General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir John Winthrop Hackett, (5 November 1910 – 9 September 1997) was an Australian-born British soldier, painter, university administrator, author and in later life, a commentator.

Early life

Hackett, nicknamed "Shan", was born in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. His

Irish Australian Irish Australians ( ga, Gael-Astrálaigh) are an ethnic group of Australians, Australian citizens of Irish descent, which include immigrants from and descendants whose ancestry originates from the Ireland, island of Ireland. Irish Australians ...

father, also named Sir John Winthrop Hackett (1848–1916), originally from Tipperary, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin (B.A., 1871; M.A., 1874), and he emigrated to Australia in 1875, eventually settling in Western Australia in 1882, where he became a newspaper proprietor and editor and a politician.Lyall Hunt (1983
'Hackett, Sir John Winthrop (1848–1916)'

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

, Volume 9, (MUP). His mother was Deborah Drake-Brockman whose parents were prominent members of Western Australian society. Her six siblings included

Grace Bussell Grace Vernon Drake-Brockman (née Bussell; 23 September 1860 – 7 October 1935), commonly referred to as Grace Bussell, was a woman from Western Australia. In 1876, as a 16-year-old, she was involved with Sam Isaacs in the rescue of the SS ' ...

, famous for rescuing shipwreck survivors as a teenager and Frederick Slade Drake-Brockman, a prominent surveyor and explorer. On 3 August 1905, at 57, Hackett Sr married 18-year-old Deborah Drake-Brockman (1887–1965)—later Deborah, Lady Hackett; Deborah, Lady Moulden; and Deborah Buller Murphy—a director of mining companies.Alexandra Hasluck (1983
'Hackett, Deborah Vernon (1887–1965)'
''

'', Volume 9, (MUP) They had four daughters and a son. Hackett senior died in 1916. Lady Hackett remarried in 1918.Elizabeth Kwan (1986
'Moulden, Sir Frank Beaumont (1876–1932)'

, Volume 10, (MUP) Hackett junior received

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

ing at

Geelong Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"( 1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ...

in Victoria and then travelled to London to study painting at the

Central School of Art The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

. He then studied Greats and Modern History at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

, earning an M.A. As his degree was not good enough for an academic career, Hackett joined the British Army and was commissioned into the

8th King's Royal Irish Hussars The 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1693. It saw service for three centuries including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces ...

in 1933, having previously joined the Supplementary Reserve of Officers in 1931. During his military training, he completed a thesis in history with a focus on the crusades and the Early Middle Ages, particularly Saladin's campaign in the Third Crusade, for which he was awarded a B. Litt. He also qualified as an interpreter in French, German and Italian, studied Arabic and eventually became fluent in ten languages.Barker, Dennis
'Obituary – General Sir John Hackett'
The Guardian (Manchester), 10 September 1997, p. 15.

Family

He married Margaret Frena, daughter of Joseph Peter Frena, in Jerusalem Cathedral on 21 March 1942. Margaret outlived Hackett by a decade, dying on 14 May 2007. They had one child, Susan Veronica Hackett, born on 20 May 1945.

Early career

He served in Palestine during the

Arab revolt The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...

, where he 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 ...

in 1936, and then with the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force from 1937 to 1941, when he was mentioned in despatches.

Second World War

Hackett fought in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Syria-Lebanon campaign: he was wounded and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

. During his recovery in Palestine, he met Margaret Fena, the Austrian widow of a German. Despite the difficulties caused by her nationality, they married in Jerusalem in 1942. In the North African campaign, he commanded 'C' Squadron of the 8th Hussars (his parent unit) and was wounded again when his

M3 Stuart The M3 Stuart/Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II. An improved version of the tank entered service as the M5 in 1942 to be supplied to British and other Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. i ...

tank was hit during the battles for Sidi Rezegh airfield. He was severely burnt when escaping the stricken vehicle. Whilst recuperating at GHQ in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

, he was instrumental in the formation of the

Long Range Desert Group The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold, acti ...

, the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-te ...

and

Popski's Private Army Popski's Private Army, officially No. 1 Demolition Squadron, PPA, was a unit of British Special Forces set up in Cairo in October 1942 by Major Vladimir Peniakoff. Popski's Private Army was one of several raiding units formed in the Western Dese ...

. In 1944, Hackett raised and commanded the 4th Parachute Brigade for the Allied assault on Arnhem, in

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, ...

. At the battle of

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. ...

Hackett was severely wounded in the stomach, captured and then taken to the St. Elizabeth Hospital in Arnhem. A German doctor at the hospital wanted to administer a

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

to Hackett because he thought that the case was hopeless. However, he was operated on by Alexander Lipmann-Kessel, who, with superb surgery, managed to save the brigadier's life. St Elizabeth Hospital

After a period of recuperation, he managed to escape with the help of the Dutch underground. Although he was unfit to be moved, the Germans were about to move him to a prisoner-of-war camp. He was taken by 'Piet van Arnhem', a resistance worker from

Ede Ede may refer to: Places * Ede, Netherlands * Ede, Osun, Nigeria People * E De people of Vietnam Given name * Ede Dunai (born 1949), Hungarian footballer * Ede Kallós (1866–1950), Hungarian sculptor * Ede Komáromi (1928–2006), ...

, and driven to Ede. They were stopped on the way but Hackett had extra bloody bandages applied to make him look even worse than he was. Piet told the checkpoint that they were taking him to hospital. They were let through despite the hospital being in the opposite direction from which they had just come. He was hidden by a Dutch family, called de Nooij, who lived at No. 5 Torenstraat in Ede. The address no longer exists due to development. The family nursed the brigadier back to health over a period of several months; he then managed to escape to the Allied lines with the help of the underground. He remained friends with the de Nooijs for the rest of their lives and visited immediately after they were liberated, bearing gifts. Hackett wrote about the experience in his book ''I Was A Stranger'', published in 1977. He received his second

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

for his service at Arnhem.

Later life

He returned to Palestine during the Palestine Emergency in 1947 where he assumed command of the

Transjordan Frontier Force The Trans-Jordan Frontier Force was formed on 1 April 1926, to replace the disbanded British Gendarmerie. It was a creation of the British High Commissioner for Palestine whose intention was that the Force should defend Trans-Jordan's northe ...

. Under his direction, the force was disbanded, as part of the British withdrawal from the region. He attended university at

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

, as a postgraduate in post-mediaeval studies and, after returning to the United Kingdom, he 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, whic ...

in 1951. After this, he was appointed to command the 20th Armoured Brigade and, on being promoted to

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, assumed command of the 7th Armoured Division. In 1958, he became Commandant of the

Royal Military College of Science The Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) was a British postgraduate school, research institution and training provider with origins dating back to 1772. It became part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in 2009, and ceased to exis ...

at Shrivenham, and was promoted to

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in 1961. He became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Northern Ireland Command, in 1961 and was knighted ( KCB) on 2 June 1962. In 1963, he was appointed to

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

as Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff (DCIGS), responsible for forces organisation and weapon development and became the leading figure in the reorganisation of the Territorial Army (TA), which made him unpopular. He relinquished his appointment on 4 February 1966. On 14 April 1966, he was appointed command of the

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located ...

(BAOR) and the parallel command of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

's Northern Army Group, and his ability to speak several languages made him a natural choice, as did his friendship with foreign soldiers such as Johann von Kielmansegg of the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

. In 1968 he wrote a highly controversial letter to ''The Times'' that was critical of 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_est ...

's apparent lack of concern over the strength of NATO forces in Europe but signed the letter as a NATO officer, not as a British commander. After his retirement from the army, he continued to be active in several areas. From 1968 to 1975, he was Principal of

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

. In 1978, he wrote a novel, '' The Third World War: August 1985'', which was a fictionalized scenario of the Third World War based on a

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

invasion of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

in 1985. It was followed in 1982 by '' The Third World War: The Untold Story'', which elaborated on the original, including more detail from a Soviet perspective. An American author, Max Brooks, has cited Hackett's work as one source of inspiration for his novel, '' World War Z''. His (British) military decorations included the Knight Grand Cross of the Bath,

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

and Bar,

. His

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' called him a man of "intellect and prodigious courage."

Bibliography

Dates may not be reliable and are for guidance only. * ''Popski's Private Army'', 1950, (Foreword only) * ''The Profession of Arms'', 1963, * ''I Was A Stranger'', 1977, * ''The Third World War'', 1978, * ''Third World War: Lecture'', 1979 * ''Arnhem Doctor'', 1981, (Foreword only) * '' The Third World War: The Untold Story'', 1982, * ''The Middle East Commandos'', 1988, (Foreword only) * ''Warfare in the Ancient World'', 1989, * ''The Desert Rats: History of the 7th Armoured Division'', 1990, (Introduction only) * ''The Devil's Birthday: Bridges to Arnhem, 1944'', 1992, * ''The History of the Glider Pilot Regiment: An Official History'', 1992, * ''One Night in June'', 1994, 1853104922 (Introduction only) * ''Map of the D-Day Landings'', 1994, (Foreword only) * ''To Save A Life'', 1995,

Honours and awards

Ede Bergstraat Gemeentearchief Ede GA55148

Sources:Hans Molier
Sir John Winthrop Hackett (1910–1997)
10 August 2012, translated by Fred Bolle '' TracesOfWar.com''General Sir John Winthrop Hackett, GCB, CBE, DSO, MC, MA, D.Litt
ParaData: The history of the Parachute Regiment, www.paradata.org.ukHackett, John Winthrop "Shan" (Service number: 52752)
tracesofwar.com Hackett was also

six times: :1) 1936 Palestine :2) 1937 "Trans-Jordan Frontier Force" :3) 1937 "Trans-Jordan Frontier Force" :4) 1944 ItalyM.I.D. (Italy): Supplement to The London Gazette Issue 36668 published on 22 August 1944 :5) 1945 ArnhemM.I.D. (Arnhem): Supplement to The London Gazette Issue 37274 published on 18 September 1945 :6) 1949 Palestine

Sources

* ''The Biography of General Sir John "Shan" Hackett GCB DSO MC'', by Roy Fullick 2003,

References

External links

Biographical details, obituaries and photographsJohn Hackett’s career timeline

Imperial War Museum Interview from 1979Imperial War Museum Interview from 1991

Obituaries

*Arthur, Max
'Obituary – General Sir John Hackett'
, The Independent (London), 11 September 1997, p. 12.
Obituary of General Sir John Hackett
, The Times, 10 September 1997, p. 21. *Barker, Dennis
'Obituary – General Sir John Hackett'
The Guardian (Manchester), 10 September 1997, p. 15. , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, John 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars officers 1910 births 1997 deaths British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine British military personnel of the Palestine Emergency Military personnel from Western Australia People educated at Geelong Grammar School Alumni of New College, Oxford Australian people of World War II British Army generals British Army brigadiers of World War II Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Principals of King's College London Recipients of the Military Cross Operation Pegasus Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Transjordan Frontier Force officers British military writers Drake-Brockman family Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Australian emigrants to England Australian people of Irish descent Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley People from Perth, Western Australia