Grateful: Bert Sutton with his newly gifted Aussie Hero Quilt.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
At 101 years of age, Bertram (Bert) Sutton’s gratitude and zest for life has not faded — if anything, it has only grown.
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On Wednesday, June 15 the World War II veteran was visited by two soldiers from the Puckapunyal Military Area — where Mr Sutton himself trained.
To commend his bravery for serving in New Guinea from 1941 to 1943, Mr Sutton was presented with a personalised Aussie Hero Quilt by Lieutenant Kurt O’Neill and Sergeant Steven Banks.
Glowing: Bert Sutton receives his Aussie Hero Quilt from Lieutenant Kurt O'Neill.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
The quilt was created by volunteers from the charity Aussie Hero Quilts, which provides handmade designs to past and present veterans in an act of honour and appreciation.
The sight of the two soldiers in his home dressed in full military attire brought a tear to Mr Sutton’s eye, his pride glowing.
“Just to see the soldiers, dressed like this, it makes me feel very proud to see you fellas in uniform, because I know what it means,” he said.
“And thank you — it means a lot to see.”
Mr Sutton has lived in the Numurkah area all his life, leaving only during his time training at Puckapunyal and serving in New Guinea.
While Mr Sutton served with the 58/59 Battalion, his brother served in the Middle East, both having followed in their father’s footsteps.
“My dad fought in France in the first world war and won the Military Medal for his bravery as a runner to get messages from the front to the headquarters,” he said.
“It’s good to carry on what he had already been through ... we all pulled our weight to get through, so we were lucky.”
Mr Sutton reflected on his time in the war.
He remembered how it rained non-stop in New Guinea, how no-one came down with a cold because of the balmy heat.
Veteran: A young Bert in his Army attire.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
He remembered his training, walking all the way from Albury to Seymour over the span of a week.
Mostly, he remembered losing many of his mates in New Guinea.
But even so, he said he had been “pretty lucky, really”.
“I wouldn’t like to go through it again,” he said.
“It was pretty hard on our mates; we couldn’t do much more, we’d just have to go along, keep going.”
His post-war life has been vibrant and varied.
Mr Sutton worked on his father’s farm just outside Numurkah before going into the construction industry then, once more, readjusting to dairy farming on his own family property.
During all this hard work he met Loris, his wife of almost 63 years, and had three children, all of whom have stayed relatively close to the region.
Pleased: Bert received a book on the history of the Puckapunyal Military Area.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
With a smile, Mr Sutton reiterated that he had been a lucky man.
His reaction to the gifts showed his humble nature, each piece received with an immense thanks and acknowledgement.
After hearing word Mr Sutton’s military slouch hat was now missing a chinstrap, the soldiers presented the Army veteran with a new hat.
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