John George Walters Clark

John George Walters Clark
Born	(1892-05-02)2 May 1892 Wokingham
Died	16 May 1948(1948-05-16) (aged 56) St Marylebone, London
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Acting Lieutenant-General
Commands held	16th/5th Lancers (1933 to 1936) 12th Infantry Brigade (1938 to 1939) 1st Cavalry Division (31 October 1939 to 1941) 10th Armoured Division (1941 to 31 July 1942)
Battles/wars	World War I World War II *Anglo-Iraqi War *Syria-Lebanon campaign
Awards	CB MC and bar Legion of Merit, Commander Officer of the Order of Orange Nassau with Swords (Netherlands)

John George Walters Clark CB, MC and bar (2 May 1892 – 16 May 1948) was a British army officer in both World War I and World War II.^[1]

Early life

Clark was educated at Winchester College (1906-1910).

After passing out from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Clark was commissioned into the 16th The Queen's Lancers in 1911 and fought with them during World War I. He was twice awarded the Military Cross: first in June 1917 and again in 1918. The citation for this second award, which was published in the London Gazette, stated:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When all communication with the forward units of the division had broken down during an engagement, he established communication over unknown ground and enabled control to be maintained. On another occasion, when both flanks of the division had been turned and the situation was very obscure, he went forward with orders to the advanced troops. Later, he was largely responsible for a successful withdrawal being carried out in good order. He showed great initiative and resource.

— London Gazette, 22 June 1918^[2]

World War II

Between October 1939 and July 1942, Clark commanded 1st Cavalry Division (re-designated 10th Armoured Division in 1941) based in British Mandate of Palestine (Palestine and Trans-Jordan).

In May 1941, Clark formed and commanded Habforce (which when in Iraq became part of Iraqforce) which crossed the desert from Trans-Jordan to relieve RAF Habbaniya during the Anglo-Iraqi War. When Kingcol, the flying column of Habforce, arrived the airfield garrison had already forced the threatening Iraqi force to retire. With the arrival of Kingcol the garrison drove on to capture Falluja and Kingcol then exploited this to advance on Baghdad, arriving on 29 May. The Iraq government capitulated two days later.^[3]

Habforce was also involved in the Syria-Lebanon campaign advancing from eastern Iraq to capture Palmyra on 3 July to secure the Haditha - Palmyra oil pipeline.^[3]

In August 1941, the 1st Cavalry Division was reorganised as 10th Armoured Division. Clark remained in command until April 1942 so missing the division's active service at Alam Halfa and Second battle of El Alamein.^[3] He became GOC Lines of Communication in Tunisia and thereafter Deputy Governor of Sicily after its capture in 1943. At the end of 1943 he briefly became Major-General Administration at GHQ Middle East in Cairo before becoming Chief Administrative Officer at AFHQ for which he held the acting rank of lieutenant-general.^[4]

In late 1944 Clark became head of the SHAEF mission to the Netherlands. His most notable activity was to prepare food dumps in liberated territory for supply to starving Dutch people as they became liberated following the Hunger Winter of 1944.^[5] For this work the Netherlands government made him an Officer of the Order of Orange Nassau with Swords.

Retirement

Clark retired from the army in 1946 as an honorary lieutenant-general with the substantive rank of major-general. He was awarded the United States' Legion of Merit, in the Order of Commander in 1947^[6] having already been given the award in the order of Officer in 1943^[7]

Army career summary

• Commissioned into 16th The Queen's Lancers - 1911
• Instructor at Staff College Camberley - 1929 - 1932
• Commanding Officer 16th/5th Lancers - 1933 - 1936
• General Staff Officer 1 War Office - 1937 - 1938
• Commanding Officer 12th Infantry Brigade, France - 1938 - 1939
• General Officer Commanding 1st Cavalry Division, Middle East - 1939 - 1941
• General Officer Commanding 10th Armoured Division, Middle East - 1941 - 1942
• General Officer Commanding Lines of Communications Allied Forces Headquarters, Tunisia- 1942 - 1943
• Deputy Governor of Sicily - 1943
• Major-General Administration GHQ Middle East Command - 1943
• Chief Administrative Officer Allied Forces Headquarters - 1944
• Head Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Mission to Netherlands - 1945
• Head British Economic Mission to Greece - 1945 - 1947
• Retired - 1946

Awards and decorations

• Companion of the Order of the Bath (30 December 1941)^[8]
• Military Cross (4 June 1917) and bar (22 June 1918)^[2][9]
• 1914 Star & clasp
• British War Medal 1914-1920
• Victory Medal
• Mentioned in Despatches five times (11 December 1917,^[1] 5 July 1919,^[1] 1 April 1941,^[10] 16 September 1943,^[11] 2 August 1945^[12])
• Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States, 14 November 1947),^[6] previously Officer (10 August 1943)^[7]
• Légion d'Honneur (France)^[1]
• Croix de Guerre with vermillion star (France)^[1]
• Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau with swords (Netherlands, 8 November 1945)^[13]
• Grand Officer, Iftan Niftikar (Tunisia)^[1]

See also

• Iraqforce

References

• Ammentorp, Steen. "Generals of World War II website". Retrieved 28 July 2007. 
• Houterman, Hans; Koppes, Jeroen. "World War II unit histories and officers website". Retrieved 28 July 2007. 
• Mackenzie, Compton (1951). Eastern Epic. London: Chatto & Windus. OCLC 1412578. 
• Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: A biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II. Stroud (UK): Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0. 
• "Orders of Battle.com". Retrieved 28 July 2007. 

Footnotes