Arthur (Toxa) Wilson Chitty
Stephen LearmonthArthur was born on the 5th of August 1918 at Corryong, Victoria. He would be one of twelve children to Allan Peter Done and Hannah Evelyne (née Wilson) Chitty. Three of Arthur’s brothers, Phillip, Les and Ronald, would also enlist in the 2nd AIF, while two of his sisters, Nellie and Nancy, enlisted in the WAAAF.
Arthur attended Cudgewa North School in his younger days. He was a keen boxer and footballer. In 1940 he played reserve grade football for Carlton Football Club. His older brother, Bob, would play 147 games for Carlton, captain the club, win two Best and Fairest and play and captain the team in their 1945 Premiership win.
It was in the midst of a Victorian winter when Arthur travelled to Melbourne to enlist in the 2nd AIF. He had undergone his medical at Corryong and had been classified at “Fit for Class 1” by Doctor Greenham at his surgery. He was allocated the Army Number VX46368, the rank of Private, and placed in the 2/23rd Battalion (Albury’s Own) which, at that stage, was part of the 8th Australian Division. By the 23rd of that month he was transferred to the 5th AIF Depot at Colac, in the western districts of Victoria. He would remain here for a little over a month completing his initial training. On the 28th of August 1940 he was posted closer to home and taken on strength with the 2/23rd Battalion currently forming up at the Albury Showgrounds. The battalion would move to their new training facility at Bonegilla on the outskirts of Wodonga on the 23rd of September.
Arthur’s will, made in October of 1940 and included in his service records, states that one third of all his money was to be given to his father, while the remainder was to be given to his wife, Olive, who was living at 20 Warren Street in Cootamundra, New South Wales. There is no available record of Olive and in Arthur’s attestation form, completed in early July of 1940, he makes the claim that he is single. We can conclude that he married Olive sometime between July and October of 1940.
Their training complete, the 2/23rd travelled by train to the Port of Melbourne and embarked on HMT Strathmore. A little over a month later, on the 17th of December, they disembarked at El Kantara at the northern end of the Suez Canal. Arthur and his mates were destined to travel to Dirma in Palestine. The railway line that they travelled on had been constructed by Australian troops during the First World War.
From early February to early April 1941, Arthur was a patient at the 1st Australian General Hospital, although the reason for his stay is not recorded on his service record. After a stay of two weeks at the 1st Australian Convalescent Depot he was posted to the 24th Australian Infantry Training Brigade. In late May he was admitted to the 9th Australian General Hospital at Dirma, suffering from diarrhoea. It would be over two weeks before he was discharged and posted to the 26th Australian Infantry Training Battalion. On the 6th of August Arthur was readmitted to hospital, this time the 11th Australian General Hospital, this time suffering from malaria. He returned to the training battalion on the 22nd of September.
After completing all of his training he was posted to the 2/23rd Battalion on Remembrance Day 1941. Arthur would have one more stay in hospital. From the 30th of June to the 6th of July 1942, Arthur was a patient at the 15th Scottish General Hospital at camp Kilo 89. Although the reason for his admittance is not given, the acronym “PVO” is written next to the entry in his service record.
By July 1942 Axis forces (German and Italian) had reached El Alamein in Egypt, a distance of only 100 kilometres from Alexandria. The 9th Division, which included the 2/23rd as part of its 26th Brigade, was moved from Syria, where it was undergoing a rest period, to El Alamein. The Division’s orders for their first attack were issued on the 7th of July. The brigade advanced along the coast driving a wedge between the sea and the Afrika Korps positions, capturing a feature known as Tel El Eisa.
General Auckinleck, commander of the Allied Eighth Army in Egypt, planned further heavy strikes against the enemy to take place on the 21st and 22nd of July. The 2/23rd Battalion’s task was to capture and consolidate areas around the features called East Point 24 and Ring Contour 25.
B Company of the 2/23rd moved off at 0930 hours on the 22nd of July, after the 2/24th had captured their objective. Initially they came under light mortar fire for the first 150 yards. Unfortunately, the German gunners were simply holding off until B Company got closer. Their fire cut the company to pieces. After some intense fighting, there were no officers left in the company that were not either killed or wounded. Communications had broken down when the company radio had been destroyed by sniper fire. Wounded men crawling back to the casualty clearing station had been told to inform the battalion command post to put down artillery fire to cover the company's withdrawal. 11 Platoon’s Corporal John Crummey crawled forward with a Bren-gun to a small rise where he called for a number two (who would help load the gun) for his gun. He yelled back that he could see a hundred Jerries but before his number-two could reach him, Crummey was shot through the head and killed. Arthur, who was now in charge of a section of eight men, was a close mate of Crummey’s. He tried to bring his Bren-gun to bear on the enemy's machine-gun nests but was killed in the same manner as Crummey.
Although fighting continued and the battalion suffered many more casualties, by the following morning it was discovered that the enemy had withdrawn from the ridge and the 2/24th was able to take it without opposition.
It was not until September the 22nd that Arthur’s body, along with Captain McKoy (B Company’s OC) and Corporal Crummey’s, was located. Arthur was buried in the El Alamein War Cemetery in Egypt. He is also remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, and the Corryong War Memorial. For his service, he was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, the Africa Star, the Defence Medal, the War Medal 1939-1945 and the Australian Service Medal 1939-1945.
The 24th of July 1947 issue of the Corryong Courier contained this notice placed in the paper by the Chitty family;
“CHITTY:- In loving memory of our dear son and brother VX46368 Pte. Arthur Wilson (Tox) Chitty who lost his life at El Alamein.
He followed the path of duty
He answered his Country’s call,
He died an Australian hero
The most glorious death of all.
Inserted by his Father, Mother, Brothers, Sisters, “The Glen” Cudgewa.”
