# Charles Huxtable

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{{distinguish|Charles Huxtable (British Army officer)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
'''Charles Reginald Ralston Huxtable''' [MC & Bar](/source/Military_Cross) (30 September 1891–29 July 1980) was an Australian medical doctor who served in both World Wars and wrote about his experiences in the book ''From the [Somme](/source/Somme_(department)) to Singapore: a Medical Officer in Two World Wars''.

==Biography==
Huxtable was commissioned a Temporary [Lieutenant](/source/Lieutenant) in the [Royal Army Medical Corps](/source/Royal_Army_Medical_Corps) in April 1915. He won the [Military Cross](/source/Military_Cross) in June 1917 and a bar in November 1917 whilst serving as a medical officer with the [Lancashire Fusiliers](/source/Lancashire_Fusiliers) during [World War I](/source/World_War_I). He resigned his commission as a [captain](/source/Captain_(British_Army_and_Royal_Marines)) in April 1918. During [World War II](/source/World_War_II) he was captured in [Singapore](/source/Singapore) by the [Japan](/source/Japan)ese and imprisoned in [Changi Prison](/source/Changi_Prison).

Huxtable, then serving with the [Royal Flying Doctor Service](/source/Royal_Flying_Doctor_Service) at Broken Hill, initiated the establishment of the [Bush Children's Education Foundation](/source/Bush_Children's_Education_Foundation) in 1965.

He was shocked by the number of children who were not enrolled in any school and whose only contact with other children was through visits to a township. At that time there was no government provision for these children other than access to correspondence lessons.

Huxtable, along with the Chief Justice of New South Wales, Sir [Leslie Herron](/source/Leslie_Herron), the Honourable Ian Sinclair and Ian Hardy, prepared a Trust Deed for the Foundation, which was approved by the NSW Attorney General.

It provided funding for isolated children to board at the purpose-built Tibooburra Hostel. Other similar hostels were located in the far west of New South Wales. The Foundation appealed for individual and corporate donations so that bursaries could enable children to board at one of these hostels in order to attend a country school.

In the early years the occupations of the families covered the range of outback working life: farmers, station hands, fencers, bore sinkers, kangaroo shooters, prospectors, miners, bush nurses, small business owners and itinerant circus/show people. Many of these occupations continue in the bush today, but now include parks and wildlife personnel and small business operators.

Ahead of public opinion at the time, the Foundation supported and continues to encourage indigenous families to apply for bursaries. They included the descendants of the Wadikali and Karengappa people, original tribal groups from the north west corner of New South Wales.

== Publications ==
''From the Somme to Singapore: A Medical Officer in Two World Wars'', Charles Huxtable, Kangaroo Press, 1987 {{ISBN|0-86417-745-3}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Huxtable, Charles}}
Category:1891 births
Category:1980 deaths
Category:Lancashire Fusiliers officers
Category:Royal Army Medical Corps officers
Category:British Army personnel of World War I
Category:Australian military doctors
Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Japan
Category:Australian prisoners of war
Category:Recipients of the Military Cross
Category:20th-century Australian memoirists
Category:British World War II prisoners of war

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Charles Huxtable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Huxtable) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Huxtable?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.