John Utting
UTTING, John, BSc(Eng), MIEAust, OAM (1921-2014)
John was born in Moulmein, Burma (now Myanmar) on June 15, 1921, the son of river pilot Captain James Horatio Utting and his wife Elna Utting (nee Haswell).
On July 21, 1924, John, aged 3 years, arrived in Fremantle with his parents, six siblings and grandmother. They had travelled on the West Australian Steam Navigation Company steamer “SS Gascoyne” from Singapore. Initially the family lived with John’s uncle, Richard Haynes Utting, at 129 Railway Road, Subiaco before moving to Irvine Street, Peppermint Grove.
By 1928 the family were living at 113 Ocean Road Cottesloe. The family moved to 3 Keane Street, Peppermint Grove around 1929 and purchased the seven room house in 1930.
John attended Cottesloe Primary School and completed his secondary education at Christ Church Grammar School, Claremont between 1934 and 1938.
He commenced an engineering degree at the University of Western Australia in 1939, with his studies being interrupted by his enlistment in the Royal Australian Air Force on December 7, 1941. He had already enlisted in a local unit, the 44th Battalion Militia.
John’s initial training was at Pearce and Cunderdin. He was successful in gaining his wings at Mallala in South Australia, flying an Avro Anson, before being posted to Cressy in Victoria. He then moved to Parkes in New South Wales and back to South Australia with postings at Mount Gambier and Port Pirie. He then was based at Port Moresby, flying Avro Ansons, for three months before returning to East Sale in Victoria.
At East Sale he trained to fly the Bristol Beaufort. He then was posted to Itiki on the north coast of New Guinea flying a Bristol Beaufighter. This posting included bombing and surveillance missions. The next posting was Noemfoor Island where after three months he transferred to Moratai Island for his final posting.
He returned to his studies in 1946 graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in April 1948. He initially worked as an assistant engineer with the Perth Road Board before securing the position of Municipal Engineer with the Albany Municipal Council. He commenced work in Albany on September 3, 1953.
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In 1955 he moved to work on the Snowy Mountain Scheme as a Field Construction Engineer based at Cabramurra. His role was building the Cabramurra township and the roads leading to it. In 1958 he was sent to gain experience with the US Bureau of Reclamation based in Denver, Colorado, for nine months. He returned to Australia in February 1959 to take up the role of Supervising Engineer, Major Contracts Division at Tumut 2 Underground Power Station and Tumut Dam. He was subsequently Supervising Engineer at the 20 mile long Murray 1 Pressure Tunnel and the Murray 2 Diversion Dam. During this time he was based with his family at Khancoban, New South Wales.
In the mid-sixties, John went to Queensland to work for the Commonwealth Department of Works. He worked on aerodromes in Queensland such as the Amberley Air Force Base, Brisbane Airport and the Coolangatta Airport.
By 1972, he had returned to Western Australia with the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). While he was with DCA he was seconded to the United Nations agency, ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization. ICAO wanted to assess airport sites across Iraq and John worked with them for two years from 1978. He left Iraq in September 1980 with the outbreak of the Iran Iraq War.
John retired from the Department of Aviation on March 29, 1982.
On January 26, 2010, he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for service to the community of Cottesloe through local government, sporting and service organisations.
He married Danute Diana Balkausas with their first child John Utting being born in Albany in 1954. They had two other children, Diana and David.
John joined the Institution of Engineers Australia as a Student Member in 1947, becoming a Member in 1954.
John had an older brother James who was also a civil engineer. A link to James's biography is available here.
John died on November 29, 2014, in Hollywood Hospital, Nedlands, aged 93. He was survived by his wife Danute. At John’s burial at Karrakatta, four PC9’s from RAAF Base Pearce roared overhead at only 200 feet in Missing Man Formation whilst an Army bugler played The Last Post in recognition of his and his family’s contribution to the defence of Australia.
References:
West Australian 29.7.1953, p. 14.
Australians at War Film Archive (unsw.edu.au) accessed June 2, 2023.
Commonwealth Government Gazettes.
John Utting - CCGS Christ Church Grammar School accessed June 4, 2023.
