Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Allan Francis Harding, 1st Baron Harding of Petherton, (10 February 1896 – 20 January 1989), known as John Harding, was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First World War and the Second World War, served in the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

, and later advised the British government on the response to the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...

. He also served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, and was

Governor of Cyprus This article lists the colonial governors and administrators of British Cyprus. Hitherto Ottoman Cyprus, a territory of the Ottoman Empire, a British protectorate under Ottoman suzerainty was established over Cyprus by the Cyprus Convention of ...

from 1955 to 1957 during the Cyprus Emergency. In both Kenya and Cyprus his rule was controversial and authoritarian, based on persecutions and executions.

Early life and First World War

Born the son of Francis Ebenezer Harding and Elizabeth Ellen Harding (née Anstice) and educated at Ilminster Grammar School and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, Harding started as a boy clerk in December 1911, earning promotion to assistant clerk in the Post Office in July 1913 and then to full clerk in the Second Division of the Civil Service in April 1914. Harding became a part-time soldier, joining the 11th (County of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles) of the

London Regiment London Regiment may refer to two infantry regiments in the British Army: * London Regiment (1908–1938) The London Regiment was an infantry regiment in the British Army, part of the Territorial Force (renamed the Territorial Army in 1921). The ...

, a unit of the British Army's Territorial Force, being commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on 15 May 1914.Heathcote, Anthony p. 167Holmes, p. 109. During the First World War (1914–1918) he was attached to the Machine Gun Corps and fought in the Gallipoli campaign in August 1915. He transferred to the regular armed forces as a lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry on 22 March 1917 and was assigned to the Middle Eastern theatre of operations.Heathcote, Anthony p. 168 He took part in the Third Battle of Gaza in November 1917 and was subsequently awarded the Military Cross.

Between the wars

During the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

Harding adopted the name "John", which his Regular Army comrades preferred, and in 1921 was posted to India. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 11 October 1923 and later attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...

from 1928 to 1929. Among Harding's many fellow students there included Gerald Templer, Gerard Bucknall, Gordon MacMillan,

Alexander Galloway Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Galloway, (3 November 1895 – 28 January 1977) was a senior British Army officer. During the Second World War, he was particularly highly regarded as a staff officer and, as such, had an influential role in the ...

Philip Gregson-Ellis Major-General Philip George Saxon Gregson-Ellis CB OBE (31 August 1898 – 20 October 1956) was a senior British Army officer who saw active service during both the First World War and the Second World War, where he commanded the 5th Infantry ...

and Richard McCreery while the instructors included men such as Bernard Paget, Richard O'Connor and

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and t ...

, the last of whom was destined to make a significant contribution towards Harding's later military career. The course at the Staff College then lasted for two years, with the first year being devoted mainly to staff work at divisional level while the second year, which Harding believed to be a waste of time, studied staff work at the corps and army level. He joined the general staff at headquarters Southern Command in 1930 before becoming brigade major of the 13th Infantry Brigade in 1933. He became a company commander with the 2nd Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, with promotion to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 1 July 1935. After a tour as a staff officer in the Directorate of Operations at the War Office, he was further promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

on 1 January 1938.

Second World War

Harding served in the Second World War, initially as

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

(CO) of the 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, in which capacity he served in Waziristan and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

, before joining the staff of

Middle East Command Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...

in October 1940 and then becoming a brigadier General Staff (BGS) of the Western Desert Force (WDF) in December.Heathcote, Anthony p. 169Mead, p. 191 He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services in that role. When Generals Richard O'Connor and Philip Neame were captured in April 1941, Harding took temporary command of the WDF, in which capacity he took the decision to hold Tobruk.Mead, p. 192 He was promoted to the substantive rank of colonel on 9 August 1941 (with seniority backdated to 1 January 1941) and was later awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). The Campaign in North Africa 1940-1943- Personalities E16458

The Campaign in North Africa 1940-1943- Personalities E16458

Harding went on to be BGS of XIII Corps (the new name adopted by the former WDF) in August 1941 and was mentioned in dispatches in early 1942 and awarded a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to his DSO in February 1942. He was promoted to acting major-general on 26 January 1942 and became Deputy Director of Military Training

, in which capacity he was again mentioned in despatches in the summer of 1942. He was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 7th Armoured Division in September 1942. He led the division in the Second Battle of El Alamein in October–November.Mead, p. 193 He led his forward headquarters from a tank and then a jeep and, during the pursuit of the Axis forces to

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...

, was subsequently wounded by shell splinters in January 1943. He was awarded a second Bar to his DSO for his conduct in late January 1943. At the same time his rank of major-general was made temporary. The British Army in Italy 1944 NA18349

He returned to the United Kingdom and, despite having lost three fingers from his left hand, recovered relatively quickly. On 10 November 1943 he was promoted to

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

lieutenant general and assumed command of VIII Corps, which was to take part in the

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

. Soon afterwards, however, he was posted to the Italian Front in January 1944 to become

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

to General Sir Harold Alexander, then commanding the

15th Army Group The 15th Army Group was an Army Group in World War II, composed of the British Eighth and the U.S. Fifth Armies, which apart from troops from the British Empire and U.S.A., also had whole units from other allied countries/regions; like two of t ...

(later designated the Allied Armies in Italy (AAI) before reverting to 15th Army Group in December 1944). He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 16 June 1944 for his service in Italy, and promoted to the substantive rank of major general on 13 July 1944. He played a large part in the planning for

Operation Diadem Operation Diadem, also referred to as the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino or, in Canada, the Battle of the Liri Valley, was an offensive operation undertaken by the Allies of World War II ( U.S. Fifth Army and British Eighth Army) in May 1944, as ...

, the fourth

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

that led to the capture of Rome and the destruction of a large portion of the Axis forces and the subsequent fighting on the

Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...

.Mead, p. 194 He went on to take command of XIII Corps in Italy in March 1945, leading it through the

Spring 1945 offensive in Italy The spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack into the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 ...

, arriving in Trieste just after the German surrender in May and the

end of World War II in Europe The final battle of the European Theatre of World War II continued after the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945 in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German dictator Adolf H ...

. He was also awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

in the Degree of Commander by U.S. President Harry S. Truman for his conduct during the war, on 14 May 1948.

Postwar

Promoted after the war to lieutenant general on 19 August 1946, Harding succeeded Alexander as commander of British forces in the Mediterranean in November 1946. He became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command in July 1947 and went on to be Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C),

Far East Land Forces The Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods. These were firstly, 18 November 1940 – 7 January 1942 succeeded by the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command ( ABDACOM), and secondly, 1963–1971 succeeded ...

on 28 July 1949 at the early stages of the

. Having been promoted to full general on 9 December 1949, made Aide-de-Camp General to H.M. The King on 21 October 1950 and advanced to a

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

in the King's Birthday Honours 1951, Harding became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) on 30 August 1951.Heathcote, Anthony pg 170 KAR Mau Mau

Harding was appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) on 1 November 1952: in this capacity he advised the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

on the response to the

. He was promoted to

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

on 21 July 1953, and retired from the army on 29 September 1955. Harding was also Colonel of the North Somerset Yeomanry from 2 February 1949, Colonel of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles from 18 May 1951 (to 1961), Colonel of the Somerset Light Infantry from 13 April 1953, Colonel of the Life Guards from 26 April 1957 and Colonel of the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry from 6 October 1959.

Cyprus and later career

On 3 October 1955, Harding was assigned the post of Governor of the British colony of Cyprus. As Governor of Cyprus, Harding sought to restore the relations with the United Kingdom, by negotiating with both the Greek-Cypriot and the Turkish-Cypriot communities on the island, while the British Government was negotiating with the Greek and Turkish governments. Harding took strict measures to improve the security situation in Cyprus,

EOKA The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA; ; el, Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών, lit=National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) was a Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνο� ...

having declared an armed struggle against the British on 1 April 1955. To this end, Harding instituted a number of unprecedented measures including curfews, closures of schools, the opening of concentration camps, the indefinite detention of suspects without trial and the imposition of the death penalty for offences such as carrying weapons, incendiary devices or any material that could be used in a bomb. A number of such executions took place often in controversial circumstances (e.g. Michalis Karaolis) leading to resentment, in Cyprus, the United Kingdom and in other countries. Implementing the policy of the British Government, Harding also attempted to use negotiations to end the Cyprus crisis. However, negotiations with Archbishop

Makarios III Makarios III ( el, Μακάριος Γ΄; born Michael Christodoulou Mouskos) (Greek: Μιχαήλ Χριστοδούλου Μούσκος) (13 August 1913 – 3 August 1977) was a Cypriot politician, archbishop and primate who served as ...

were unsuccessful and, eventually, Harding exiled Makarios to the British colony of Seychelles. On 21 March 1956 EOKA made an assassination attempt on Harding's life which failed as the time bomb under his bed failed to go off. It was not long after this that Harding offered a reward of £10,000 for General George Grivas, the leader of EOKA. Facing growing criticism in the United Kingdom about the methods he used and their lack of effectiveness, Sir John Harding resigned as Governor of Cyprus on 22 October 1957 and was replaced by Sir Hugh Foot. In January 1958, Harding was created Baron Harding of Petherton. In retirement he became Non-Executive Chairman of Plessey as well being the first Chairman of the Horse Race Betting Levy Board. His interests included his membership of the Finsbury Rifles Old Comrades Association in which he participated until late in his life. He died at his home in Nether Compton in Dorset on 20 January 1989, just weeks away from his 93rd birthday. He is buried in Nether Compton (St. Nicholas) Churchyard.

Family

In 1927 he married Mary Rooke; they had one son:

John Harding, 2nd Baron Harding of Petherton John Charles Harding, 2nd Baron Harding of Petherton (12 February 1928 – 6 June 2016), was a British Army officer and hereditary peer. Harding was educated at Marlborough College and Worcester College, Oxford (MA). He was commissioned into the ...

Arms

References

Bibliography

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External links

Generals of World War IIImperial War Museum Interview from 1984Imperial War Museum Interview from 1986
, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, John 1896 births 1989 deaths Burials in Dorset Alumni of King's College London People from South Somerset (district) London Regiment officers Somerset Light Infantry officers Machine Gun Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I British Army generals of World War II British field marshals Governors of British Cyprus Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff Commanders of the Legion of Merit Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II John Harding family British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency Military personnel from Somerset