A CENTRAL Western Daily reader has uncovered an Orange connection to one of the most heavily used sections of road in the country … but not the link he’d always assumed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Three of NSW’s major motorways – the M7, the M5 and the M31, more commonly known as the Hume Highway – meet just to the north of Campbelltown.
The junction is part of the Remembrance Driveway between Sydney and Canberra and is known as the Cutler Interchange, which our reader had always believed was a tribute to Orange’s own decorated WWII hero and NSW deputy premier Sir Charles Cutler.
But some basic online sleuthing revealed the intersection’s full name: The Sir Roden Cutler VC Memorial Interchange.
There’s no doubting Sir Roden’s worthiness of the tribute: He was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in World War II, was later Governor of NSW, and was awarded a knighthood, among a swag of other honours and achievements.
So, what’s the junction’s link to Orange? Sir Roden and Sir Charles were cousins.
Along with Charles’ wife Lady Dorothy – who died in 2016 after a lifetime of service to Orange charities like Can Assist, Meals on Wheels, Crippled Children’s, Orange Sheltered Workshop, the Ex-Service Women’s Association, Trefoil, Quota, VIEW Club, Bloomfield Hospital Riverside Auxiliary and Ascot – they make up one of Australia’s most remarkable families.