James Hargest
James Hargest | |
---|---|
First World War
Second World War
| |
Awards | (Greece) |
Born in Gore in 1891, Hargest was a farmer when he volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force following the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. Commissioned as an officer, he served in the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 and was seriously wounded. Following his recovery from his wounds, he returned to active duty on the Western Front. He commanded an infantry battalion during the later stages of the war and received several awards for his leadership. After the war, he returned to New Zealand to resume farming. In 1931 Hargest entered the Parliament of New Zealand as the member for Invercargill. Initially an independent, he was one of the strongest supporters of the National Party that was formed in 1936, and held an executive role in the party hierarchy. From 1938, he represented the Awarua electorate and had been considered for the party leadership, but he was no longer available once he volunteered for active service.
Upon the commencement of the Second World War in September 1939, Hargest attempted to join the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force being raised for service. His application was initially declined for health reasons, but after intervention by
Early life
James Hargest was born on 4 September 1891 in
First World War
Following the outbreak of the
For conspicuous gallantry in action. He organised and led a bombing party, thereby driving the enemy back and securing his left flank. Later, he organised the defence of the position with great skill at a critical time.[7]
By the end of the year he had been promoted to major.[4]
Appointed to
The citation for his DSO states the following:For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during an advance. He commanded his battalion with marked ability. His tactical dispositions were excellent, and he secured and forwarded valuable information. Constantly in the front trenches he inspired all ranks with the keenest offensive spirit, and the uninterrupted success of the battalion operations were largely due to his fine personal leadership.[13]
In the immediate postwar period, he remained in command of his battalion while it performed occupation duties in Cologne until his departure to England on 4 February 1919.[14]
Interwar period
Hargest returned to New Zealand in May 1919 with his wife, Marie Henrietta Wilkie. The couple had been married since 1917, the ceremony taking place in England where Marie was serving as a nurse in the New Zealand military hospital at Brockenhurst. Hargest returned to farming, buying land near Invercargill.[4] He retained an interest in the military and resumed his career with the Territorials in which he commanded firstly a regiment and then an infantry brigade.[9]
An interest in local affairs soon developed and Hargest became involved with several local authorities including the Southland Education Board. In the 1925 election, he contested the Invercargill electorate standing for the Reform Party and came very close to beating Sir Joseph Ward. The former Prime Minister had a majority of 159 votes, which represented a 1.5% margin.[15][16] The death of Sir Joseph triggered the August 1930 by-election, which was contested by Hargest and Ward's second son, Vincent Ward. Hargest was beaten in by Ward Jr., who had a majority of 571 votes (5.82%), and Hargest had thus been beaten by both father and son.[17]
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1931–1935 | 24th | Invercargill | Independent | ||
1935–1936 | 25th | Awarua | Independent | ||
1936–1938 | Changed allegiance to: | National | |||
1938–1943 | 26th | Awarua | National | ||
1943–1944 | 27th | Awarua | National |
Ward Jr. retired at the end of the term,[18] and this allowed Hargest to enter the New Zealand Parliament in the 1931 general election on his third attempt, becoming the MP for the Invercargill electorate.[19] In parliament, Hargest was an advocate for the interests of Southland but was also interested in defence and educational matters.[9] He held this electorate until 1935 before successfully switching to the Awarua electorate for the 1935 election. Initially an Independent Reform MP, he was a supporter of the coalition between the United Party and the Reform Party. When the coalition combined to become the National Party, Hargest formally joined the new party and was "possibly the Reform MP most committed from the first to the formation of the National Party".[20] In its early period of the National Party, there was a lengthy discussion about its leadership, as the previous leaders of the constituent parties were not acceptable to the other. At the time, many South Island MPs would meet at the home of Christchurch property developer Henry G. Livingstone after arriving on Saturday mornings on the overnight ferry from Wellington; Hargest, Adam Hamilton, and Sidney Holland belonged to that group.[21] At the first official meeting of the party's Dominion Council in October 1936 in Wellington, Hargest joined the executive committee.[22] Following that meeting, the leadership question resulted in a contest between Hamilton and Charles Wilkinson. Former Reform Party leader Gordon Coates and other MPs sided with Hamilton and issued a press statement that bordered on blackmail, and Hargest wrote to Coates, rebuking him for his stance and pleading for unity, as the new party was still fragile. In the event, Hamilton won the election by one vote and became National's first leader.[22]
For much of the period that he was in charge of the National Party, Hamilton was regarded a conscientious but lack-lustre leader.
In 1935, Hargest was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.[27]
Second World War
On volunteering for service in the war, Hargest sought to serve abroad in command of one of the infantry brigades of the Second
Hargest, with the rank of brigadier, left New Zealand with the Second Echelon, in which his brigade (which comprised the 21st, 22nd and 23rd Battalions) was the largest formation, in May 1940. Originally intended to join the First Echelon of 2NZEF then in Egypt, it was diverted en route to England following the threat of a German invasion.[29] The brigade carried out training and guard duties in the area around Dover before being shipped to Egypt in early 1941.[30]
Greece and Crete
Within a matter of weeks, the brigade, as part of the
Hargest and his brigade took part in the subsequent
When gliders containing paratroopers began landing around and to the west of the airfield on 20 May, Andrew became cut off from several of his platoons and companies with some being overrun by the German forces. Unable to gauge how the situation was unfolding, his communications with Hargest back at brigade headquarters also became disjointed.[37] Andrew stressed the seriousness of the situation to Hargest and requested reinforcements from the other battalions, which were more than holding their own. Hargest incorrectly advised that there were no available troops. This left Andrew with his own small platoon-size reserve, which was used in a failed counter-attack. Eventually, Andrew sought permission to withdraw from Point 107; Hargest replied "Well, if you must, you must."[38] Although well aware of the importance of Maleme Airfield to the defence of Crete, Hargest made no effort to dissuade Andrew or see the situation for himself.[39] Despite the belated arrival of a reinforcing company of infantry sent by Hargest that evening, Andrew decided his position was not defensible in daylight and withdrew his units to join the other battalions of the brigade.[38] The Germans took both the airfield and Point 107 early on the morning of 21 May. The capture of the airfield allowed German reinforcements to be landed directly on Crete and establish a strong foothold on their otherwise tenuous positions.[40]
A counterattack to take back the airfield and Point 107 was organised for the following day at Hargest's headquarters. He was exhausted and had to take a quick nap before a conference to work out detailed plans for the counter-attack, much to the disgust of some of the other participants.[41] Afterwards, he became pessimistic of the chances of success and unsuccessfully sought to have the attack called off.[42] The attack did fail but Hargest, still well behind the frontlines, mistakenly believed it to be going well until he found that his brigade had returned to their starting positions. His pessimism began to affect Puttick, who asked Freyberg to allow the 5th Infantry Brigade to withdraw, which it duly did.[43] This began an eventual retreat and evacuation from Crete on 31 May, with Hargest flying out for Egypt by seaplane, his brigade following by sea.[44]
Once he was back in Egypt, Hargest was critical of Freyberg's conduct of the fighting on Crete in a meeting with General Archibald Wavell, commander of the Allied forces in the Middle East. He expressed similar views in a meeting with the New Zealand Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, who was in Egypt at the time on a visit to the New Zealand forces. He also voiced concern over what he considered to be a lack of consultation by Freyberg with his senior commanders.[45] He was able to resolve his differences with Freyberg and in later correspondence with Fraser expressed his satisfaction with the way Freyberg dealt with his subordinates.[46] Hargest's own performance on Crete escaped official scrutiny and he was awarded a bar to his DSO.[1] He was also awarded the Greek War Cross for his services in the military campaigns in Greece and Crete.[4][47]
North Africa
After the loss of Crete, the 2nd New Zealand Division underwent a period of refit and training before it was assigned to the
Prisoner of war
Hargest was transported to Italy where he was initially held in a villa near Sulmona but was transferred, along with a fellow New Zealander, Brigadier Reginald Miles, who had been captured in December 1941, to Castle Vincigliata, known as Campo 12, near Florence. Campo 12 was a prison camp for officers of general and brigadier rank and the prisoners were held under more comfortable conditions than soldiers of lesser rank.[51] In late March 1943, a group of officers, including Hargest and Miles, managed to escape using a tunnel dug from a disused chapel within the castle walls. Of the six escapees, Hargest and Miles were the only two to reach safety in neutral Switzerland, where they split up to independently try to make their way to England.[52] As Hargest later related "I was over in Lucerne when Miles rang up to say he was off, and to suggest I should follow him later".[53] Miles made it to Figueras, close to the Spanish frontier, but, overcome with depression, killed himself on 20 October.[54] With the help of the French Resistance, Hargest travelled through France to Spain, where he reached the British Consulate in Barcelona. He flew to England in December 1943.[52]
Hargest was one of only three men (Miles was one of the others) known to
Death and legacy
By early 1944, the 2nd New Zealand Division was fighting in the
After D-Day, a new role was found for Hargest. Now that the Allies were on mainland Europe, thought was turning to the issue of dealing with the expected arrival of newly released New Zealanders from liberated prisoner of war camps. The 2NZEF Reception Group was set up to help repatriate them. Hargest was appointed the commander of the group but on 12 August 1944, was killed by shell fire during the Battle of Normandy, when he was making a farewell visit to the British 50th Division.[58] Hargest is buried at the Hottot-les-Bagues War Cemetery in France.[59]
Hargest was survived by his wife and three children.[9] A fourth child, Geoffrey Hargest, had been killed on 30 March 1944, aged 22 years, during the Battle of Monte Cassino while serving with the 23rd Battalion. He is buried in the Cassino War Cemetery.[60] Another son was killed while on active service during the Malayan Emergency. James Hargest High School, an educational facility in Invercargill, is named after him.[9]
Notes
- ^ a b "No. 35396". The London Gazette. 26 December 1941. p. 7332.
- ^ a b Thomson 1998, p. 212.
- ^ a b c McGibbon 2000, p. 215.
- ^ a b c d e f g Crawford, J. A. B. "Hargest, James 1891–1944". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- ^ Byrne 1921, p. 125.
- ^ Byrne 1921, p. 132.
- ^ "No. 29859". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 December 1916. p. 12110.
- ^ Stewart 1921, p. 178.
- ^ a b c d e f Ross 1966, pp. 908–909.
- ^ Gray 2010, p. 373.
- ^ McDonald 2012, p. 106.
- ^ "No. 31150". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 January 1919. p. 1446.
- ^ "No. 30997". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 November 1918. p. 13136.
- ^ Byrne 1921, pp. 387–388.
- ^ "Missing Votes in Lyttelton Election". Auckland Star. Vol. LVI, no. LVI. 13 November 1925. p. 8. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ^ Bassett, Michael. "Ward, Joseph George 1856–1930". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
- ^ "Invercargill Seat". The Evening Post. Vol. CX, no. 44. 20 August 1930. p. 10. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ^ Wilson 1985, p. 244.
- ^ a b c Wilson 1985, p. 203.
- ^ a b Gustafson 1986, p. 34.
- ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 15.
- ^ a b Gustafson 1986, p. 17.
- ^ a b Gustafson 1986, p. 32.
- ^ Wilson 1985, p. 287.
- ^ Gustafson 1986, pp. 38f.
- ^ "To-Morrow's Election". Bay of Plenty Beacon. Vol. 7, no. 9. 24 September 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
- ^ "Official jubilee medals". Evening Post. Vol. CXIX, no. 105. 6 May 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ Filer 2010, pp. 21–22.
- ^ McClymont 1959, pp. 25–30.
- ^ McClymont 1959, p. 42.
- ^ McClymont 1959, p. 142.
- ^ McClymont 1959, p. 119.
- ^ McClymont 1959, pp. 260–262.
- ^ McClymont 1959, pp. 402–403.
- ^ Filer 2010, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Filer 2010, pp. 55–57.
- ^ Filer 2010, p. 65.
- ^ a b Filer 2010, pp. 70–72.
- ^ Filer 2010, p. 73.
- ^ Filer 2010, pp. 84–86.
- ^ Filer 2010, p. 96.
- ^ Filer 2010, p. 97.
- ^ Filer 2010, pp. 100–101.
- ^ Filer 2010, p. 125.
- ^ Filer 2010, pp. 133–134.
- ^ Murphy 1961, pp. 4–5.
- ^ "No. 35519". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 April 1942. p. 1595.
- ^ McGibbon 2000, pp. 389–390.
- ^ Murphy 1961, p. 333.
- ^ Murphy 1961, p. 340.
- ^ Mason 1954, pp. 118–119.
- ^ a b c Mason 1954, p. 213.
- ^ Hargest 1945, p. 145.
- ^ Clayton, Garry James. "Miles, Reginald 1892–1943". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- ^ "No. 36198". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 October 1943. p. 4437.
- ^ "No. 36209". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 October 1943. p. 4539.
- ^ Nahas 1982, p. ?.
- ^ a b Mason 1954, p. 496.
- ^ "James Hargest". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 7 July 2022 – via Online Cenotaph.
- ^ "Geoffrey Hargest". Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
References
- Byrne, A. E. (1921). Official History of the Otago Regiment, N.Z.E.F. in the Great War 1914-1918. Dunedin, New Zealand: J. Wilkie & Company. OCLC 154248486.
- Filer, David (2010). Crete: Death from the Skies. Auckland, New Zealand: David Bateman. ISBN 978-1-86953-782-1.
- Gray, John H. (2010). From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The New Zealand Division on the Western Front 1916–1918. Christchurch, New Zealand: Wilson Scott Publishing. ISBN 978-1-877427-30-5.
- ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
- Hargest, James (1945). Farewell Campo 12. London: Michael Joseph. OCLC 1857664.
- McClymont, W. G. (1959). To Greece. OCLC 4373298.
- McDonald, Wayne (2012). Honours and Awards to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War 1914–1918 (3rd ed.). Hamilton, New Zealand: Richard Stowers. ISBN 978-0-473-07714-3.
- ISBN 0-19-558376-0.
- Mason, W. Wynn (1954). Prisoners of War. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch. OCLC 4372202.
- Murphy, W. E. (1961). The Relief of Tobruk. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945. Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch. OCLC 8000753.
- Nahas, Gabriel (1982). La Filière du Rail. Paris: Editions France Empire. ISBN 2-86839-394-2.
- Ross, Angus (1966). "Hargest, James, C.B.E., D.S.O. and 2 bars, M.C.". In McLintock, A. H (ed.). OCLC 490910218.
- OCLC 2276057.
- Thomson, Jane, ed. (1998). Southern People: A Dictionary of Otago Southland Biography. Dunedin: Longacre Press. ISBN 1-877135-11-9.
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
External links
- Photo of a group of politicians including Hargest in 1931 with Phar Lap
- Photo of Hargest in his disguise as a French railwayman
- Sound recording of Hargest discussing the Maori Battalion