Lieutenant-General Sir John Ledlie Inglis Hawkesworth, (19 February 1893 – 3 June 1945) was a senior British Army officer who served during both World Wars. During the Second World War he commanded the 4th Division during the Tunisian Campaign in early 1943, later commanding the 46th Division throughout most of the Italian Campaign and, finally, X Corps in Greece, before suffering from a fatal heart attack in June 1945.
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Early life and First World War
Hawkesworth was born on 19 February 1893 and was educated at St Bees School, Cumberland from 1907 to 1912, where he excelled at rugby, playing in the School XV in 1911–1912. One of his teammates was G. A. West, later the Bishop of Rangoon. He then went up to The Queen's College, Oxford to read Modern History.
He joined the unattached list of the Territorial Reserve of the British Army on 23 January 1914, before being gazetted as a second lieutenant into the East Yorkshire Regiment on 15 August 1914, eleven days after Britain entered the First World War. He served on the Western Front during the war, mainly with the 1st Battalion of his regiment, part of the 18th Brigade of the 6th Division (later transferred to the 64th Brigade of the 21st Division), and was wounded three times, ending the war as a captain. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, on 1 July 1916, he was one of few officers not to be killed or wounded as his battalion sustained 460 casualties. In 1921 was awarded the French Croix de guerre.
Between the wars
He remained in the British Army during the interwar period, holding various junior regimental and staff postings until attending the Staff College, Camberley between 1927 and 1928.
He served as brigade major of the 15th Infantry Brigade from 1930 to 1932, before becoming deputy assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Northern Command until 1934. He was on the directing staff of the Staff College, Camberley as a general staff officer, Grade 3 (GSO3) from 1934 to 1937 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel, becoming a GSO1 in 1937. On promotion he commanded the 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment and was mentioned in despatches for service in Palestine during the Arab revolt.
Second World War
In October 1939, a month after the outbreak of the Second World War, Hawkesworth was given command of the 12th Infantry Brigade, taking over from Brigadier George Clark. The brigade was one of three which formed part of the 4th Infantry Division, under Major-General Dudley Johnson, and was then serving with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France. However, unlike in the First World War, there was no immediate action and, in late 1939, the brigade moved to the Maginot Line near Metz, where it gained experience engaging the enemy in patrolling actions. He commanded the brigade throughout the Battle of France, finally being forced to retreat to Dunkirk where his brigade was evacuated to England at the end of May 1940, leaving France himself on 1 June.
Hawkesworth handed over command of the 12th Brigade on 18 June to Brigadier Daniel Beak, who had commanded a battalion in the brigade, and, in August, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and was also mentioned in despatches for his service in France and Belgium. On 9 December 1940 Hawkesworth was promoted to the acting rank of major-general and was appointed Director of Military Training (DMT) at the War Office. In this role he was responsible for general military training for other ranks at a time when the British Army was undergoing a rapid expansion. His rank of major-general was made temporary on 9 December 1941, and, on 25 December 1941, his rank was made permanent.
In March 1942 Hawkesworth handed over to Major-General John Whitaker and returned to the 4th Infantry Division and was appointed as its General Officer Commanding (GOC), succeeding Major-General John Swayne. Shortly after he assumed command a tank brigade (the 21st) was substituted for one of the three infantry brigades (the 11th) to create a "mixed" division and training began for overseas service. In the New Years honours list of 1943 Hawkesworth was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).
Hawkesworth landed with his division in Algeria in French North Africa in late March 1943, and soon moved to Tunisia, where it came under the command of Lieutenant-General Charles Allfrey's V Corps, part of Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson's British First Army. The division, transferring to Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks's IX Corps, took part in the final stages of the Tunisian campaign until the fighting ended on 13 May, with the surrender of nearly 250,000 Axis soldiers who subsequently became prisoners of war (POWs), although heavy casualties were sustained by Hawkesworth's division. For his services in Tunisia Hawkesworth was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).
End note
He left his wife, Helen Jane, and an only son, also named John, who at the time was also serving with the 4th Battalion, Grenadier Guards in the North-West Europe Campaign. On 10 August, General Mark W. Clark, commander of the Allied 15th Army Group, sent a tribute from his headquarters in Vienna mourning the "loss of a most highly-valued friendship to his many comrades-in-arms in the Mediterranean theatre…We shall not forget General Hawkesworth, and England has our eternal gratitude for producing men of his staunch integrity and character." The post-war British Army had been deprived of a popular and able commander.