John Hawkesworth

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. 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.