45 Facts About James Hargest

James Hargest was a Member of New Zealand's Parliament from 1931 to 1944, representing firstly the Invercargill and then the Awarua electorates.

James Hargest commanded an infantry battalion during the later stages of the war and received several awards for his leadership.

In 1931 James Hargest entered the Parliament of New Zealand as the member for Invercargill.

James Hargest's application was initially declined for health reasons, but after intervention by Peter Fraser, the acting Prime Minister of New Zealand, he was accepted and appointed commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade, part of the 2nd New Zealand Division.

James Hargest led his brigade during the Battle of Greece in April 1941 after an initial period performing garrison duty in England.

James Hargest earned a second bar to his DSO for his efforts.

James Hargest served as an observer with the British 50th Infantry Division for the Normandy landings in June 1944 and was killed by artillery just over two months later.

James Hargest was born on 4 September 1891 in Gore, a small town in Southland, New Zealand.

James Hargest's father was a labourer who later took up farming in Mandeville.

James Hargest was the fourth of nine children, and attended schools in Gore and Mandeville and after completing his education worked alongside his father.

James Hargest joined the Territorial Force in 1911 and by 1914 had reached the rank of sergeant.

James Hargest organised and led a bombing party, thereby driving the enemy back and securing his left flank.

James Hargest carried out vital reconnaissance of the German front lines, penetrating the enemy communication trenches in the lead up to the battle.

James Hargest participated in the last offensive action of the war involving the New Zealand Division when on 4 November 1918, a week before the armistice with Germany, his battalion attacked Germans positioned in a fortified house in the Mormal Forest.

James Hargest returned to New Zealand in May 1919 with his wife, Marie Henrietta Wilkie.

James Hargest 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.

An interest in local affairs soon developed and James Hargest became involved with several local authorities including the Southland Education Board.

In parliament, James Hargest was an advocate for the interests of Southland but was interested in defence and educational matters.

James Hargest held this electorate until 1935 before successfully switching to the Awarua electorate for the 1935 election.

At the first official meeting of the party's Dominion Council in October 1936 in Wellington, James Hargest joined the executive committee.

Former Reform Party leader Gordon Coates and other MPs sided with Hamilton and issued a press statement that bordered on blackmail, and James Hargest wrote to Coates, rebuking him for his stance and pleading for unity, as the new party was still fragile.

James Hargest, who had retained his Awarua seat for National in the election, was one of two contenders for the party leadership.

The National Party leadership eventually went to Sidney Holland in November 1940; there was a view that this was a temporary situation that could be reassessed once Holyoake or James Hargest returned to Parliament.

James Hargest remained a member of parliament during his time on active service and in the 1943 election, he was the sole candidate in the Awarua electorate whilst an internee in Switzerland; he was thus returned unopposed.

In 1935, James Hargest was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.

On volunteering for service in the war, James Hargest sought to serve abroad in command of one of the infantry brigades of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

Fraser disregarded official advice and arranged for James Hargest to be appointed commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade.

The 22nd Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Andrew, guarded the airfield itself and a neighbouring hill, Point 107, with the other two battalions of the brigade positioned further east while James Hargest situated his headquarters at some distance from the airfield.

Andrew stressed the seriousness of the situation to James Hargest and requested reinforcements from the other battalions, which were more than holding their own.

James Hargest 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.

James Hargest's pessimism began to affect Puttick, who asked Freyberg to allow the 5th Infantry Brigade to withdraw, which it duly did.

Once he was back in Egypt, James 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.

James Hargest 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.

James Hargest voiced concern over what he considered to be a lack of consultation by Freyberg with his senior commanders.

James Hargest 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.

James Hargest was awarded the Greek War Cross for his services in the military campaigns in Greece and Crete.

James Hargest's brigade was used to cover the movements of the other two brigades of the division, which were attempting to advance through to Tobruk.

James Hargest had resisted moving his headquarters to a nearby escarpment and incorrectly insisted his orders did not allow him this latitude.

James 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.

James Hargest was one of only three men known to British Military Intelligence to have escaped from an Italian prisoner of war camp and made their way to another country prior to the armistice with Italy.

James Hargest was later appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

James Hargest wrote an account of his escape which was published as the book Farewell Campo 12.

James Hargest was appointed New Zealand's observer of the D-Day landings in Normandy.

James 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.

James Hargest is buried at the Hottot-les-Bagues War Cemetery in France.