John Hawkesworth (British Army officer)
| Sir John Hawkesworth | |
|---|---|
Major General J. L. I. Hawkesworth alongside Rear Admiral R. L. Conolly of the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Biscayne, 6 September 1943.
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| Nickname(s) | "Ginger" |
| Born |
19 February 1893 St Bees, Cumberland, England |
| Died | 3 June 1945 (aged 52) Gibraltar |
| Buried at | North Front Cemetery, Gibraltar |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant general |
| Unit | East Yorkshire Regiment |
| Commands held | Military Command Athens (1944–45) X Corps (1944) 46th Infantry Division (1943–44) 4th Infantry Division (1942–43) 12th Infantry Brigade (1939–40) 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (1937–39) |
| Battles/wars |
First World War Second World War |
| Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order & Bar Mentioned in Despatches (3) Croix de guerre (France) Croix de guerre (Belgium) Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States) |
| Relations | John Hawkesworth (son) |
Lieutenant General Sir John Ledlie Inglis Hawkesworth, KBE, CB, DSO & Bar (19 February 1893 – 3 June 1945) was a senior British Army officer who served during both World Wars. He commanded the 46th Infantry Division throughout most of the Italian Campaign and later X Corps in Greece during the Second World War, before suffering from a fatal heart attack in June 1945.
Hawkesworth was born on 19 February 1893 and was educated at St Bees School, Cumberland from 1907–1912, where he excelled at rugby, playing in the School XV in 1911–1912. One of his teammates was G. A. West, later Bishop of Rangoon. He then went up to The Queen's College, Oxford to read Modern History, at which he served in the Special Reserve.
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. Among his fellow company commanders (he was then commanding 'A' Company) was Captain Desmond Anderson. In 1919 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and in 1921 was awarded the French Croix de guerre and also the Belgian Croix de guerre.
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