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The farming general got
Army's toughest job
Mail London Office
A farm-loving Englishman, who became a soldier by
accident, was this week appointed to Britain's top military
job.
Pint-sized Sir Tohn
Harding, 56, will be
come Chief of the
Imperial General Staff
in November, succeeding
Marshal Sir William Slim.
The thing that worried
Gen. Harding most this
week was whether he and
his wife would have to
leave their 27-acre farm
in Dorset.
But although his heart
was in the land, Gen.
Harding has spent a
great deal of his life
fighting.
Good-humored - Gen.
Harding is an unblim
pish general who even
changed his Christian
names because they made
things unnecessarily
complicated.
As General Allan
Francis Harding, he was
knighted in 1944, while
commander of the Allied
forces in Italy, having
succeeded * General
Alexander.
In accepting the acco
lade from the late King
George VI. Gen. Harding
naively explained he
wanted to be known as
'Sir John.'
His wife and family
called him 'John,' and
so the Army, he told the
King.
A few months later
Gen. Harding made the
change legal and dropped
the names Allan and
Francis.
Jolly-faced Gen. Hard
ing's appointment as
CIGS is popular with all
sections of the British
Army and also with
foreign generals.
In his quiet way, Gen.
Harding demands — and
gets — the most out of
his men, who admire
his own record of per
sonal bravery in two
wars.
When sent to Malaya
in 1949, Gen. Harding's
first move was to trans
fer to the jungle all sol
diers doing training
courses at base.
'The jungle will be the
best teacher,' he said.
Gen. Harding at first
shocked the success
softened British Army of
Occupation in Germany
when he was appointed
its commander in August,
1951.
He ordered everyone —
generals included — to
spend at least three
nights a month in the
open or under canvas,
even in .winter.
As town-hating Gen.
Harding did the same
thing himself, there
were few complaints.
A mangled left hand Is
evidence of Gen. Har
ding's front-line exploits
—he was wounded there
during the pursuit of
Rommel to Tripoli in
1942, when he com
manded the Desert Rats.
Gen. Harding was a
sort of a legend in the
desert. Troops described
him as 'the general
whose favorite action
station is in the leading
tank'.
In 18 months from
July, 1941, Gen. Harding
was awarded the DSO
and two bars. CBE. and
was also mentioned in
despatches.
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