FORMER Horsham man Graham Hutchinson has fulfilled a lifelong dream, retracing the steps made by his father 100 years ago.
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Robert 'Bob' Hutchinson was born at Wail in 1890 and enlisted in the army at Dimboola on October 19, 1914.
He was a member of the 8th Infantry Battalion that landed on the beaches at Gallipoli on April 25.
While at Gallipoli, Bob was one of five mates - along with Edward Freeman of Dooen, George Clements of Wail, James Bryant of Glenorchy and Sam Wilson, of Dimboola - captured in one of the most nationally recognised images of trench life at Gallipoli.
The photo, one of four taken with Mr Bryant's camera, was first published in the RSL's Mufti magazine in April 1958.
The pictures were then loaned to the Australian War Memorial.
During a trip to Gallipoli last month, Graham, 80, his son Bryce and daughter-in-law Nicci used the photos to find the exact trench the Wimmera boys - who had been together since enlistment - were photographed in.
In an email home to family and friends, Graham explained how the group, along with a team from the ABC and Anzac experts, used the photos, along with maps and coordinates from the war memorial, to locate the trench.
"We tracked with an ABC cameraman and reporter through dense scrub, and located the trench my father was photographed in on April 26, 1915," he wrote.
"The views taken by Jim Bryant lined up perfectly from where we stood, and I knew we were at the trench site. It was very emotional for Bryce, Nicci and myself and I'm afraid a few tears were shed."
Bryce told the ABC: "I don't know if it's the best idea for an 80-year-old to be climbing these hills, but I know dad well enough to know he'll do it one way or the other.
"I can't be the one to stop him. If dad can't make it up it's got to be him that decides when he's had enough.
"This has given him something to look forward to, it's kept him busy, he's been working towards today for a long time."
Bryce said it was a humbling experience to stand where his grandfather had been.
"The baton's been passed to me and maybe one day I'll be able to bring my boys here, to see where their great-grandfather went," he said.
While fighting at Gallipoli, Bob received a serious gunshot wound to his right foot.
At one point, he was considered dangerously ill.
Bob was taken by mule to the dressing station before being conveyed to Malta by hospital ship, where he pleaded with the doctors not to amputate his foot.
He was later transferred to England.
After attending the dawn service at Anzac Cove, Graham, Bryce and Nicci headed for the United Kingdom.
Their first stop was at the English village of Harefield, where Bob was sent to convalesce after being wounded at Gallipoli.
"In 1915, Sydney-expat Charles Billyard-Leake loaned his manor house and 100 hectares of parkland in Harefield to the Australian Government for use as an auxiliary hospital in the First World War," Graham wrote.
"It was meant to have 80 beds for Diggers to convalesce before shipping home, but from June when Gallipoli wounded began to arrive, until the end of the war, it evolved into a fully-fledged hospital through which 50,000 Anzacs passed.
"Village children began collecting flowers to give as presents to the wounded."
Graham said the tradition continued today, with up to 250 children marching to the graveyard where 110 Australian soldiers and a female nurse are buried, laying flowers on their graves.
He said the unusual spring ritual had occurred each Anzac Day for 100 years.
"It's to ensure the town never forgets the Anzac Diggers who forever changed the face of their tiny community.
"My father wrote in his diary of how the local townspeople were so kind to the Australian Diggers during his stay at the hospital.
"I was able to visit the hospital site. It's now boarded up, but I was able to stand on the lawn at the front where my father played croquet with other soldiers.
"It was quite a moving experience."
Bob was repatriated to Australia in late 1915.
He was given a medical discharge and worked as a motor mechanic for two years.
He re-enlisted in 1918 and fought in Egypt for the remainder of the war.
After returning to Horsham, Bob married Amy Beatrice Gray.
He died on May 16, 1964.
* Information about Bob Hutchinson's life is from Strewth: An Insight Into Local Involvement in World War One, compiled by Horsham's John and Gillian Francis.