Allegiance United Kingdom Service/branch British Army Battles and wars World War II | Died May 16, 1948 Name John Walters | |
Born 2 May 1892
Wokingham ( 1892-05-02 ) Rank Acting Lieutenant-General 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) Commands held 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers | ||
Lieutenant-General John George Walters Clark CB, MC and bar (2 May 1892 – 16 May 1948) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both World War I and World War II, where he commanded the 10th Armoured Division, formerly the 1st Cavalry Division.
Contents
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.
World War II
Between the wars he attended the Staff College, Camberley and, by the time of World War II, he was commanding the 12th Infantry Brigade. From October 1939 to July 1942, Clark commanded the 1st Cavalry Division (re-designated 10th Armoured Division in 1941) as General Officer Commanding (GOC) 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.
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.
In August 1941, the 1st Cavalry Division was reorganised as the 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. 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 Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) for which he held the acting rank of lieutenant-general.
In late 1944 Clark became head of the SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) 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. 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 having already been given the award in the order of Officer in 1943