Bosun's pipe: Chief Petty Officer George Frederick 'Bluey' Hutchison, HMAS Australia

Nickel plated brass Bosun's pipe or call, Each side of the buoy is impressed with a broad arrow symbol. One side of the keel is impressed 'Aussie RIDER & BELL 1943'. A brass tag attached with a split ring reads '[P]O HUTCHISON'.

13263 Chief Petty Officer George Frederick Hutchison was born in Scotland in 1906 and emigrated to Queensland with his family in 1912. He joined the Royal Australian Navy as a Boy 1st Class in March 1924.

After training in HMAS Tingira he saw seagoing service in HMA ships Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra in the 1920s and 30s. During the Second World War he served in HMAS Canberra and Adelaide, before joining HMAS Australia in March 1944.

Hutchison was killed on 21 October 1944 during a Japanese kamikaze attack on the ship. His friend, F/4595 Able Seaman Newton Roberts, survived the attack and while cleaning the deck found the bosun's pipe belonging to Hutchison and kept it as a memento in his memory. Hutchison was buried at sea; his name is commemorated on the Plymouth Memorial in the UK.

Fifty years later, Newton Roberts sent the bosun's pipe to George Hutchison's niece, Ailsa Head, with a letter of apology for keeping it for so long.