Education
Brett Cloutman was educated at Berkhamsted School, Bishop"s Stortford College and London University where he was a member of the Royal Engineers contingent of the university"s Officers" Training Corps.
Brett Cloutman was educated at Berkhamsted School, Bishop"s Stortford College and London University where he was a member of the Royal Engineers contingent of the university"s Officers" Training Corps.
At the outbreak of World War I Cloutman enlisted as a Rifleman in the Rangers (12th Battalion, London Regiment), reached the rank of Lance-Corporal, and in 1915 was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Kent (Fortress) Engineers, a Territorial Force unit Foreign conspicuous gallantly and devotion to duty at Banteux on the morning of 30th September, 1918, when he made a personal reconnaissance under heavy machine-gun fire to ascertain the possibilities of bridging the Canal de L"Escaut. The official citation read:
Foreign most conspicuous bravery on the 6th November, 1918, at Pont-sur-Sambre.
Major
Cloutman, after reconnoitring the river crossings, found the Quartes Bridge almost intact but prepared for demolition. Leaving his party under cover he went forward alone, swam across the river, and, having cut the "leads" from the charges, returned the same way, despite the fact that the bridge and all approaches thereto were swept by enemy shells and machine-gun fire at close range. Although the bridge was blown up later in the day by other means, the abutments remained intact.
By cutting the wires, Cloutman prevented the enemy from blowing it up at the time.
He was seen at the bridge, however, and escaped under an intense fire from its guards. The fact that the abutments were not destroyed later meant that the bridge could be more quickly replaced by the Allies.
After the war Cloutman became a lawyer and was called to the Bar at Gray"s Inn in 1926. In World World War II he served again in the Royal Engineers and received a mention in despatches.
He became a King"s Counsel in 1946 and in 1947 he was appointed Senior Chairman of the War Pensions Tribunal.
He was Senior Official Referee of the Supreme Court of Judicature (now the Senior Courts of England and Wales) 1954-1963. He was knighted in the Queen"s Birthday Honours of 1957. He was Master of the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers 1939-1940 and 1965-1966.
Cloutman, by then Acting Major in command of the 59th Field Company, Royal Engineers, was awarded the for an action in September 1918: A few weeks later the action took place for which Cloutman won his Venture capital. This was the last act to win a Venture capital in the First World War. His is displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum, Chatham, Kent.
The bridge had been prepared for demolition by the Germans, and was well defended.
