, the trophy was located in its resting place for the past forty eight years at Flinders Naval Depot (HMAS CERBERUS) in Victoria, and eventually returned to the Army. The transfer was made in a correct and official manner, so there can be no doubt about the ownership of the trophy.