Most decorated · 21 medals and honours, 5 for gallantry
Brigadier James Hargest
James Hargest was a Southland farmer, Territorial officer and Member of Parliament who went to war in 1914 as a second lieutenant and was killed in Normandy as a brigadier thirty years later. He won the Military Cross and the DSO in the First World War and then two bars to the DSO, a Greek Military Cross and a CBE in the Second, giving him a career total of 21 medals, orders and decorations, five of them for gallantry.
21medals and honours
5of them for gallantry
His medals and honours
Won for gallantry
Gallantry award
Military Cross (MC)
27 September 1916 (Somme) · Somme, France · Lieutenant (temporary Captain), 1st Battalion, Otago Infantry Regiment, NZEF
Gazetted: London Gazette 29859, supplement dated 11 December 1916 (issue of 8 December), p. 12110
Hargest returned to the front in July 1916 after recovering from his Gallipoli wounds and joined the 1st Battalion of the Otago Regiment, where he commanded a company during the fighting on the Somme. On 27 September 1916 an attack had cost the battalion heavily, and he took charge of four battered companies and restored order. The Gazette, which names him as a lieutenant with the temporary rank of captain, credits him with organising and leading a bombing party that drove the enemy back and secured his left flank, and then with setting up the defence of the position 'with great skill at a critical time'. The award was gazetted in December 1916, and by the end of that year he held the temporary rank of major.
Gazette page header reads 11 December 1916; the issue itself is dated 8 December (Wikipedia and the Cenotaph give 8 December).
Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette 29859 p.12110 (read, PDF); Wikipedia 'James Hargest'; DNZB
Gallantry award
Distinguished Service Order (DSO)
Autumn 1918 (citation: 'during an advance') · Western Front, France · Major (acting Lieutenant-Colonel), 2nd Battalion, Otago Infantry Regiment, NZEF
Gazetted: London Gazette 30997, supplement dated 7 November 1918 (issue of 5 November), p. 13136
Hargest was second-in-command of the 1st Otago Battalion in 1917 and acting battalion commander during the German offensive of March 1918, and in September 1918 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel to command the 2nd Battalion of the Otago Regiment. The DSO citation praises his handling of the battalion in an advance: his tactical dispositions were excellent, he sent back valuable information, and by being constantly in the forward trenches he inspired every rank with 'the keenest offensive spirit'. The success of the battalion's operations was put down largely to his personal leadership. The order was gazetted just before the battalion's last action, the attack on a fortified house in the Mormal Forest on 4 November 1918.
The Cenotaph lists the DSO twice (once as '7 November 1918 p13137', once under 'DSO**'): reconciled as one DSO. The page with his name is p. 13136 of the supplement headed 7 November 1918.
Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette 30997 p.13136 (read, PDF); Wikipedia; DNZB
Bar: a second award
Bar to the Distinguished Service Order
April-May 1941 (Greece and Crete); announced December 1941 · Greece and Crete · Brigadier, 5th Infantry Brigade, 2NZEF
Gazetted: London Gazette 35396, supplement dated 30 December 1941 (War Office 27 December 1941), p. 7332
The Gazette lists Brigadier James Hargest, D.S.O., M.C., V.D. (31156) for the bar, among awards for distinguished services in the Middle East between February and July 1941, a period that took in Greece and Crete. In April 1941 his 5th Brigade made a successful delaying stand at the Olympus Pass in Greece, and on Crete it held the Maleme airfield area, where the 22nd Battalion lost Point 107 and then the airfield. Historians now judge his handling of the Maleme defence harshly, and the DNZB says little was known of his part in losing the airfield when the bar was awarded. The published Gazette entry gives no individual citation.
Wikipedia cites the same gazette issue; Cenotaph lists the DSO and bars as 'DSO**'.
Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette 35396 p.7332 (read, PDF); DNZB; Wikipedia
Foreign gallantry award
Greek Military Cross (1st Class)
1941 (Greece and Crete); permission to wear 10 April 1942 · Greece and Crete · Brigadier, 5th Infantry Brigade, 2NZEF
Gazetted: London Gazette 35519, 4th supplement dated 10 April 1942, p. 1595 (permission to wear)
The King of the Hellenes conferred the Military Cross, first class, on Hargest and other senior officers of the New Zealand Division, among them Freyberg, Puttick, Miles, Barrowclough and Inglis, for the Greek and Cretan campaigns. The Online Cenotaph quotes the NZEF Times of 20 October 1941, which reports a presentation ceremony at the main New Zealand base camp, with the decorations handed over by the Greek Minister of War. The Gazette of April 1942 then gave formal permission for these officers to wear the decoration.
The Cenotaph labels this 'Military Cross (Greece)'. NZEF Times calls it 'Class A'; the Gazette and DNZB say first class. The NZ War Graves Project calls it 1st Class.
Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette 35519 p.1595 (read, PDF); DNZB; Cenotaph (NZEF Times extract)
Bar: a second award
Second Bar to the Distinguished Service Order
29-30 March 1943 (escape) · Campo 12, Vincigliata, near Florence, Italy, and the Swiss border · Brigadier, 2NZEF (prisoner of war)
Gazetted: London Gazette 36198, supplement dated 7 October 1943 (issue of 5 October), p. 4437
Captured at Sidi Azeiz on 27 November 1941, Hargest was held in Italy and by 1942 was in Campo PG 12 at the Castle of Vincigliata. Over several months the senior officers dug a tunnel from a sealed-up chapel using a kitchen knife and iron bars. On the wet evening of 29 March 1943 six men got out. Hargest and Brigadier Reginald Miles, dressed to pass as civilians, took a train to Como and crossed the wire into Switzerland near Chiasso the following night. Hargest later made his way through France, with help from the Resistance, to Barcelona and flew to England in December 1943. The Gazette lists him for the second bar to the DSO 'in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field'. The DNZB quotes the honour as recognising a 'splendid achievement in escaping'.
Cenotaph, DNZB and Wikipedia agree. Hargest and Miles both received second bars.
Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette 36198 p.4437 (read, PDF); DNZB; Cenotaph (Mason, Prisoners of War)
Every other medal and honour (16)
1914-15 Star1914-1915 · GallipoliQualifying service: sailed with the Main Body in October 1914 and served at Gallipoli until wounded in August 1915.Chevalier, Legion of Honour (France)1919 · FranceFrance made him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour for his leadership of the 2nd Otago Battalion in the last months of the war. The Gazette lists Lieutenant-Colonel James Hargest, D.S.O., M.C., of the Otago…British War Medal (1914-1920)1914-1918Qualifying service: overseas service with the NZEF in the First World War.Victory Medal1914-1918Qualifying service: service in a theatre of war with the NZEF, 1914-1918.Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medalbefore 1940 (date unknown) · New ZealandLong Territorial Force service, which began in February 1911.New Zealand Territorial Service Medalbefore 1940 (date unknown) · New ZealandTerritorial Force service between the wars.New Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medalbefore 1944 (date unknown) · New ZealandLong and efficient Territorial Force service.Colonial Auxiliary Forces Decoration (V.D. / Efficiency Decoration)before 1941 (date unknown) · New ZealandOfficers' decoration for long and efficient Territorial service; he used the letters V.D. by 1941.King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 19351935 · New ZealandCommemorative medal for the 1935 Silver Jubilee, issued to him as a Territorial officer and Member of Parliament.Coronation Medal 19371937 · New ZealandCommemorative medal for the 1937 Coronation.Africa Star1941 · LibyaQualifying service: the Libyan (Crusader) campaign, ending with his capture on 27 November 1941.1939-1945 Star1940-1941Qualifying service: operational service with 2NZEF (Greece, Crete, Libya).Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)1943Appointed an additional Commander of the Military Division of the Order, in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East. His name is listed with other brigadiers, including Reginald Miles, on…New Zealand War Service Medal1939-1945Qualifying service: full-time service in the New Zealand forces in the Second World War.France and Germany StarJune-August 1944 · NormandyQualifying service: landed in Normandy on D-Day as New Zealand observer and served in the field until killed on 12 August 1944.Mentioned in Despatches1918 · Western FrontNamed under the 2nd Battalion of the Otago Regiment, as 'Hargest, Lt.-Col. J., D.S.O., M.C.', in the New Zealand Force list of mentions.
His story
Territorial and volunteer
Joined the Territorial Force in February 1911 and volunteered for the NZEF on 12 August 1914. He was commissioned second lieutenant in the Otago Mounted Rifles and embarked with the Main Body on 16 October 1914.
Source: DNZB; Cenotaph
Wounded at Gallipoli
Seriously wounded in early August 1915, during the August offensive, and spent months recovering.
Source: DNZB; Wikipedia
Somme and the Military Cross
Returned to the Western Front in mid-1916, joined the 1st Battalion of the Otago Regiment, and won the MC for his part in the Somme fighting around 27 September.
Source: London Gazette 29859; DNZB
Messines to the Armistice
Second-in-command at Messines in June 1917, acting commander in March 1918, and lieutenant-colonel commanding the 2nd Battalion from September 1918. His battalion fought the last New Zealand Division attack, on 4 November 1918 in the Mormal Forest. He won the DSO, a mention in despatches and the Legion of Honour.
Source: Wikipedia; DNZB; London Gazette 30997, 31089, 31150
Farmer, brigade commander, MP
Returned to New Zealand in May 1919, farmed near Invercargill, commanded the 3rd New Zealand Infantry Brigade (1925-1930), and sat in Parliament from 1931.
Source: DNZB
Greece and Crete
Commanded 5th Infantry Brigade at Olympus Pass and at Maleme, Crete. He received a bar to the DSO and the Greek Military Cross, though his handling of the Maleme defence is now widely criticised.
Source: DNZB; London Gazette 35396, 35519
Captured
Taken prisoner when 5 Brigade headquarters at Sidi Azeiz was overrun by German tanks during Operation Crusader.
Source: Cenotaph; Wikipedia
Escape from Campo 12
Escaped through a tunnel dug from a chapel at Vincigliata and reached Switzerland the next night with Brigadier Miles, earning a second bar to the DSO and later a CBE.
Source: Mason, Prisoners of War (via Cenotaph); London Gazette 36198, 36209
Normandy
Went ashore on D-Day as New Zealand observer with the British 50th Division, was wounded in June, and was killed by shellfire on 12 August 1944 while preparing to take command of the 2NZEF reception group for released prisoners of war.
Source: DNZB; Cenotaph
Rank and insignia
The ranks he held, and the badge a soldier of that rank wore. These are simplified illustrations.
Sergeantby 1914 · Territorial ForceThree chevronsSecond Lieutenant1914 · NZEFShoulder strap: one pipLieutenantby September 1916 · temporary CaptainShoulder strap: three pipsMajorby end of 1916 · temporaryShoulder strap: crownLieutenant-ColonelSeptember 1918Shoulder strap: crown and one pipBrigadierMay 1940Shoulder strap: crown and three pips
His ships
HMNZT 5 (Ruapehu) or HMNZT 9 (Hawke's Bay)Main Body embarkation, 16 October 1914The Nominal Roll names the transport as one of these two; the Cenotaph does not decide which.HMNZT 41 WaihoraSecond embarkation, February-March 1916 (10th Reinforcements)Returned to the front after recovery.
Afterwards
Hargest returned to New Zealand in May 1919 and farmed at Rakauhauka near Invercargill, remaining in the Territorial Force. He was elected for Invercargill in 1931, moved to Awarua in 1935 and joined the National Party in 1936. His son Geoffrey died of wounds in Italy on 30 March 1944, and his other son Peter died in a 1952 accident while serving in Malaya.
After his death in Normandy the House of Representatives paid tribute to him. He wrote an account of his escape, 'Farewell Campo 12'. A school in Invercargill bears his name.
Later awards, not counted here: Bar to the DSO (Gazette 30 Dec 1941); Greek Military Cross 1st Class (1941; wear permitted 10 Apr 1942); Second Bar to the DSO (Gazette 7 Oct 1943); CBE (Gazette 14 Oct 1943); Mention in Despatches (WW2, per NZ War Graves Project); 1939-1945 Star; Africa Star; France and Germany Star; New Zealand War Service Medal.
This is the Service Record sign as we would make it from his record: his rank, name, regiment, number and date of embarkation. The medals on the sign are worked out automatically, so the medals listed above are the ones to rely on.
The Service Record
Photograph
We haven’t hosted a photograph here
Rather than copy someone else’s image onto our own site, we’d rather send you to see it where it’s properly held: his full record at the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Online Cenotaph.
The brief lists a Croix de Guerre; none found. Byrne's Otago Regiment history lists the Croix de Guerre under Sergeant J. McG. Lamb, DCM, and lists Hargest only under the Legion of Honour (Croix de Chevalier). A web-search summary wrongly attached the Croix de Guerre to Hargest; it is NOT counted.
The Cenotaph lists the DSO twice plus 'DSO and 2 bars': reconciled as one DSO + two bars (3 items). Its 'Military Cross (Greece)' is the Greek Military Cross, a separate award from the British MC.
Cenotaph-only items (no second source read): Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medal, NZ Territorial Service Medal, NZ Long and Efficient Service Medal, Coronation Medal 1937, NZ War Service Medal, 1914-15 Star, BWM, Victory, 1939-45 Star, Africa Star, France and Germany Star. The three Territorial long-service medals are the shakiest: such awards were usually alternatives for different periods or ranks, and he may not have held all of them. If excluded, the total falls to 18.
V.D. (Gazette) vs ED (Wikipedia, NZ War Graves) vs Colonial Auxiliary Forces Decoration (Cenotaph): treated as one decoration; no bar recorded.
Mention in Despatches: WW1 gazette sighted (31 Dec 1918); a WW2 mention is asserted by the NZ War Graves Project but not sighted. Both count as the single emblem.
Not counted because not recorded by the Cenotaph and not otherwise sighted: Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-45 (he would normally have qualified; they may not have been issued because of his death in 1944).
Greek Military Cross class: Gazette and DNZB say 1st class; NZEF Times says 'Class A'. Treated as a gallantry award (foreign) and counted in the five.
The brief mentions Canterbury Mounted Rifles; the sources read show only Otago Mounted Rifles (Main Body, 10th Reinforcements Otago Mounted Rifles) then the Otago Infantry Regiment.
MC gazette date: page header 11 December 1916, issue dated 8 December. DSO: header 7 November 1918, issue 5 November; Cenotaph also cites p. 13137.
Marriage date differs (17 vs 29 September 1917) between sources; not relevant to awards.
WW1 service confirmed: Main Body, embarked 16 October 1914 as 2nd Lt Otago Mounted Rifles (Nominal Roll via Cenotaph), wounded at Gallipoli, MC/DSO gazetted. Nothing argues against listing him as a New Zealander of that war (born Gore, NZ).
Legion of Honour and CBE counted as items but not gallantry. Hargest's performance on Crete is criticised in modern histories; this does not affect the award record.
